Alone…
He stood and stretched before extinguished the few candles he’d left burning. Just as he turned to head upstairs, the pitter-patter of four tiny feet caught his attention.
Peaches stood on the floor before him, tail wagging. She spun in an impatient circle and let out one quick bark. She then spun in two more circles.
It was obvious the dog wanted her to follow him.
Had she gotten locked out of Sophia’s room, somehow? He strode quickly behind the red, exasperated little body, as she ran forward and then back, returning to make sure he was following, several times. They were not headed toward the wing where he knew Sophia’s chamber to be.
Growing more curious by the moment, Dev dutifully followed the impatient little canine.
And then, as he rounded a corner near the gallery, he could not help but smile at the unexpected sight before him.
This must be the reason he’d not gone to bed earlier. For, shoved into the air, in a childlike sort of pose, was Sophia’s nightgown-clad bottom, wriggling temptingly before him.
At first, he could not discern what she was doing, but then he realized her blond head was bent awkwardly forward, poking through the bars of the gate leading to the gallery.
And she was cursing like a bloody soldier.
His assistance was, indeed, most necessary.
“Sophia, Sophia,” he said as he got closer to the little bundle of frustration, “what on earth are you doing?”
“Oh, just sitting here, staring at the floor.” Makin a vain attempt to pull herself out, she winced at her efforts. “What does it look like I’m doing?”
“Er, well…” Was this a trick question?
“Oh, Dev…” She moaned as she said his name, unable to turn her head toward him. She suddenly looked quite defeated. “…oh, Dev, I’m so glad it’s you.” And then, as though she’d remembered something beyond belief, she shrieked. “You should have told me! Why did you not tell me the truth? About Harold?”
She was on her knees and could not look up at him, so he crouched down beside her.
Ah, so Harold had told her. He was surprised, actually. It was a secret his cousin had guarded all his life. “It was not my secret to tell, love.”
“What a fool I’ve been. To think I had imagined him in love with me! I had no idea! I’m not really even certain as to the mechanics of it, but he does rather seem to enjoy it.”
“He told you this?”
“Oh, no,” She tried to shake her head but flinched as the bars prevented her from doing so. “I was going to see if he wanted to look for something to eat with me, since I heard him moving about, and I peeked in and I, well, I… saw them… together…”
Dev did not know what to say to this. “I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you, but I hoped perhaps it wouldn’t be necessary. If everything works out as planned—”
And then a small sob escaped her. “It’s not going to work out. Your plan is not going to work. I can never be granted an annulment.” She seemed suddenly quite frantic, for which situation, he wasn’t certain.
An annulment had been one of their scenarios, but not the one they’d decided upon. Harold had been mortified at the thought that people might guess as to why. But what was she saying?
“Why not, love?”
“The examination. The impossible examination.” And then gritting her teeth, she choked on another sob. “Can you free me from this blasted barnacle?”
He cursed himself for not liberating her right away. Redness had appeared where the bars had irritated the skin along the sides of her face, and it looked as though she’d cut one of her ears. “Of course.” He looked around and could not see anything sturdy enough to pry the heavy iron bars open. Slipping off his waistcoat, he folded it and helped place it beneath her knees.
Her pitiful little knees were red from the cold marble floor. And her feet were frozen.
“I’m going to find something sturdy enough to pry this apart, and some oil for the sides of your face.” Standing, he turned back toward her. “Don’t go anywhere,” he said to her sweetly feminine bottom.
He chuckled as he heard her growl but then rushed away to find what he would need. She must have been there a while. Once he pried her out, they could discuss whatever it was that she was so upset about.
An examination? And she’d mentioned an annulment. She must be thinking an exam would be required to ensure she was still a maiden, which was quite simply not the case. Hadn’t been for centuries, to his knowledge. Annulments, in fact, were far more complicated than that. Sophia was the one who could demand an annulment, if Harold refused to consummate, but that was not a part of the plan either.
