Sophia could almost touch it.
She slipped her head between the bars, and her arm could now reach a few inches further. Almost…
Yes! She had it.
But as she went to slip back out, the metal bars halted her.
Sophia adjusted her position and, reaching up to tuck her ears down, attempted again to slide her head through the bars.
How had she slipped through so easily, moving forward?
She cocked her head to one side and pulled again.
And then to the other. She tried standing, and then sitting lower, until her lack of success began to chaff nearly as much as the sides of her face.
Sophia had heard swear words spoken by Dudley and his friends. She’d never used any of them, however, until the frustrations of this particular situation overtook her.
Releasing a long stream of profanity, she maneuvered into a position that would be somewhat comfortable. How was she to get out of this debacle? On her knees, she placed her elbows on the bar so that she could rest her chin on her hands.
That was slightly better.
She was trapped in a ridiculous situation.
The irony of it did not escape her.
Finally, Some Answers
Normally, Devlin would not have stayed at Prescott House, but since the purchase of Dartmouth Place, he’d let go of the lodgings he normally kept in London. He now sat in his uncle’s library and wondered if he should be sent to Bedlam.
For he was beginning to make plans for when he moved out to the country. Plans that might involve bringing a wife along with him.
For Harold, he was certain, had committed to their chosen course of action.
Devlin would travel with the family to Priory Point and provide his assistance in the matter.
Sophia would also have need of him. The fallout could prove tricky, indeed.
It could be a beginning for the two of them, if all went as planned. It would be necessary that they wait, of course, but they would take this one step at a time.
If it was what she wanted.
He was reasonably certain it was her desire to be with him. She’d told him she loved him, for Christ’s sake. But so much needed to be resolved.
And much of it hung upon the courage of a cousin who had lacked confidence for all of his adult life, a man who doubted his own right to happiness because of deep-seated guilt and shame.
Dev threw back one final mouthful of scotch and contemplated the possibility of taking Sophia with him to Surrey. An interesting thought on today, of all days — her wedding day to another man.
He chuckled to himself as he recalled the spectacle the bride and groom had nearly made of the formal ceremony. Devlin had had eyes for only her, and he’d realized what was happening the first moment she’d stifled her laughter. She must have been near hysteria. The farce of it too much.
Thank God, they hadn’t lost control.
They did not need any further complications. Dev would have Harold execute their plan so that he, Dev, could propose, get a special license, and then take such vows himself with Sophia.
And mean every damn one of them.
The clock on the mantel showed it to be nearly one o’clock in the morning. With a long day of travel planned for the morrow, he probably ought to try to get some rest tonight, something he’d resisted for some reason. Or something he thought might simply elude him.
What with knowing that Sophia, on her wedding night, slept in the same house…
