Mr. Belvedere wrinkled his nose. “A shame he’ll make the trip for nothing. It’ll probably make him out of reason cross.”
The carriage bounced over cobblestones and up rather steep roads past the city center to the north. There were outdoor markets that smelled like chocolate, and one that was loud with the sound of birds cawing. Lovley stone churches tolled their bells. Some churches were newer and some quite Romanesque or Gothic. There were many army men in the streets joining in the celebration, both British redcoats and men in the blue and white uniforms of the Portuguese.
She kept her eyes pointedly averted from Mr. Belvedere. If he had a plan to escape, she hoped he would execute it soon.
Across from another beautiful cathedral, they pulled up at a more recent building that was altogether too airy and stuccoed to house anything so resolute as a British consulate. But there were knots of British officers in their red coats milling here and there, so clearly it was the right place.
The captain jumped down and shut the carriage door. “Please to wait, ma’am,” he said to Sophia. “I will ask these men to keep watch while I find out where to take you.”
Several red coats nodded to the captain, having been previously requested to be on hand, and they stood nearby.
“Our very own guard,” said Mr. Belvedere, leaning forward to scope out the scene from their limited view through the small carriage windows. “How very Tudor.”
“I thought you said you could—er—slip away. Why don’t you?”
“Oh, there is time for that yet. I trust my instincts for these things, and those fellows are a little too intent. Since we have a moment, my dear, and I’m not sure I fully expressed it last night—Idoappreciate your attempt to save me.”
“Although if you are confident in your ability to escape, it was wholly unnecessary.”
“Not at all! Our good packet commander now has no evidence, either real or circumstantial, to tie me to any crime, least of all the East India Company, and that is capital. And with everyone overjoyed about our recent victory, I have every hope of a good outcome.” He leaned forward and took her hand. “Thank you, Sophy. Very few people have ever sacrificed as much for me.”
She didn’t take him to task for using her name or calling hermy dear.It seemed silly when he would disappear so soon.
“So—when will you run?” She brought her voice to a whisper, trying to ignore his thumb rubbing circles on her gloved hand. “Won’t it be more difficult from the consulate?”
“No,” he said, matching her whisper, “and what’s more, I think you should come with me.”
Sophia jerked back against the squabs. “I can’t do that. And—and that is insulting.”
“Why?”
“I’m not the sort of—lightskirt who’ll run off to be yourconvenient. I suppose this cannot even be called acarte blanche,for you have nothing to offer me—but it is still unkind.”
“That isn’t—I didn’t mean that at all. And I’m fairly flush in the pocket, for your information.”
Sophia frowned in disbelief, and his easy confidence slipped for a moment. His good-looks were enhanced by a moment of vulnerability. “Dash it, I’m making a mull of this. I never thought to propose—particularly not in a job-carriage surrounded by officers of the British army!—but here it is.” He took her hand again, as if he couldn’t help it. “I have lain in that terrible ship for the last week, thinking that you were willing to see me hanged to save yourself—and I was still worried about you! It’s the most ridiculous thing and not at all like me. I’m afraid that I’ve gone and fallen in love with you. I’m not—as I already revealed to you—as young or as innocent as I try to appear, but you make my heart pound like a schoolboy. You play cards like a Faro’s daughter, and I want to pick up your discards only because you tap them against your lips. I’ve only known you for a few weeks, but I—I know we would be the most consummate team.”
Sophia’s traitorous heart pounded in shock and delight. “But I—I betrayed you. I could’ve gotten you hanged.”
“I know,” he said with that inviting laugh that had called to her so often on the ship and which had made her behave with such a lack of caution. “It’s quite mad. But the thing is that I don’t trust anyone else to keep you safe—or to make you smile—and that has become rather important to me. I certainly don’t trust the British bureaucracy, as kind and loving as it is. So, that is why I say—Sophy, come with me. We can be married here in Lisbon, and then we can disappear to Nice or Barcelona or even Rome—my Italian is better than my Portuguese—and never think of the Marstons again.”
She could picture it, a wild adventure with a friend by her side, someone who would face both success and difficulty with cheer and good humor. Someone with broad shoulders who would protect her from the worst of it when he could…
She couldn’t deny a love of adventure within herself—but hadn’t she already seen what catastrophe that could lead to?“This is nonsense. We can’telope. And we would be penniless, on the run, without home or security. I’ve done that before, and I won’t—Ican’tdo it again.”
He brought her hand to his lips. “Then your objections are only logistical? If youcouldmarry me—would you?”
Sophia smiled sadly at him. “I cannot, so it is pointless to persist.”
“If I could overcome the obstacles, however—would you trust me? You do feel what I do, Sophy, don’t you? That we have something in common, something untouchable and unexpected. I can’t pretend that I’ll offer you a perfect life. I’m an adventurer and a scoundrel, yes, but I’mgoodat it.” His smile was broad. “I can take care of you, if you give me the chance.”
Sophia pressed her hands to her flushed cheeks. “I can’t. I do trust you, yes—how could I do otherwise when you were willing to take the blame I thrust upon you? When you jumped overboard to save me instead of running away?—but wecan’t. It wouldn’t work. Where would we get married? How would we live—it’s an air castle you’ve built, you must see that.”
A peremptory knock on the carriage door warned them just before the captain jerked it open. Sophia spun to the corner to regain her composure.
“Right now, out then,” said Captain Smythe, apparently unaware he had interrupted anything. “They’ve cleared the officers’ parlor to question you both.”
Mr. Belvedere clambered out, not forgetting his cane and satchel, and offered her his hand to descend. His fingers pressed with meaningful force on hers, and he gave her a quick, burning glance that had her pulse trembling. What did he plan now?
