“Have you shamed your family?” his uncle asked sternly.
“Not directly. But I have betrayed a trust. And it is something I wish most earnestly to repair.”
The earl leaned forward, steepling his fingers to his lips. “This sounds like a serious matter, Nephew. I can understand that it has taken your mind from our endeavor here.”
“These are all reasons why I need to rid myself of the secret. And take accountability for my actions.”
His uncle nodded sagely. “That is no less than I expect from you. Let’s have it, then. I promise to listen and not judge unfairly.”
Tobias groaned within. Why couldn’t his uncle be more of a cad? He should shout his disappointment and beat his worthless nephew’s back with a rod. That would be easier to bear. Instead, his uncle was breaking his heart with kindness.
He dipped his toe in the shallow end of the story, easing his uncle into the sordid details. “It has to do with the poetry reading,” he began.
Uncle Edmund’s pleasant demeanor shifted. “Does this matter affect the viscount? He is not only an important man, Tobias. He is my friend.”
“No, not at all! The fact that Lord Howell had little to no success finding his match at that gathering had nothing to do with me!” He heard the defensiveness in his own voice and remembered where his guilt lay. “Er…however…the presence of Miss Sangford was my fault entirely.”
“Miss Sangford?” The earl’s brows knitted together. “What does she have to do with anything?”
The chair felt hard and uncomfortable. Tobias shifted his weight without relief. His skin grew hot and prickly. He needed to be rid of this secret! He sucked in his breath, then poured out the story all in a rush.
“She wanted to meet you, but she’s a terrible person, all malice and manipulation. The very idea of her sidling up to you, let alone marriage! I shudder at the thought. I should’ve saidno, but she wouldn’t let me. She hasn’t a virtuous bone in her body. She gave me no choice. And Sophia would have borne the brunt of it.”
As Tobias hurtled toward the truth, he knew he was going about it with no sense of direction. He threw the facts out into the universe as the memories came to him. It was a haphazard course, and he could only hope his uncle would be able to make sense of it.
“Sophia’s father would have found out,” he stumbled on. “She was terrified. So we arranged for the poetry reading to throw her off. That is, Miss Sangford, not Sophia. I wouldn’t want to be rid of Sophia. But you knew that. And I couldn’t tell you, otherwise she—Miss Sangford—would write a letter filled with enough truth and added lies to destroy my chances.”
He stopped, panting.
His uncle sat, stupefied, his mouth slightly open in a pose that was mildly undignified and utterly confused. Then he blinked and shook his head.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t understand a word of that. I thought you and Miss Sangford were not previously acquainted. And what has she to do with Mr. Grant?”
“Sophia and I met her at her sister’s wedding.”
“Her sister is married? That is a welcome development. Odd that I did not see the banns.”
“Um, well, she…that is to say…she eloped.”
“I see.” There was a pause. The earl’s voice grew softer. “That must have been hard for her father.”
“Apparently, he did not approve for some reason.”
“There may have been no reason.”
Tobias cocked his head to the side. “That doesn’t make sense, Uncle.”
“Nevertheless, it is likely true. And you say you attended this wedding?”
“With Sophia, yes.”
“And you met Miss Sangford there? Is she a friend of the family? As I understand it, Miss Grant specifically invited her to the poetry reading.”
“No.” Tobias gritted his teeth. The memory of that she-devil was still very fresh in his mind. She had come so close to tearing him and Sophia apart. A vicious, unfeeling woman who would have as pleasantly destroyed anything in her path as sipped a cup of tea. “No,” Tobias repeated. “She is a friend to no one. Certainly not friendship of the kind you or I would undertake.”
“And yet she was at the wedding?”
“She was at the church with a fr… a person as ill-suited to friendship as herself. They had an appointment with the vicar. And she recognized Sophia’s sister. She quickly deduced the rest.”
