Chapter 5 #2
Sophia bit her lip, ashamed that she had not informed her uncle what had been happening under his roof.
She had not wanted to burden him with the worry, and she wanted to take care of her own problems to maintain some tenuous control over her choices, but the concern etched on his face …
Perhaps she should have told him what Cecil had planned.
Her fingers tugged nervously at the cotton of her night rail.
She felt awkward in her half-dressed state, but she doubted anyone was noticing her attire given the situation at hand.
“Sophia! Tell me, what is this about? Why is this disgraceful blackguard in my home?” Uncle Hugh gestured with disgust toward the squirming Lord Leech, who was muttering in indignant outrage at the servant holding him fast.
Aunt Christiana hovered down the hall in the doorway to her chamber, tying her dressing gown nervously, but she moved toward the gathering. “Sophia, what is this?”
Lily took hold of her hand and squeezed it. “Did you expect Lord Leech, Sophia?”
Sophia shook her head in disbelief. She could not believe Cecil had tried to go through with his plot. She was utterly grateful she had taken the threat seriously, or even now she could be tied up in Leech’s carriage, racing out of London with no one the wiser that she was absent until the morning.
“Unhand me or you will regret this!” The despicable Leech chose that moment to interrupt.
Her uncle turned to glare at the man. “Charges can be brought for breaking into a peer’s home, and even you cannot sweep such a matter under the rug. I, too, have powerful friends, Leech.”
Leech fell silent at the threat. Turning back, her unexpectedly fierce relative gestured for Sophia to talk.
“Cecil …” she began, then stopped.
Uncle Hugh walked forward to grasp her gently by the shoulder. “Tell me! What has happened?”
She took a deep breath. “Cecil learned about the terms of my dowry and plotted with Leech to exploit them.” She waved a hand toward the outraged lord, still detained by the much larger footman whose powerful arm wrapped around Leech’s trapped arms and waist. “They planned to kidnap me to Gretna Green to force the trust funds to be released.”
Uncle Hugh grunted in dismay. “Oh, mercy!”
He rubbed his jaw with a hand as he paced back and forth for several moments. Finally, he came to a stop and glared at her. “Is this why you were so willing to marry Saunton?”
Sophia nodded. “But … I still wish to marry him. I realized I will not be safe without a husband. Cecil could strike an agreement with any fortune hunter. Saunton does not care about my funds, he only cares about me—for some inexplicable reason he has settled on me, but I know it is not for the want of funds.”
Silence followed this pronouncement for several moments.
“What do we do now?” Uncle Hugh walked over to Leech to flick his eyes up and down over the heaving, struggling form. “You, sir, are utterly repulsive. Absolute dregs!”
Leech glared at him, his yellow eyes glowing eerily in the dimly lit corridor. “You will regret treating me this way, Moreland!” he spat.
“My only regret, Leech, is that I did not have my servants throw you out when I saw you sneaking into my ball the other night! Can you believe it was to prevent a scene? Had I any idea of the threat you are to my niece?—”
“Uncle Hugh, we will have to let him go. It will only cause a scandal to …” What did one even do in a situation like this? Calling for a runner or taking the lord to a magistrate would be more ruinous to her own reputation than to his once word got out.
Her uncle took a deep breath and spoke to Thomas.
“See Lord Leech out and do not be gentle about it. If he happens to hurt himself on the banisters on the way out … well, that is what happens when you steal into another man’s household.
Do not hesitate, Thomas. Leech cannot complain to the authorities”—Moreland gave the lord a speaking glance—“because he will have to explain how he came to be at the tender mercies of a footman in my household at two in the morning.”
Thomas grinned in delight. He dragged the struggling man away, his voice carrying back to where the Abbott family stood with Sophia in a huddle. “Oops, did your head hit that wall? So sorry, milord.”
Lord Moreland turned back to find his family staring at him in consternation. “Burn my buttons, I wish that Aidan was back from Paris to assist me with this disturbance.”
“I think you are doing a fine job, Papa!” Uncle Hugh’s face relaxed in response to Lily’s encouragement.
“You will all go to bed. I will take charge of securing our home and discover Cecil’s whereabouts, but there is a wedding in the morning, so you must rest.” He raised an eyebrow in question.
Sophia nodded to reassure him that this remained her desire.
He nodded in acknowledgment and took his wife’s hand to settle it on his arm.
“Come, my dear. We have a wedding to attend in a few hours. I shall take care of this situation, but now it is time for you to return to your chamber to get some sleep.”
Sophia realized her pulse was racing as she and Lily returned to the bedroom, her breathing rough with shock at what could have happened while Lily led her to sit on the bed.
“Why did you not tell me about Cecil?”
Sophia looked up into her cousin’s innocent eyes. “Mostly, I was … embarrassed. You have a wonderful brother who would kill any man who tried to harm you, and I … I …” To her horror, she burst into tears. Lily leaned forward to embrace her.
“Oh, Sophia, I am so sorry. You can share my brother! If Aidan were here in London right now, he would give Leech a sound beating!”
Sophia laughed through her tears. “Thomas looked more than happy to mete out some justice on the way out. And he had already gotten a few punches in by the looks of it.”
Lily grinned in response as she continued to hug her. “Good, that vile man will think twice before involving himself in any more plots. As it is, I am sure he will be forced to stay out of sight for a number of days with that face of his marred by bruises.”
Sophia nodded with a wan smile. Returning to a more serious frame of mind, she dried her eyes. “I know our grandfather was doing his best to look after his family, but the trust he set up … it did not take into account reprobate brothers and villainous lords who might take advantage of the terms.”
Lily sighed. “It is most fortuitous that you attracted Lord Saunton, I think.”
“I hate that as a woman with few legal rights, I must rely on someone else to protect me, but I could not think of another way. Cecil could attempt this again at any time. Marrying a man of my choosing seems the only way to … to be sure that I maintain control of my own future.”
Lily gazed at her. “I think you are able to protect yourself, cousin. You found a way to deal with this situation, and I think no matter the circumstances, you are resourceful and would always find a method to survive any situation. Not like me. I have never needed to fend for myself. But you, you are a heroine!”
Sophia raised her arms to hug her cousin back. “You silly girl, you have been reading too many novels. I am just doing my best to be my own person.”
“Your best is admirable, Sophia. I could never be so brave on my own. You took steps to protect yourself and you found a handsome husband who admires you. You are most clever and courageous, cousin! Are you going to tell me how you learned of Cecil’s plot?”
Sophia grimaced. “Can you believe he is involved with Lord Leech? The man is despicable.”
“He is a villain right out of a gothic novel. I could not believe it when I followed you into the hall and learned he snuck into our home. But tell me what happened. How did you know?”
They climbed back into the bed, and Sophia put out the oil lamp while she told her cousin about the conversation in the library. Lily gasped in horror. “I had no idea Cecil was so … so …”
“Evil?”
“Yes. I wonder what Papa will do about him. He takes family responsibility seriously, and I think Cecil is in for a world of trouble. Why is he so greedy? I thought Papa was quite generous in taking him in and providing him with an allowance. He treated him like his own family!”
“I think Cecil has been gambling away his funds … more funds than he actually possesses. He is determined to follow in our father’s footsteps, it would seem, and has been on a downward path since our father died.
Maybe before, for I do not know what he and my father might have gotten up to together. ”
Lily was silent for several seconds before responding. “I am very glad the men in my family eschew gambling. And I am glad you came to live with us. And I am even more glad that Lord Saunton took an interest in you. You already solved the problem, you clever woman!”
Sophia smiled into the darkness. She, too, was grateful for Lord Saunton’s interest. She reached up to touch her fingers to her lips, remembering the feel of his mouth on hers when she took that irrevocable step to compromise herself.
This may have been a shocking evening—a shocking week—but tomorrow she would wed the devilish lord and she would begin a new life far, far, far from her brother’s influence.
In fact, she would probably never need to see Cecil again.