Sophia wanted to bang her forehead against the rock wall.“We have dug ourselves a hole with our deceit, haven’t we?”
Mildred shrugged.“Go, so you do not jeopardize your employment with Mrs.Digby.I will be fine.”
Unable to come up with an alternative, Sophia turned for the door.“I suppose there is no danger to you from the smugglers during daylight hours.Perhaps when we meet on the beach with Miss Burrell this afternoon, the three of us can come up with something.”
* * *
At breakfast, Sophia spoke only when addressed.Her attention was splintered between the shock of finding smuggled goods in the tunnel and all that it entailed, and listening and watching Mr.Huntley and Lord Fairfax.She’d heard them sing before last night, but not with such power and range.Selfish of her, given the danger Mildred could now be in, but Sophia really wanted time at the pianoforte with her composition.She’d almost gone downstairs last night before bed.Only the fact Ruby had already helped her prepare for bed had kept her in her chamber.She wouldn’t risk being seen by either man in just her nightclothes.
Or in the case of Fairfax, seen in her nightclothesagain.
Her cheeks heated at the memory of their very first meeting, in her dark bedchamber.
Did he ever think about it?
She forced the thought from her mind when Mrs.Digby had to clear her throat a second time to get Sophia’s attention in the library.In the widow’s memoir they were up to April 1775, garrisoned near the Charles River not far from the city of Boston, under the command of Major Pitcairn.
Mrs.Digby paused often as she read her journal entries from that month, her expression clouded.There were days in a row she hadn’t written at all and several more with just a few lines, too exhausted after helping care for those wounded at the battle of Lexington.
“I’m going to have a tray sent up to my room,” Mrs.Digby said when they would normally be going into the dining room together.“We will take this up again tomorrow morning.I am sure you can amuse yourself until then.”
“Are you feeling quite the thing?”
Mrs.Digby’s cheeks were paler than usual, and her shoulders drooped with the weight of what she had seen in the aftermath of battle.She patted Sophia on the back.“Nothing a few hours in the arms of Morpheus cannot cure.”She was just about to reach for the door when it suddenly opened, and Lord Fairfax filled the frame.
“Am I correct in guessing you ladies are ready to take a break from your endeavors?”
Mrs.Digby straightened her spine.“You are.”
“Excellent!”Fairfax clapped his hands together twice.“Matthew and I were reminiscing and realized it has been far too long since either of us have had one of Mrs.Renwick’s delicious pies.We have determined we must remedy that right away.Would you two like to join us?I have already taken the liberty of asking for the landau to be hitched.”
“Dining in town, in the company of two handsome young men?”The weariness seemed to fall away from Mrs.Digby like shedding a cloak.“What an excellent idea.I will just ask for my wrap and bonnet.I wonder where Agnes has got to?She is equally fond of Mrs.Renwick’s pies.”
Mr.Huntley was waiting for them in the hall.“Aunt Agnes is painting some of the blooms by the water fountain.She said she would join us this evening.”
“The box of paints she ordered from London arrived this morning,” Fairfax added.
Mrs.Digby chuckled.“We won’t pry her away from her brushes for hours.Let’s go, boys!”
Within the quarter hour, Sophia sat next to Mrs.Digby in the open carriage, Mr.Huntley and Lord Fairfax across from them in the rearward-facing seats.She tried to enjoy the journey as Bickford drove the carriage, to distract herself from the niggling worry that this excursion was going to make her late for meeting Theo and Mildred on the beach.Oh, and not stare hungrily at Lord Fairfax.
On her first trip between Sidmouth and Hobart Grange, she had been too nervous about starting her new job to fully appreciate the stunning views.The lane they followed twisted and turned to follow the coastline.They passed through deep forest here, with colorful rhododendron blooms brightening the shadows, to open views of the Channel there, where the sudden breeze threatened to blow her bonnet to the next county.
Sophia had taught at Madame Zavrina’s Torquay Academy for Ladies for the past six years and often spent her time off walking along the beach.Yet the sight of the Channel never failed to make her pulse race and bring a smile to her face.Especially after two months of living with her cousin inland in Tiverton, where she hadn’t even seen seagulls.
Fairfax occasionally grabbed at his curly brimmed beaver hat to keep the breeze from making off with it, and made no attempt to keep his long, black hair from his eyes other than the occasional shake of his head.She would not stare at how the sun made it gleam, or think about how she wanted to run her fingers through the undoubtedly silky strands.
The road curved closer to the beach.With no trees to block the wind, Mr.Huntley’s hat suddenly blew off.Lord Fairfax was quick to catch it and hand it back.With a shrug, both gentlemen removed their hats and held them on their laps for the rest of the short trip.
Soon the four of them were being ushered into the public dining room of the Sidmouth Inn.They had arrived in the side yard, as the front courtyard was dotted with tables and chairs reserved for guests enjoying the view of the Channel.Just a stone’s throw away, steps led down to the beach, a sandy oasis where the ground gently dipped down to the waves before rising again in the hills on either side, rocks littering the shore.Were there caves over there, too?
Unlike the coaching inn where Sophia had arrived, this was apparently a favorite dining spot of locals.Ivy nearly covered the warm brick walls.Heavy oak timbers around the door and window frames bespoke centuries of use.Mrs.Digby stopped to greet friends at one table, as did Fairfax and Huntley at another.Not wanting to intrude on their private conversations, Sophia sought out an empty table.There, near the corner.Next to the window that afforded a lovely view of the sea, yet out of the way of the breeze that blew in every time someone opened the front door.
She got as far as pulling out a chair when a serving maid rushed over.
“So sorry, Miss, but you cannot sit there.”She pointed to the table beside it, which still had the remains of the previous guest’s meal.“I will have this one cleaned for you faster than the cat can lick her ear.”
“Is this one reserved for someone?”
