Chapter Five
Chapter Five
Sophie put a kettle on the stove before moving back to the table where Mr. Kingston had taken a seat. He removed his hat and was watching her intently. “The tea will take a bit. Is there something else you would like?”
“No, please have a seat.”
Sophie sat across the table from him and folded her hands together.
“How did you get the bruises on your arms, Miss Pettigrew?”
Sophie’s eyes widened and she self-consciously moved to touch her arms above the elbows.
Kingston saw her face drain of color. “It was your brother, wasn’t it? We are inside now, take the scarf from around your neck.”
Sophie hesitated, but somehow, he knew and the longer she tried to deny it, the longer he would stay. She reached up and slowly removed the scarf from around her neck. The bruises had faded but from the way his eyes darkened, she knew the marks were still visible.
Kingston felt his body tense as he saw the yellow and purple handprints around her throat. Her brother deserved to be beaten and thrown in the Thames.
“I am sorry that you have suffered because of your brother. If I had known about you before, I would have intervened sooner.”
She was surprised at his omission, especially as he did not feel the need to apologize the night she confronted him at The Lair. She caught herself staring into his eyes and shook her head a little before looking away.
“It would not have mattered. I assure you Edward would have just gone elsewhere.”
Benedict would like to personally see that her brother was dealt with and if she accepted his proposal, he would do so at the first opportunity. “I have a proposition for you, Miss Pettigrew, one that I feel will be beneficial to both of us.”
Sophie felt her cheeks burn with humiliation. Please God, not him too. “I’m not interested, Mr. Kingston, and I am offended that you would even suggest such a thing. Just because I am alone doesn’t mean….”
“For God’s sake, woman! Would you please close your mouth long enough for me to explain myself?”
Sophie crossed her arms over her chest and huffed out a soft exasperated breath.
Benedict couldn’t help but notice the way her cheeks had pinkened or the way her eyes seemed to smolder with fire when she was angry.
“I am not offering you an indecent proposition to be my mistress. I am not asking you to sell yourself. I am not your brother.”
Sophie’s alarmed expression made Benedict roll his eyes.
“I have recently received some unexpected news. News that will have changing effects on my life.”
Sophie’s expression softened and her eyes held a tenderness that he found rather endearing. “Are you ill?”
Benedict closed his eyes and paused for a brief moment praying for patience. “No, I am not ill. I have learned that I am the sole heir to the Duke of Kenworth.”
Sophie was silent as she let his words sink in before squinting her eyes as she studied him from across the table. “Am I to feel sorry for you? The Duke of Kenworth is a very wealthy man. He owns several estates, one of which was near my father’s. It must be terrible to receive news that your already healthy accounts will now be stuffed to overflowing.” She stood from her seat and held out her arms. “Or did you simply come here to gloat?”
Benedict was beginning to regret coming at all. While Sophie Pettigrew was exceptionally beautiful, she was proving to be more obstinate than he cared to deal with. “As I said, I came to offer you a proposal.” He could almost see the words forming in her head to turn him down even before he asked, so he thought he would go in for the kill…quickly.
“I do not mean to be rude, Miss Pettigrew but you are living in horrid conditions. The abbey looks as if a strong wind will blow it down at any moment, you are alone, which is completely improper not to mention it makes you prey for any man who chooses to take advantage of that fact, you have no food except what you get from the kindness of the villagers, and your pitiful little allowance left to you by your mother isn’t enough to feed you through the year, let alone buy you essentials like clothing and shelter. The bruises you have on your arms and neck were given to you by your brother, and yes, I know about the proposition he made to you.”
She was so startled by his words that for a minute she forgot how to breathe. “How…how do you…how do you know so much? Are you clairvoyant, Mr. Kingston?”
His laugh was low and throaty. “Certainly not, but I do my diligent research on any investment I pursue.”
“An investment? Wait, have you been spying on me?”
Benedict rose from his seat trying to use his height to his advantage. “Me? No, but yes, I had an associate of mine follow you from London, and I did a little digging into your situation myself after we first met at The Lair.”
Sophie stumbled backward a bit. Her head felt dizzy, and she placed a hand over her forehead as she spoke in a soft voice seemingly to herself. “This can’t be real. I must have fallen and hit my head while working in the garden.”
At first, Benedict thought her amusing, but then he noticed her lips seemed to drain of color. He moved swiftly, catching her up in his arms as her knees buckled beneath her. “Bloody hell, woman!” He sat her back down in a chair and moved to grab the hot water off the stove to make her tea. When he was finished, he placed the cup before her where she still sat with her head in her hands. “Here sip this.” He watched her hands tremble as she lifted the cup to her lips to daintily sip her tea. “Are you normally so frail of spirit, Miss Pettigrew?”
She looked up quickly, her eyes narrowed into angry slits. “Please spare me your censure, Mr. Kingston. I just found out I have been spied upon for weeks, that a man I barely know seems to know everything about me and thinks that I am some sort of investment.”
He shrugged his shoulders matter-of-factly. “I have never been one for patience. I felt there was no reason to sugarcoat anything, and since I am to become the Duke of Kenworth, probably sooner than I would like, I do not have the luxury of waiting much longer for your answer.”
Sophie took another sip of her tea. “My answer? You have yet to ask me a question and what does your rise to prominence have to do with me?”
Benedict’s lips turned up in a slight grin. “It has everything to do with you, if you accept my offer, that is.”
Sophie still didn’t understand and was beginning to think that Mr. Kingston was a touch insane. “I am still confused as to….”
Benedict interrupted her. “I am asking you to marry me, Miss Pettigrew.” She was looking at him as if he had grown two heads and he paused to let the question sink in.
“I need your help. While I have moved among members of the ton for the majority of my adult life, I have never been considered one of them. In fact, my closest friends did not know about my connection to the Duke of Kenworth until recently. You, however, were born to it. You did have a season when you were seventeen and from what I have discovered, your family was well thought of before your brother became the viscount, lost the family fortunes, and dragged your family’s legacy through the mud. I am friends with the prince as well as the dukes of Hawksford, Leicester, and Avanley, but your influence as my wife will go a long way in cementing my place in society.”
“I’m sorry to disappoint you, Mr. Kingston, but you might have noticed that since my brother’s fall from grace due to his incessant gaming, I am not exactly the darling of the ton. Besides, you are a wealthy handsome man, I’m certain you will have no issues finding a bride.”
Benedict nodded complacently. “I have been told as much, but you see I have no desire to be tracked and hunted by the unmarried ladies of the ton. If I marry you, I will no longer have that burden, and let’s not forget how this arrangement will benefit you, Miss Pettigrew.” His lips turned up into a small grin, which made him that much more devastatingly handsome. “As my wife your station will be elevated. You will have a generous allowance to do with as you see fit and a home more befitting a lady. You can live in London and on my country estate, attend parties, the theater, Vauxhall, and even dine at Carlton House on occasion.”
Sophie’s mouth fell open slightly, not believing what she was hearing. “And I will be expected to share your bed, I suppose.”
“I don’t see any reason to complicate matters by becoming intimate. This is a business arrangement, Miss Pettigrew one which benefits both of us. We can pretend to be the happy couple, while both maintaining our freedom. We will be helping each other, and as your husband, I can protect you. I am not the sort of man to take advantage of a lady in any type of vulnerable situation, nor will I try to influence your decision.” He stood from his seat, causing her to have to look up at him. “This is a lot to process in a single afternoon, but I’m afraid I do not have much more time than that. If you decide to accept my offer, I will be staying in the village at the inn, but tomorrow morning, I head back to London. I hope that you will decide to join me. Once we reach London, I will see that you are properly chaperoned until we can be wed. Good day, Miss Pettigrew.”
He walked toward the door not surprised that she didn’t run after him. When he made the decision to pay her a visit, marriage had not been on his mind. But the longer the journey seemed to take, the more he thought the arrangement could work in favor of them both. She would be given his name and protection, and he would no longer have to worry about finding a bride. He would then be able to concentrate on the expansion of The Devil’s Lair and fulfilling his duties as the Duke of Kenworth. He felt the idea was a good one, and if Miss Pettigrew would give it some serious thought, she would realize it was the only choice she had unless she wanted to fall victim to her brother and his schemes.
Sophie sat at the table for a long time contemplating the ridiculousness of the offer she had just been presented. Part of her still wondered if she had imagined it, because surely no man with as much wealth and standing as Mr. Kingston would choose a bride so randomly.
The tea in her cup grew cold as she stared ahead at the cold dark walls of the abbey. When Edward lost everything, including her father’s estate, she had been so afraid and the abbey was all she had left, but she wasn’t a fool. She knew it was derelict and that when winter came to Norfolk, she would find it hard to stay warm. But perhaps the worst thing was the loneliness. The abbey was outside the village, and she had very little time to meet or make friends with the people of Abingdon. At night the only sounds that could be heard was the wind as it whistled through the broken glass of the windows or the cracks in the stone. Then there was Edward. He would be furious with her for accepting Mr. Kingston’s offer. Not because he was trying to protect her, but simply because he would have lost the only thing he had left to sell.
Was she seriously considering Mr. Kingston’s ludicrous proposal? It was laughable to think that she would leave the abbey and return to London as his fiancé. He had said that he would not require her to share his bed and that she would have an allowance of her own. It would be nice to once again be able to buy new dresses, bonnets, and all the fripperies women loved. The thought of never having to worry again about where she would sleep or how she would purchase food was tempting, but could he be trusted?
No, she couldn’t do as he asked. As his wife, he would have total control of her. It was too reckless to consider. She stood up and walked to the front room where she had been reading a book earlier. There was a straight back chair sitting by the window where the light best came into the room. When her brother started selling the furnishings in her father’s estate, she went to the library and took a few of her favorite books to hide with her belongings. Those were the only things besides her clothing and personal items, she was allowed to take with her when she left for the abbey.
She sat in the chair letting the sunlight warm her face as she tried to concentrate on the book in her hands, but there was too much to consider. Her future with Mr. Kingston was an uncertainty, but her brother was not. She knew Edward would return, and when he did, he would fully expect her to agree to his demands. Demands that would see her virtue sold to the highest bidder and her beginning a life as a paid courtesan. The thought of it made her stomach roll. She closed the book and buried her face in her hands. There really was no other choice, she was damned either way. She had always heard of people being faced with choosing the lesser of two evils, she could only hope the wickedness that surrounded Mr. Kingston didn’t engulf her as well.