Sophia flushed even hotter, as Theodore quickly assured them that he understood.
Sophia stared at the paper. “So that’s it?”
“That’s it,” Theodore said. “Thank you all very much.Obrigado.”
The assistant grinned and murmuredmuitoromanticagainwhile Theodore tucked the document inside his coat.
Between leaving the consulate and their time in the barber shop and notary’s office, more than four hours had passed. Sophia was surprised to find her stomach growling despite the fact that she had just—legally—bound herself to Mr. Belvedere.
From somewhere north of the city, a volley of fireworks exploded. Redcoats staggered by, singing “Rule Britannia,” and no one gave a second glance to a British gentleman and his wife emerging from a notary’s doorway.
“I expected this to be harder,” she said. “All of it.”
“As Virgil would say, fortune favors the bold. And today it favors us. You don’t regret it?”
“No.” Sophia leaned lightly on his arm. “You must know I fancied you from that first evening on theLady Mary. I took myself to task for it—and I tried very hard to be aloof when you began to suspect me—but I was never indifferent. Quite the opposite.”
He pressed her hand and looked very much as if he wanted to kiss her, and improper as it was, she might’ve allowed it—except that they were interrupted.
“What in the world—what are you doing here?” Caroline gaped at them. “Is Captain Smythe with you?”
27
Caroline’s grip on Richard’s arm tightened in shock as she studied the two fugitives. He was also frozen in surprise.
She rapidly considered and discarded possible reasons they could be here on their own.
Mr. Belvedere, usually equal to every situation, opened and shut his mouth quite damningly. There was no reason they should be unaccompanied out in the city, and all four of them knew it. He had also gotten a haircut, and if she and Richard had not happened to walk smash up to them, Caroline didn’t think she’d have recognized him from afar.
Caroline held a few scarlet pimpernels bought from a flower seller and a new reticule of figured Portuguese silk. She’d purchased two others for Jane and Louisa. Anne and Wentworth had gone back to the ship already, for Anne—although she attempted to enjoy the sights—pled a headache over an hour ago.
Sophia’s cheeks were a blotchy pink, and she bit her lips. “Could you possibly pretend you have not seen us?”
“Not seen you?” Richard echoed. “Where is Captain Smythe? What are you doing here? I don’t like the look of this.”
“Did he not—tell you?” Mr. Belvedere asked.
“What? No, we’ve not seen him since this morning when he went off with both of you. We took another carriage and have been touring Belém Tower and the markets…Whathave you been doing?”
Mr. Belvedere looked to Sophia. “Hang it all. I think we must throw ourselves on their mercy.”
She inclined her head.
Mr. Belvedere handed them an official looking document, and Caroline squinted at it with Richard. It was in Portuguese, but the names of Theodore Belvedere and Sophia Scott were clear to her?—
“Heavens, is this amarriagelicense?” Caroline asked.
“Er—a marriage contract,” Mr. Belvedere corrected, “but unless you wish to get into the ecclesiastical minutia which we have just been subjected to, I suggest you leave it at that.”
Caroline gasped. “But this is so hasty?—”
“Many a marriage has been built on less,” he said with some feeling.
“I hope you will be happy,” Caroline said automatically. “But oh, Anne will be so glad to hear this!”
“Happy?” repeated Richard. “Caroline—we can’t allow this. They’ve somehow given Smythe the slip, but Sophia is needed as a witness, and this man—for all we know hedidforge those bonds! We cannot condone this.”
“I’m not precisely asking you to condone it,” Mr. Belvedere said. “Merely to—er—refrain from a grand ruckus as we make ourselves scarce. I’ve heard Sintra is a beautiful day trip even in these troubled times. We could make ourselves scarce quickly.”
