Page 25 of A Stranger’s Gamble

“Sophie? Sophie? Is that you?”

Sophie jarred at hearing a woman call her name.

“Sophie?”

Sophie tensed. She would know that high pitched nasally voice anywhere. Jane Goodman, an Englishwoman with a voracious taste for gossip. Sophie ducked her head and quickened her pace.

“What is amiss?” Adam demanded.

“Amiss?” Sophie winced inwardly. She would have thought him too much in his dark mood to notice her.

They turned the corner as she racked her brain for a response. Sophie slowed at sight of three women standing on the street corner.

“I don’t recall a river here this morning,” one said on a gasp as she pointed to the shadow cast by the church steeple across the street.

The women tottered back a step, giggling behind their hands.

“Can we wade across it?” one asked.

Sophie couldn’t repress a laugh.

“You can wade across,” Adam called out. “It’s not too deep.”

“You are certain?” the first woman asked.

“I am,” he replied with deep gravity.

The women sat on the sidewalk, and Sophie and Adam stared as they took off their shoes and stockings. They scrambled back to their feet, hiked up their skirts, and began to pick their way across the street.

“The respectable dames clearly had a little too much to drink,” Adam murmured.

“I hope they don’t forget to put their shoes back on,” Sophie said as the women continued down the sidewalk on the other side.

Adam remained silent, and Sophie found she could think of nothing else to say. She’d been convinced Adam had enjoyed her company during the party, but it was now clear she had been nothing but a distraction. Isn’t that what he was? It wasn’t as if she intended to see him again once she returned home. But that was different than using someone to forget a past love. Wasn’t it?

“Perhaps I should take a hackney the rest of the way,” Sophie said.

He looked down at her and frowned. Then his expression cleared. “I am ignoring you. Forgive me.”

“There is nothing to forgive. We have had a lovely time, and you must be tired.”

“Not at all,” he replied. “Besides, it isn’t safe for a lady alone, even in a hackney.”

She laughed. “Lady? I’m no lady. I’m a lady’s companion.”

“Being a lady has a great deal more to do with a woman’s morals and virtue than it does money, lass. You are a lady. I will escort you home. If you tire of my company, I will remain quiet.”

She groaned. “Please, no. That is exactly what I wish to avoid. I suppose I shouldn’t complain. I had a grand time tonight.” She simply hadn’t expected the night to end on such a low note.

They turned down Lacy Street, and Sophie halted under the meager light of the streetlamp. “Oh dear,” she said.

Adam stopped and turned toward her. “What is wrong?”

“The river runs deep here, does it not?” She waved a hand in the direction of the street as a carriage slowly passed.

Adam frowned. “What?”

Sophie looked up at him. “I suppose I could take off my shoes like the other ladies did.”