“There are things about me that you don’t know,” she said softly.
He harrumphed. That was the story of his life. No one knew the real him. They knew the dangerous duke. But no one knew what was in his heart. Or that he even had a heart. That he wanted. Good God, he wanted. He wanted her. “I want to learn all about you,” he said.
“That’s just it, Ashley. I’m here on a mission. And when it’s complete, I have to go.”
Again with the mission?
“My kind cannot mix with your kind. Not the way you’d like—the way I’d like as well.”
Was this about wealth? “Are you poor?”
“No.” The truth was there in her eyes. He believed her.
“Illegitimate?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“Is there some scandal in your past?”
“Yes, but that’s neither here nor there.”
Neither here nor there? “What does that mean?”
“It means that you and I would never suit,” she stated bluntly. “But I want to help you.”
“I’ll not be your charity case,” he said, realizing immediately that his voice was too sharp when her face fell.
“You’re not charity. You’re my mission. My meaning in life. Don’t you see?”
No. He didn’t see anything.
Just then, Anne ran back into the clearing. “I found it,” she cried. She held out a silver hand mirror. It had been her mother’s at one point and he’d thought she might like to have it. She looked overjoyed.
Sophia bent to look at her treasure, cooing over it as though it was the most bountiful of prizes. He could see their faces close together in the reflection of the mirror. The two of them there with their heads together. They were the prize. They were what he wanted. He realized right then and there. Despite her protests. Despite her affirmation that they would not suit. There was no doubt in his mind that they would suit. He was certain of it. They would suit in all the right ways. And if they didn’t, at least he could say he tried.
He pulled out his watch fob and glanced at it. He had a lot to do.
“Do you have somewhere to be?” Sophia asked with an impish grin.
“I do, actually,” he said as he sat down on the bench. He couldn’t keep the grin off his face. She was in his life for a reason. Now he just had to find the stones to take advantage of it.
Eleven
“It simply wouldn’t do to be late to dinner,” Margaret had warned. But had she listened? No. She’d lingered much too long in the garden with Ashley and Anne. But she’d had such a great time that she couldn’t leave until Anne had found all of her treasures. There were only three, one of which was the mirror. Sophia would bet it held some significance aside from the benefit one received by looking into it.
Anne had also found the blue thread, which matched her father’s eyes perfectly. And she’d also found a small pincushion with sewing needles. She hadn’t been overjoyed with the last, but Sophia had a feeling that would change with her father’s attention.
“Are you enjoying the house party, my dear?” a big booming voice said from beside her. Sophia glanced to her left, only to find a hunchbacked old woman who held an ear trumpet up to her left ear. She leaned closer to Sophia as she waited for her to speak. “Speak up, child,” she said, her eyebrows drawing together when Sophia’s tongue refused to work.
Should she yell back at her? Should she speak quietly and hope she could hear? Sophia glanced toward her grandmother, but she was at the opposite end of the dinner table.
A voice boomed from the other side of the table. “Cat’s got her tongue, Grandmother,” the man said loudly. “First time I’ve ever seen you speechless, Miss Thorne,” Lord Phineas said, raising his glass in a mocking toast. “I find I quite like it,” he said more quietly. But not quietly enough that everyone at the table couldn’t hear him. Snickers bounced from one side of the table to the other.
“Don’t get used to it, my lord,” she said sweetly as she raised her glass to him and took a sip. Then she turned to the woman who’d originally spoken and said, “I’m enjoying the party very much. Thank you for asking.”
“Eh?” the old lady grunted, leaning toward Sophia.
But Lord Phineas leaned toward his grandmother and said, “She said thanks for asking, Grandmother.”