Drakeston leaned close, his breath warm against her ear. “You do not give me orders, Lady Sophia. You would do well to remember your place.”
He straightened, donned his mask of gentility, and strolled away as if they had exchanged nothing more than pleasantries about the weather.
Sophia’s hands trembled. She turned to her mother, found her pale and shaken, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“Come, Mama. Let us find somewhere to sit.”
As she guided her mother toward the shade, she felt eyes upon her. She glanced back.
The Duke of Heatherwell stood at the edge of the crowd, watching her.
When their gazes met, he looked away.
But not before Sophia saw something in his expression that looked almost like concern.
CHAPTER 5
“You are being unnecessarily cruel to the woman.”
Edward swirled the brandy in his glass, watching the amber liquid catch the firelight.
Hugo’s study was warm and comfortable, lined with books that Edward suspected his friend had never read. The evening had grown late, and the brandy had grown low, and somewhere between the second and third glass, Edward had explained the arrangement with Lady Sophia.
Not all of it. Not the part about Lady Fairhart.
“I am being practical.” Edward took a drink. “She appeared at my door, demanded access to my nephew, and expected me to simply hand the boy over. I offered her a compromise.”
“A compromise that requires her to find you a wife.” Hugo stretched his legs toward the fire, his own glass dangling fromhis fingers. “In exchange for supervised visits with a child she has known since birth. That is not a compromise, Edward. That is extortion.”
“I do not trust her.”
“Why not? By your own account, she was Jane’s closest friend. She has known the boy for years. What reason could you have for keeping her at arm’s length?”
Edward’s jaw tightened. He stared into the fire, watching the flames dance and twist. “She lurks around London at night. In places no respectable woman should be.”
Hugo’s eyebrows rose. “I beg your pardon?”
“The night before I received news of Leonard’s death, I found her near the tavern where I box. Surrounded by cutthroats in a back alley at four in the morning.”
Hugo sat up straighter, his interest visibly piqued. “How intriguing. And what was she doing there?”
“She refused to say.”
“Perhaps she was returning from a tryst.” Hugo’s lips curved into a knowing smile. “A secret lover. A forbidden assignation. It would explain the secrecy and the unsavory location.”
“No.” The word came out sharper than Edward intended. His grip tightened on his glass. “It was not a tryst. I know that for certain.”
Hugo tilted his head. “And how, exactly, do you know that?”
Edward hesitated. He could not reveal the truth without exposing Lady Sophia’s secret, and despite everything, he had no desire to destroy her reputation. The realization irritated him.
“She was alone when I found her.” He kept his voice flat. “No companion. Whatever her business, it was not romantic.”
Hugo studied him for a long moment. Edward could see the questions forming behind those shrewd eyes, the pieces his friend was trying to fit together. But Hugo, for all his frivolity, knew when not to push.
“Very well.” Hugo settled back in his chair. “I won’t press. But I feel compelled to point out a certain hypocrisy in your position.”
“What hypocrisy?”
