No one said a word for several minutes, the silence heavy and ominous.
“Maybe I did have a talk or two with some hectors sent to badger me.”
“And did these ‘hectors’ have a name or description?”
“Maybe they did and maybe they didn’t.”
Arnaud bore down harder until Teddy gave out a louder yelp. “Enough. I’ll tell you what you want to know. Only make him go away, keep his distance. Besides, he’s no better than me. All he wants is a taste of that fancy Italian by-blow.”
This time Arnaud flipped both Seaton and his chair to the floor, so that his head took a hard crack. Seaton scrambled back to his feet, giving Arnaud a baleful glance, but kept his distance.
After righting the chair and taking his seat again, Teddy resumed his bored look.
Lord Howick spoke again. “I’m done wasting time on you. You will tell me what I want to know, or you’ll be on the next ship to Botany Bay. I don’t know what kind of criminals you associate with, but you endangered my daughter as well as Miss Brancelli with your mindless attempt to lure them outside.”
“There’s not that much to tell. They never told me why they wanted the chit.”
“What did they offer you to deliver her into their hands?” Lord Howick’s face had become grim.
“They weren’t going to hurt her. They just wanted me to take her to Gretna Green. Said they’d see to it I got her inheritance.”
“And you believed them?” Arnaud couldn’t help interrupting Howick’s interrogation. He couldn’t bear to go on listening to the nonsense streaming out of Seaton’s mouth.
“But they made it clear if I didn’t do what they asked, I’d be sorry.”
“Can you describe any of the men who threatened you?” Howick resumed his questioning.
“There was only one without a hooded mask, and all I can tell you is he was big, exceptionally big.”
At a nod from Howick, Arnaud walked outside and came back with Artemis. One of the man’s many talents which stood him in good stead on long ocean voyages was his sketching skills. He sat down with Seaton and began pulling details to create a likeness of the “exceptionally big” man.
Sophie had barely returned from a ride with Lydia, Sir Thomas, Viscount and Viscountess Rumsford, and Captain Neville filling in for guard duty. She hadn’t seen anything of Arnaud since his drunken performance the night before. And that was fine with her. She fervently wished never to encounter the man again. She wanted to dismiss him from her thoughts, she wanted to rage at him for disappointing her, she wanted to take him in her arms and hold him until he promised he would never do such a pudding-headed thing again.
Lydia’s maid helped remove their muddy boots and took charge of their hats. Thank the gods. At times like this, Sophie considered just how trivial and nonsensical her life had become when she had to deal with layers of feathers and veils just to see where she was going.
Viscountess Rumsford, after a nod to one of the footmen, had excused herself to return to her chamber. Sir Thomas and Viscount “Rummy” had returned to the park to exercise another set of mounts from the stables.
Sophie was no fool. She realized this was the way her life would spool out as Sir Thomas’s wife. She could not refuse the man’s offer outright. There was too much at stake. Praying was not one of Sophie’s long suits, but she prayed desperately now on a daily basis that someone, anyone would publish one of her works.
Life as Mrs. James, the wife of the honorable barrister, Sir Thomas James, would be pleasant. Sir Thomas was good company when he was present and available. Occurrences of that nature would be infrequent, she feared, though, after seeing him with the one person she suspected was the love he could not acknowledge.
“Stop wool-gathering, Sophie.” Lydia’s voice pulled her out of the endless debate spinning through her mind. “Captain Neville has to leave to pack for the trip back to London.”
Sophie looked up and finally noticed her friend and Arnaud’s marine captain. She recognized the lost look in Lydia’s eyes as well as the one of yearning in Neville’s. They were the same looks she and Arnaud shared whenever they were in the same room.Jupiter. Love was complicated.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Arnaud walked brisklywith resolute steps away from the barn with the sketch of the man who pulled the strings to ruin Sophie, to take her away from all she’d known, everyone who loved her.
The brutish face staring back at him did not set off any alarm bells with Arnaud. He had not encountered anyone of that ilk since the fateful day weeks ago when Sophie had stormed into his life. Zeus! It felt like years. He hated to make her look at the man in the drawing, but he had a hunch she might recognize him from something in her past, something she might not even remember.
He climbed the steps to the main house of Clifford Park and asked one of the footmen where Miss Brancelli might be. He told him both Misses Brancelli and Howick were in the family sitting room and then walked him through before tapping on the door and announcing the young women had a visitor.
When Sophie came to the door, her eyes widened at the sight of him. He swore he would never understand women, but he couldn’t mistake this woman’s state of mind. She was enraged, she looked at him as if he were some slimy creature she’d encountered on a garden path.
“How can you come here and pretend everything is still the same? How could you?”
When another head appeared behind Sophie’s just before the woman he loved stalked away, he decided to plead his case to Lydia. “Please make sure Sophie looks at this and then tells one of us, or Lord Howick, if she recognizes the likeness of the man in this drawing. He may be the one who has organized all the attempts on her person.”
