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This situation made no sense. Who could be so angry with him, yet they waited a minimum of five months to enact their revenge? Had his nuptials triggered their anger? And how had they known or reacted so swiftly? He himself only knew he would wed mere days before the event. Unless they had known about his search for a bride and been lying in wait to pounce.

Richard’s head swirled with the possibilities.

Drat! He needed a drink! Not the damn tepid tea he had been sipping since his wedding day, but a real drink!

Sophia was so livid when she stormed out of Richard’s study that she took herself back to the Morelands’, inviting herself to dinner because her earlier visit had disclosed the family’s plans to stay in for the evening.

Smiling and forcing small talk gave her a megrim. Light glinting off the silver and crystal at the dinner table caused it to worsen into a sharp, throbbing pain until she was forced to massage her neck despite her aunt’s disapproving stare at her unladylike behavior.

The moment dinner was finished, she grabbed her cousin Lily by the hand to drag her to the library, where the last slivers of sunlight were visible through the windows.

“Lily, the man is so frustrating! Attempting to send me to the country to rusticate with Ethan while he remains in town. Is he trying to get rid of me?”

Lily’s face showed her concern. “I do not think so, cousin. I think he fears on your behalf.”

“Did I make a mistake?”

Lily’s elfin face scrunched in confusion. “What mistake?”

“Should I not have married him? Did I make a mistake in my choice of husband?”

Lily sighed. “I do not think so. This situation will resolve, but you need to give it time—give Lord Saunton time to straighten it out. Why so impatient, Sophia? You are one of the most level-headed people I know.”

Sophia sighed, lifting a hand to knead the stiff muscles in her neck. “I am afraid. My feelings for the earl are growing. At first, his crusade to redeem his honor was so exciting, but now I fear …”

“What is it?”

“I worry that the only reason he married me was that I somehow represented this crusade. What am I to him, merely a talisman or a … moral compass of some sort? An ethical lodestone, if you will? What if that is all I am to him? What if he resolves his quest and loses his interest in me once he no longer needs me?”

“Silly goose! No man could lose interest in you once you got your hooks in him! You are one of the cleverest, most interesting people I know. Your mind bends around problems to solve them. Look how you sorted out the debacle with Lord Leech. It was perfection. The man was thoroughly outwitted. Nay, your husband will only grow more attached to you over time.”

Sophia shot a sideways glance at her petite cousin sitting beside her on the library sofa. “Truly?”

Lily snorted inelegantly. “Of course. When will you inform the man that you are in love with him?”

Sophia stiffened in ire. “What do you mean?”

“You are independent and do not care a whit about other people’s opinions on how you should live your life. But here you sit, lamenting about what you mean to the earl, and will he lose interest in you? Clearly you have fallen in love with the man, just as I predicted.”

“No … it is not true. I merely care about him …” Sophia squeezed her eyes shut in agony. Her cousin was correct. She did love her stupid husband. It had been inevitable from the moment he had expressed his desire and will to change. When he stated his admiration and admitted how she had inspired his crusade to redeem his honor, she was smitten with the daft man.

She admired his courage and his drive; and she appreciated his fine looks and his sense of humor. He made her feel safe when she had never allowed herself to rely on anyone because of the havoc her parents had wreaked on their lives. And his affection for his son, whom he acknowledged without hesitation despite the scandal it brought into his life, was commendable. Richard accepted the mantle of responsibility without complaint, and even now worked tirelessly to find a solution to their troubles.

And he does not trust me to assist him.

It saddened Sophia that he would not accept her help, but she admitted her cousin had made a good point earlier that day. She must accept his help if she expected him to do the same. They needed to engage in a proper discussion.

Lily prodded a sharp elbow into her side, causing Sophia to yelp in pain. “But enough about you and your woolgathering. I have a problem of my own.”

“You shame me, cousin. I have forced my problems on you for days now.”

“Do not be ridiculous. There was no force. But this is about me, so are you ready to stay silent and listen to my troubles?”

Sophia gave a nod. Lily settled deeper into the sofa and sighed. “Mama is relentless. Now that you are married, she has turned her full attentions to me. If she had her way, I will be married to a gentleman I barely know by the end of the week. I am not strong like you, Sophia!”

“Stuff and nonsense!”

Lily wrinkled her nose to stare up at Sophia, who felt like a veritable giant towering over her delicate cousin.