“No.” She shook her head. “I knew you had fought, just not to what degree. Thank you on behalf of our country.”
“Thank you,” they both said solemnly.
“Now, I think you should call me Stephen, Sophie,” he added, “as I’m sure we are now friends.” His smile came easily, unlike the man’s beside her. “We also share secrets. I suggest we have a pact of sorts.”
“A pact?” she asked.
“Patrick and I will carry your secret in here”—Stephen tapped his head—“if you promise to carry ours the same way.”
“I will, of course, carry your secret safely, my lords,” she said, looking first at Stephen, then Patrick. “But surely what I have told you is far worse, and once it is common knowledge that I was a servant, you will wish to distance yourself?—”
“Friends do not abandon friends, Sophie,” Stephen said firmly.
“Then thank you, Stephen,” Sophie said.
She looked out the window as the carriage slowed and was relieved to see the Monmouth town house was still in darkness. She made a decision as Patrick moved to open the door—a decision neither man would be happy with.
“I will come with you.”
“Absolutely not!” Stephen said.
Patrick just said, “No.”
“Timmy is my brother. He will need me to be there when you find him,” she said calmly, which wasn’t how she felt inside. But yelling or getting upset was not going to get her what she wanted.
“We are going into the most dangerous parts of London, Sophie. Areas frequented by those who would slit your throat before asking what you want.”
“I understand that, Patrick, but I will still be going with you. You can both be assured I will follow your lead, and I’ll stay in the carriage when you say I must—but I will accompany you.”
“Absolutely not,” Patrick gritted out. “It is far too dangerous.”
“Unlike the women of your acquaintance, I was not raised to this life,” Sophie said. “I was raised poor?—”
“In a village,” he interrupted her. “The answer is no. Now, we are wasting time, so get out of the carriage and let me escort you inside.” He threw open the door and waved for her to step down.
“Look, I understand that you think I can’t help you, but firstly, I know what Jack Spode looks like, and secondly, I want to be there when you find my brother.”
“You are not going near that man again.” Patrick’s words came out a growl.
“If you make me get out of this carriage, I will run until I find a hackney and look for you.” Sophie inched farther back in her seat as she spoke. She was not backing down from this. “It is my right to come. In fact, had I not run to you, I would even now be walking the streets of London, searching for Timmy and Mary.”
Patrick hissed out an angry breath. “Be reasonable, Sophie. How am I to concentrate on Timmy’s safe return if I must worry about you?” Patrick said and was rewarded with a nod of encouragement from the now-silent Stephen when she looked his way.
“I was a servant, Patrick. I know about villains and thieves and the seedy side of life.”
“And again, I will add, you lived in a small village.”
“Where I worked in the local tavern at nights cleaning. Where I earned money going with my father to help him cheat in card games because I was far better at counting than him.” She hated that memory because she’d helped her father take money that he hadn’t earned.
“No.”
“I am, in fact, far better equipped to walk into seedy places than either of you,” Sophie added, raising her chin.
“That’s a ridiculous thing to say,” Patrick scoffed, which had her own anger rising.
“We are wasting time,” Sophie said, folding her arms.
“I could just pick you up and carry you inside,” he snapped back at her.
