A small smile perched on Sophie’s lips. “He doesn’t have a good opinion of your family.”
Phillip rocked back and forth on his heels. “I cannot blame him.”
“But then I pointed out that we’ve all made mistakes. His is named Valentina.”
Relief swept through Phillip and a smile spread across his face. He stepped toward Sophie, intent on scooping her into his arms. “Does this mean—?”
She stopped him with a finger to the chest. “Not so fast. First, you must promise me you will always put me first, treasure me, and most importantly…trust me.”
“Of course,” he agreed.
“And second, my father asked me to insist you never put me in harm’s way again.”
“Never!” Phillip vowed.
Sophie continued to point her finger at him. “Third, I do not want a huge wedding. Huge weddings are far too formal. Everyone is on their best behavior. No one wears too many feathers to a huge wedding. They wear them to small weddings.”
“We’ll have the least formal wedding a duke and duchess ever had,” he promised, nodding and laughing. “With all the feathers you’d like.”
“I will not wear any, of course,” Sophie replied, grinning back at him, “but I expect Lady Cranberry to do so. In fact, I may send her some.”
“I’ll write it on her invitation myself,” Phillip vowed.
“Perfect.” Sophie laughed before crossing her arms over her chest and lifting one brow. “I must say, your friends are quite insistent when they want to be. Apparently, Lord Bellingham is usually the one who delivers the speeches, but Thea was quite effective as well.”
“Thea is a great friend,” Phillip replied, making a mental note to buy Thea whatever she fancied the next time he saw her.
“Yes, she has vowed to be as loyal to me as she’s been to you,” Sophie continued. “She even volunteered to go to the Tower and visit Valentina with me before I left town.”
Phillip’s eyes flew open wide. “You visited Valentina?”
Smiling, Sophie reached out and petted Alabaster’s nose again. “I couldn’t resist. I took pleasure in informing her of what an idiot she is because the untitled man I was in love with—the one she told me to forget three years ago—is now the Duke of Harlowe.”
Phillip threw back his head and laughed. “I would have loved to have seen her face when you told her that.”
“You’ll have to pay her a visit at the Tower next time you’re in town,” Sophie replied.
Phillip shook his head. “No. I don’t care if I ever see her again. I intend to spend my days in the country from now on. Where there are no dramatics.”
“I don’t blame you.” Sophie became quiet. “Phillip, I hope you realize that Malcolm’s death had nothing to do with you. Valentina is insane. It was her choice to turn murderous.”
Phillip expelled his breath. “I do know that now…because of you.”
“You could even say it was my fault,” Sophie continued. “If Valentina hadn’t been so set on seeing me married to a duke, Malcolm might still be alive.”
“No, Sophie. It’s just as you said. Valentina is mad. And it was Malcolm’s misfortune to have ever crossed paths with her. According to Bell, she was so obsessed with my brother, she might have still planned to murder both of us if I’d returned sooner.”
“Valentina is where she belongs,” Sophie replied.
“Sophie.” Phillip stepped toward her and took her hand. He looked her in the eye. “I cannot promise you I won’t ever go mute again.”
Sophie nodded. “It makes perfect sense that you couldn’t speak. Didn’t you tell me you were found on the battlefield by two English soldiers?”
“Yes,” Phillip answered.
“I’m certain you were terrified. You had to be entirely quiet—despite the ungodly amount of pain you were no doubt in—because the slightest noise might have given you away before you realized who the soldiers were. You could have been killed for making a noise, Phillip. No wonder you went mute.”
Phillip closed his eyes and clasped Sophie’s hands with his more tightly. “You’re right, Sophie. I never thought of that.”
