Page 24 of A Stranger’s Gamble

Sophie started from her thoughts at hearing Adam’s voice.

He leaned close and still had to almost shout to be heard. “Are you all right?”

Her cheeks warmed, and she prayed any flush that might have appeared on her cheeks he would mistake as a reaction to the warm room.

“I am fine,” she said.

He hesitated, as if uncertain, then motioned to the maid for more oysters and refills on their porter. Sophie ate and drank more, though her taste for the party had suddenly soured. She didn’t ask him to dance again, and neither did he ask her. Were his thoughts on the fine lady? Had they made an assignation for later, after he rid himself of Sophie? She suddenly wanted to go home but couldn’t think of how to tell him without arousing suspicion.

Suspicion of what? She didn’t care if he met the woman. He could meet with a dozen women. Sophie opened her mouth to tell him she was ready to leave when a cheerful female voice cut through the air.

“There you are.” Ann plopped down into a chair next to Sophie and leaned back with a sigh. “I fear I shall collapse from exhaustion.” She groaned. “I shall have to be carried home. Already my feet protest at the mere thought of standing.”

“Then I shall carry you to your coach,” Adam said.

The stab of jealousy that seemed to pierce clear to Sophie’s soul surprised her.

Ann laughed. “I wouldn’t dream of taking you from your Beatrice’s side, my dear lad.” She nodded at a group of men clustered at the end of the near-empty oyster table. “That lot over there are wagering which one of them can win my attention for the evening.” She leaned closer to Sophie. “I believe the lad to the far right is smitten with you. He is a fine male specimen. Do you not agree?”

Sophie coughed.

Adam shot Ann a narrow-eyed glance, then stood. “The hour is far too late. We should be going.”

“Then carry me to my carriage, and I will give you a ride.” Ann fanned her cheeks. “But you’ll have to carry me, chair and all. I fear I cannot move.”

“I shall see you safely to your coach, but Beatrice and I shall walk in the moonlight,” Adam politely said.

“Walk?” Ann shuddered. “Have you no fear of Major Weir?”

Adam snorted. “I have nothing to fear of your ghost tales.”

Ghosts? Sophie glanced around the room. “Major Weir?”

“I heard the racket myself, on a night such as this,” she said, clearly warming to her tale. “Nigh on a month ago. Before Hogmanay. I left the party before my husband and in only the company of my maid. We had not yet walked a dozen paces from the door when a great howling filled the air. Rumor has it, footpads set upon Major Weir and stabbed him to death. He mourns for he left behind a wife who was to bear him their first child.”

“Utter nonsense,” Adam said.

“You don’t believe me?” Ann asked, a challenge in her voice.

“That sounds thrilling,” Sophie said in breathless wonder.

“I quite like you, Beatrice.” Ann patted her hand. “Perhaps I will meet you at the theater? It’s not London, but it’s better than nothing. Now, I must be going.” With a laugh, she sprang to her feet and skipped across the dance floor with no difficulty at all.

“Who is she?” Sophie asked. “She’s such a delightful soul.”

“Remember, here we leave rank behind,” Adam said.

Sophie’s heart sank. The partygoers might leave their titles at the door, but they still had them.

Adam grasped her arm and pulled her to her feet, then led her across the room. They had nearly reached the stairs when a woman halted directly in their path. The woman was everything Sophie wasn’t. Tall and fair with a willowy figure to make the angels cry, and a grace she must have inherited from Aphrodite herself. Sophie suddenly felt like a twelve-year-old girl pretending to be a woman. Adam met the woman’s gaze, and all the warmth in his expression vanished.

“Adam,” she said in a husky voice Sophie was certain would drive men wild.

He grasped Sophie’s hand and pulled her forward. She stumbled. Adam shot his arm around her waist and yanked her to his side. She snapped her head up. His gaze remained straight ahead, his mouth a thin line as he continued toward the stairs. Upon reaching them, he urged her ahead of him. Sophie took two steps, looked back at him, and caught sight of the woman, who shifted her gaze from Adam to Sophie. Adam stepped up onto the stair beneath Sophie and blocked her view. She looked down at him, but in the dim light she discerned only shadows. Another couple halted at the bottom of the stairs. Adam gently urged Sophie to continue upward.

They reached the upper level, and Adam pushed open the door and allowed her to precede him. Sophie stepped out into the cool night. The clear sky allowed the moon to shine brightly. A chill wind whipped the tendrils of her hair that had come free of its pins. Carriages waiting for their owners formed a line three blocks long. Patrons of the oyster cellar exited and headed toward their carriages. Adam placed Sophie’s hand in the crook of his arm, and she allowed him to steer her around a small group, then began walking toward home.

Sophie looked out of the side of her eye at him. He still had his mouth pressed into a thin line. Curiosity burned hot. Who was the woman to have so quickly changed his mood from carefree to…what? Dark? Dared she ask him about the woman? Did she really want the answer? It was clear the woman meant something to him—or once did, at any rate—and things hadn’t ended well. Sophie recalled the look on the woman’s face when she’d stared at Adam. She had seemed…curious.