Next, her father indicated the earl. “I don’t know if you recognize Lord Carthige. We had him to dinner when you were just a girl. I should say your mother had him to dinner. As I’m sure everyone knows, I have always preferred to be a private man.”
“That is precisely why I remember you, my lord,” Sophia added. “Guests here are a rarity and therefore always make an impression on me.”
Lord Carthige offered a wry smile. “I am grateful to be remembered. Not that I deserve it. I have been equally remiss with my dinner invitations.”
“Do not worry yourself, my lord. I would have been unable to attend them. You are quite safe from us in your seclusion.”
“I am no longer as cut off from society as I once was, Miss Grant.” He indicated to Tobias. “My nephew, Mr. Tobias Mannerly, has kindly provided me with his company and a shared love of books.”
To Tobias’s complete and utter astonishment, his uncle leaned in a bit closer to Sophia and took on a tone that was both conspiratorial and teasing. “What I had not counted on, is his equal love for conversation. I do not mind a critique on the volumes we are cataloguing, but Mr. Mannerly enjoys a lively debate on a much wider range of topics. I am unused to it. And yet, it is not entirely unpleasant. However, today, with so many people in attendance, he might have his fill. Perhaps, if we can exhaust him, I will be spared this evening.”
And then, to Tobias’s horror and delight, his uncle winked at Sophia.Winked. Edmund Stopford, Earl of Carthige, notorious hermit and shunner of fellow humans, hadwinkedat a young woman.
Sophia laughed and clapped her hands. “You have my sympathies, Lord Carthige! It sounds absolutely terrible. But I will say you bear it bravely.”
At these words, the earl straightened up. “Well now, Nephew, the lady has been warned. Do your worst.”
Sophia turned her dancing eyes upon Tobias. And he found he had absolutely nothing to say.
There was much hewantedto say. How wonderful it was to see her without meeting in secret. How she looked radiant, as always. How his uncle was full of surprises. He racked his brain for something he might be permitted to say aloud.Embarrassingly, he came up with very little except, “I am a great admirer, Miss Grant. Of your works, I mean. I am thankful my uncle’s invitation was extended to include me.”
“Thank you, Mr. Mannerly. I wonder—since you are so well-read, and more willing to express those opinions, as your uncle has indicated—whether you would look over my list of poems I have chosen for the reading? My father professes to love them all equally, which is impossible and also unhelpful. I do not wish to disappoint our guests. Will you speak honestly and tell me whether I have chosen well?”
“It would be my honor,” Tobias replied. “Though I might be in agreement with Mr. Grant.”
“I shall be very disappointed if you are,” Sophia warned. Then, as her father turned away to continue the introductions of the other guests to the viscount, she whispered, “She’s not here.”
Tobias was startled by the unexpected comment. “Who?”
“Miss Sangford. I sent her the invitation and she accepted. All a bit of a farce, really, since she demanded it in the first place. And now she’s not here.”
Tobias surveyed the room. There were a few taller ladies present, but none with the distinctive spindly limbs and pinched expression. He was not surprised. The other guests had been handpicked. Miss Sangford would most assuredly not have been on the viscount’s list. “She probably wants to make a grand entrance,” he told Sophia. “You know, arrive at the last minute so all heads will turn to acknowledge her. There really wouldn’t be any other way for my uncle to take note of her.”
“What if she doesn’t come?” Sophia fretted. “What if something has prevented her? Will she still keep our secret? I have no other plan if this one fails.”
“Miss Sangford would not miss this opportunity to further her own cause. She would neglect her closest friend’s wedding if it meant arranging her own. Not that she stands a chance.”
“I hope you’re right. I don’t know what unsettles me more: worrying about her being here or worrying about her not being here.”
“I don’t think you have a choice anymore,” Tobias remarked, straightening up. “Look who has come to try her luck at fishing for a husband.”
Chapter Seventeen
Even from herseated position on the far side of the room, Sophia could make out the unmistakable figure of Miss Irene Sangford. Their adversary had gone to a lot of trouble to make herself appealing. She certainly was very clever. Instead of feathers and gem-studded silver, which were favored by young women keen to show off their wealth, Miss Sangford had chosen a single velvet ribbon at her neck. It was simple and elegant, designed to attract a very particular sort of man to whom money was irrelevant.
Her dress, too, was classical rather than ostentatious. It suggested taste. This, the ensemble told the observer, was a woman of quality. She was not here to impress, but to quietly sip from the cup of culture. Sophia had to hand it to her. She was no amateur.
In keeping with her pretense, Miss Sangford ignored the eligible gentlemen present and made a beeline for Sophia. She pasted an expression of pure joy upon her face as she approached, and said, a little too loudly, “Miss Grant! Thank yousomuch for the invitation. I was meant to be away in Steeples with my family. But when I heard you were doing a reading of your poems, I simply had to come! My parents have generously delayed their travels until next week so that I might attend.”
It was such an outrageous lie that Sophia momentarily forgot the risk of calling her out on it.
“Did your parents not wish to join us, since such sacrifice was made to be here?” she inquired.
Miss Sangford’s smile froze. It was discarded in favor of a slow, sad shake of the head. “Alas, my mother is fatigued from all the arrangements that have been made. And my father never attends a social gathering without her. They are very devoted to each other, you know. I can only hope to have a marriage half as happy as theirs.”
Unable to fake a modest blush, she opted for tilting her fan coyly at her face, as if hiding the non-existent surge of color in her face.
Sophia was both disgusted and impressed. The woman was a master actress, albeit one with no scruples. If Lord Carthige hadn’t been a confirmed bachelor, he would have been easy prey.
