Page 40 of A Stranger’s Gamble

“That’s all right, miss. You have had a trying evening.”

Sophie released Beatrice’s hands and leaned against the couch back. “This is all my fault—except the part about the marquess thinking he’s going to marry me. That is my father’s fault. I won’t marry.”

“As I said before, Lord Monthemer does seem to be a decent sort,” Beatrice said. “The man with him was very pleasant—not that his lordship wasn’t pleasant, but he was a bit stern.”

“How is that a ‘decent sort’?” Sophie demanded.

“I have seen much worse, miss.”

“That is not a glowing recommendation,” Sophie muttered, then regarded Beatrice. “Was your last employer that bad?”

“My most previous employer wasn’t too terribly bad, but the one before him was—or his son was, at any rate.”

Sophie didn’t have to ask what that meant. Servants—female servants—were too much at the mercy of their male masters.

Sophie patted Beatrice’s hand. “You need never worry about such things again. You will stay with me forever.”

“Not if your father discovers I have been helping you sneak out and disguise yourself as a man.”

Sophie couldn’t help a laugh. “He would not be pleased.”

Beatrice paled.

“Easy there, Bea. I know my father well. He can be pigheaded about silly things.”

“Like insisting you marry?”

Sophie narrowed her eyes. “Yes, like insisting I marry. But he would never send you away. He knows what you mean to me.”