“I said sip.”
Her next mouthful went down better.
“It was on one of my last visits that Jack called to the house,” Sophie continued. “I hadn’t realized how ill my parents had become, but when I arrived, I could see that they were not likely to survive. He arrived after I’d finished cleaning the house and feeding them some broth I’d brought from Monmouth.”
“You are safe,” Patrick said as her voice rose.
“He told me my father owed him a lot of money, and for me to clear that debt, I would do exactly as he wanted. From that day onward I was to be his woman.”
“I’ll kill him,” Patrick growled.
“No! He is a dangerous man.” Her hands gripped his. “You can never go near him.”
“He’s a dangerous man,” Stephen said, drawing Sophie’s eyes back to him. “Have no fear that this Jack Spode is any match for Patrick.”
Her eyes turned back to him, and he saw the doubt, but she didn’t voice her concerns.
“My father was incoherent with fever, but I asked him anyway to tell me if this was true. He opened his eyes long enough to tell me it was, and that he was sorry.”
Patrick handed her his handkerchief, and she gripped it with both hands but did not use it to wipe her tears.
“Tell us the rest,” Patrick said. “All of it.”
She exhaled slowly and then finished her story. “After Jack had gone, I stayed with my parents until they passed the following morning. Then I went back to Monmouth and Timmy. Letty and the staff had cared for him for me.”
“I’ve always liked Lady Carstairs,” Stephen said.
Sophie nodded. “She is wonderful.”
“Tell us what he did,” Patrick told her.
“Jack was waiting for me as I walked into Monmouth one day. He grabbed me and threw me to the ground. I-I fought him,and just when I thought it was over and that he would do what he wished with me, I found a rock and hit him with it.”
“Good girl,” Patrick said. “What did you do then?” He fought the rage that flowed through his veins. She needed him to be in control.
“I ran back to Monmouth. A note from Jack arrived two days later, and it said I would pay for what I had done to him. But now it is Timmy and Mary who are paying,” she whispered.
“We will find him, Sophie,” Stephen said as Patrick moved away from her to sit behind his desk. Pulling out paper, he started writing notes. Contacts, he had plenty of those, and right now he was reaching out to them.
He would find this Jack Spode, and then he would pay for scaring her. That she was important to Patrick had become clearer tonight. He would get her brother back, and then they would speak of the future… their future.
CHAPTER 23
As the carriage carried them back through the dark London streets, Sophie wondered what Patrick and Lord Sumner could do to find Timmy. Surely they could never track down a man such as Jack Spode, who would know people here—and not nice people. Criminals and villains. Men who preyed on others. She stroked Doddy’s head as he leaned on her legs. He’d been such a brave boy tonight.
“You must go straight to Lady Carstairs, Sophie, and tell her of Timmy’s abduction. We will come to you as soon as we either have Timmy or have news of him,” Patrick said from beside her.
He’d not turned from her when she’d told him the truth, but she doubted after this was done that he’d want anything more to do with her, and she was all right with that as long as she had her brother back.I have to be.
Patrick made her believe everything would be all right, and that wasn’t a feeling anyone had really given her before. Letty, yes, but not completely. Sophie had always felt she was one step away from disaster, but with him, it was different now. She felt safe with him.
“But how will you find them?” she asked. “If it is Jack Spode, he will have many contacts and?—”
“As you have entrusted us with your secrets, perhaps it is time we shared one of ours,” Lord Sumner said. “Patrick and I did not just fight for our country, Sophie. We infiltrated our enemies and often spent months behind enemy lines. We’re experienced in getting information from people, and finding Jack Spode should not prove too difficult with the contacts we know here in London.”
Amelia had hinted at that.
“Have we shocked you silent, Sophie?” Patrick asked.
