Three Original Ladies 02 - Lord Trowbridge’s Angel (15 page)

The stark gray of abandonment stole over her, crushing her heart. Sophie knew she must consider their relationship at an end. She would carry this pain and no one would know it except her family. It was so deep that it would be a long time before it ended, before she could feel happy or even neutral again. Her illness had been nothing to this. At the moment, Sophie could not breathe without pain.

But she must bestir herself. After bad episodes in her childhood, that had been the only way to go on. She must shut away her tears even though the future looked black and empty.

Then another unwelcome thought occurred to her. She could not tell Fanny, Buck, Elise, or Peter the truth behind Frank’s engagement. They could not know of his improper midnight visit. It would only add fuel to the fire of what would be their disapproval of him. And Frank did not want her involved.

Looking at her roses, she tried to tell herself that he loved her and that was the reason for his heedlessness and the entire bumblebroth. But she dreaded the moment when her sisters heard the news.

Getting up, Sophie disregarded her physical weakness and locked the letter in her jewel case. This time, she hid the key between the leaves of the Wordsworth book on her night stand.

She decided that she must write back and tell Frank of her feelings. Sitting at her desk, she pulled a piece of vellum from the drawer, dipped her quill in ink and began, though her fingers were trembling.

My dear Frank:

Though it was wonderful to see you last night, I am afraid your news has eclipsed the occasion in my memory. I know enough about the
ton
to know that men cannot break off engagements. I know enough about Melissa’s parents to know they will hold you like a landed fish, well-hooked.

I do not see any hope that this will end as we planned. In any case, you cannot be engaged to two women, so I will not consider myself engaged to you any longer. I know that you love me, and though our time together has been short, I will remember it with fondness all my life. But this must be an end to it. Melissa is my closest friend. I want you to treat her well, and I want you to be happy together. You must promise me that you will give me up and make Melissa a good husband. She deserves that.

Sophie

Ringing for her maid. Sophie knew that no matter how dejected she felt, it would not do for her to linger in bed. She would dress, go downstairs, and send her letter off with a footman. Maybe tonight, when all were asleep, she could give way to tears.

~
~*

Fanny was surprised to see her in the breakfast room. “Sophie, are you certain you are well enough to be out of bed?”

“At this point, being in bed only makes me feel worse.”

“Lovely flowers from Frank.” Fanny returned to her eggs and toast.

“I need to talk to you about Frank. I’ve had a letter from him.”

“Oh?”

“Not to put too fine a point on it, he has found himself engaged to Melissa.”

“Sophie! I was certain, I am certain it is you he loves.”

“Lord and Lady Kent say that she has been compromised by him. I am certain that if you read the gossip columns, you would have seen it already.”

“Whatever has he done?” Fanny’s brown eyes were large and dark with suspicion.

“He was found with her in the garden last night. Her mother missed her. Knowing Melissa’s parents, they were only too happy to have trapped a viscount for her.”

“Is Melissa in love with Frank?”

“Not to my knowledge. Frank assures me that they will find some way out, but I am not counting on it.”

“And so you should not.” Fanny studied the piece of toast she was buttering. “I think it will not be impossible to bring Shrewsbury up to scratch.”

Sophie’s eyes welled with tears. “Oh, Fanny, do not talk so. I love Frank. I do not expect that I will ever find anyone who will take his place in my life.”

“Maybe not, dearest. And I hate all these
ton
shibboleths that rob people of their joy in life. But Frank knows them. He knew what he was risking. What was he doing with Melissa in the garden anyway?”

Sophie bit her lip. “I do not know, but nothing scandalous. Perhaps she needed a breath of air. It is horribly close in a ballroom.”

At that moment, Perkins announced, “Lady Melissa Aldridge is here, Miss Sophie.”

“Show her into the morning room, Perkins. I will be with her directly.”

Sophie poured herself a cup of tea and sipped it. For the first time in her life, she really did not want to see Melissa.

~
~*

“Frank was dreadfully upset last night, Sophie,” Melissa said. “I just want you to know that. We have decided that we are going to find some way around this.”

“But what can you do?”

“Frank is jolly quick. He will think of something. I do not want you worrying. I know how much you love him, and I do not have any desire to take him away from you.”

“But your parents …”

“Are absurd. If it had been anyone but Frank, they might have been more understanding. But they have had their eye on him for me since they first met him at my come-out ball.”

“But all this is hardly fair to you, Melissa. You are ruined.”

“Never fear. We shall come about. Just you wait and see. Frank told me to tell you that you are not to worry.”

“Melissa, I must ask you something.” Sophie shut her eyes and took a deep breath. “If I were not involved, if you did not know that Frank and I were in love, would you not be happy about this marriage? Are you not partial to Frank?”

Her friend’s eyes welled. “I did not know the depth of your feelings, Sophie. You did not confide in me. I have been foolish.”

Sophie had known in her heart what Melissa’s feelings were. “So if you have to go through with the marriage, you will not be unhappy?”

“Of course I would be! Frank would be miserable, and you are my dearest friend! Do not talk this way, pray. I have no intention of marrying Frank. Trust me, we will see this matter mended.”

Sophie embraced Melissa. “Oh, I am sorry that you should be in such a horrid position. That you care for him makes it all the worse.”

Melissa patted her back. “Do not fret. I do not think Frank has a tendency to corpulence. He is not the man for me.”

Sophie sighed. “What have I ever done to deserve as loyal a friend as you are?”

“You have been a loyal friend yourself. Do not dwell on my feelings, Soph. I shall come about.”

~
~*

Sophie was not sleeping well. There was a bright moon tonight, shining through a crack in the drapes onto the door across from her. She was thinking too much about that door, about Frank’s arrival the night before and how she had welcomed him. A longing to be back in his arms rose up inside her like steam from a boiling pot. She had her cry earlier, but it had not eased her sorrow. The pain was really much too deep for tears to ease.

Climbing out of her bed, she grabbed her brush, went to the window seat, opened the drapes all the way, and looked down at the garden bathed in moonlight. She shivered in her white satin nightrail. Absently, she began unbraiding her hair. It was soft and silky from its washing that evening. The plait had left it wavy. Drawing the brush through it, she smoothed it with her other hand. She could almost sit on it, it was so long. The strokes of the brush were somewhat calming. But then she thought of Wordsworth’s Ode, and tears slid down her cheeks.

Before she knew what was happening, the brush was taken from her hand and someone else began to brush her long locks. Blinking away the tears, she turned her head to face Frank, dressed in black evening attire.

“My lord, whatever are you doing here?”

“Taking my life in my hands. Do you know what would happen if Buck caught me?”

“He would most likely scalp you like a Red Indian.”

“At the very least. Can you not sleep? Oh, Angel, you have been crying.”

“No and yes,” she said simply.

“This is a bad business, Sophie.”

“I know. It is worse than you think. Melissa is in love with you.”

“I think she does not fancy me at all. She has made no secret of the fact.”

“She is playacting.”

“I cannot credit what you tell me. But in any event, she is willing to help me end this farce.”

Why did the brush strokes seem thrilling when Frank was performing them?

“Angel, I came to warn you about my plan.”

“Warn me?”

“Yes. I’m going to revert to my old ways, only ever so much worse. I am aiming to give Lord and Lady Kent a disgust of me. I want them to decide I am not the man for their daughter.”

“Frank! You must not mar your integrity in that way! If you care for me at all, you will continue to be the gentleman you are.”

“There is nothing else I can do. I must get free of this wretched engagement!”

“I would not have you do such a thing, even if it is for me,” Sophie said.

“Can you think of a better plan?”

“I do not want to think. I want you to kiss me.”

“I want to, believe me. But with you clad like that, I do not think it would be such a good idea.”

“And you think to pretend to be a rake?”

Putting down the brush, he took Sophie in his arms and kissed her long and deeply. Her heart turned over when he said, “You are my only love. You are to remember that. Do you understand?”

“Yes, darling, gorgeous Frank. I will try. But I do not expect it to be easy.”

“I really must leave before I do something we would both regret, Angel. I hope you will find yourself able to sleep better now.”

“And you will not revert? You will stay the Frank that I love?”

He sighed heavily. “If I must. Have you a better plan?”

“No, not at the moment. But think. The Kents would have to accept you, no matter how roguish you became. They have put it about that you ruined their daughter! Even if Melissa broke the engagement because you took up with your mistress again or ruined yourself at the gaming tables, she would still be ruined! She would be unable to attach a worthy husband.”

Frank balled his right fist and slammed it into his left palm. “You are right. I would only make the situation worse.”

“Do not despair, Frank, darling,” she said. “Both of us have forgotten our Wordsworth.”

Frank gave her a half smile. “No matter what happens, Angel, I will love you ’til death and beyond.”

“I do not think we need to be quite that melodramatic,” she said. “Now you must go or be scalped by Buck!”

He kissed her with such thoroughness, it clearly spoke of his desperation. Though it ignited a thrilling response within her, she pulled away, putting her hands on both sides of his face and touching his forehead with hers. “Do not worry, Frank. And if you descend into debauchery, I will not marry you in any case.”

“Angel,” he whispered. “Good evening.” He kissed her forehead, her eyes, and her cheeks and was gone.

{ 24 }

FRANK SLEPT ONLY IN FITS
after seeing Sophie. Such midnight forays were dangerous. Not only were they far too tempting, but there was a very real danger of getting caught. However, he didn’t know how he was to survive this engagement without her.

Lord Kent was to have the banns read in church this Sunday. His throat constricted at the thought. Only a month to get out of this tangle. How could he waste time sleeping? He must think!

Nevertheless, he slipped into a light slumber at some time before dawn. He was awakened by his valet, who informed him that the Duke of Ruisdell had called and was awaiting him downstairs. Groaning, he pulled himself out of bed and prepared to receive a dressing down.

The duke was pacing the morning room. “Trowbridge, what is this nonsense I read in the paper? I never took you for such a dashed loose screw! Did you not just ask me for the hand of my
sister-in-law
in marriage?”

“Your grace, believe me, it is your sister-in-law I want to marry, not Lady Melissa. There has been a frightful coil. Lady Melissa was feeling faint at the Fitzwilliams’ ball and I took her out in the garden for a breath of air. Her parents found us there and declared her to be compromised, demanding that I marry her. Neither she nor I wish to be married to one another.”

The duke sat. “And Sophie?”

“Lady Melissa and I have pledged to her that we will undo this bit of mischief on her father’s part. Lady Melissa claims her father had settled on me to be her husband even before the situation in the garden occurred.” Frank sat down and drew a hand over his eyes. “I thought of paying a visit to my wilder days to make myself an undesirable groom, but Sophie made me realize that would not do any good under the circumstances. Melissa will be ruined in any case.”

The duke seemed sunk in thought. “It might work. Kent is very fastidious where his family is concerned. If you were to take up with the Manwaring woman again, it would be particularly effective, if very hard on poor Sophie. I do not know if she could forgive you.” He pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I know she would not. No, I will have to think of something else.”

“I will put my mind to it also. But I am taking Sophie out of town for a few days, out of this scandal. As you know, she has been ill, and this business has been very hard on her.”

“That is probably for the best. You know how dearly I love Sophie. The idea that we might not be permitted to marry is abhorrent to me.”

“There is a reason I am still a Tory, Frank. Kent is known for his unscrupulous ways in the Whig Party. While I agree with his politics, I do not like him.”

~
~*

Frank sat down to write yet another letter to Sophie.

Dear One,

Your brother-in-law, the duke, has been to see me. He was, of course, infuriated at the news that I was engaged to Lady Melissa when I had only that day asked for your hand. When I informed him that I had compromised her “by taking her to the garden for a breath of air,” he told me that Kent was unscrupulous. He does not like the man and promises to put his mind also to the problem.

I want to tell you that I will never marry Lady Melissa even if it blackens my name. It is you that I love, wholly and completely. The duke tells me he is taking you out of town for a few days. I think that is an excellent idea.