Her entire body shook. This was going to get even worse if her memory served her correctly. Not only was Lord Ancroft a friend of Jennette and Banning’s, he was Elizabeth’s cousin.
There was no hope for a loving relationship with Nicholas. She was a nobody while he was a marquess and future duke.
Oh, dear Lord! She crumpled the note she’d written for him and tossed it into the glowing embers of the fireplace. Perhaps he would think she meant this to be just for tonight. She prayed he would not attempt to find her. Sophie backed out of the room, watching the sleeping man as she went. This was the worst mistake she’d ever made.
She had slept with her best friend’s cousin.
Chapter 3
“What is wrong, Sophie?” Victoria asked.
Sophie glanced up from her tea to find all her friends staring at her with looks of concern on their faces. After returning to London three weeks ago, she still hadn’t talked to them about what happened. It was odd because all of them had confided in her about their men. It had taken her this long just to face them again. During the past few weeks, she had created several excuses for avoiding them, but today she knew she had to see them again.
Even now, as she sat in Avis’s parlor, Sophie’s nerves tingled every time she heard footsteps. She had no idea if Nicholas had returned to London, but knew it wouldn’t be odd for him to show up at Lord Selby’s home. The fact that they hadn’t met before was strictly providence. Before Avis and Jennette married their husbands, the only chance Sophie would have had for an introduction to Nicholas was at Elizabeth’s home. And the friends had rarely met there because of Elizabeth’s cantankerous aunt.
Nicholas had never called on his cousin while Sophie was there. But now, he might visit Avis’s husband Banning. Or call on Jennette and her husband. Or even Victoria’s husband Somerton. It appeared Sophie would at some point be introduced to Nicholas. Hopefully, her intuition would let her know before he arrived at the door. Not that she had one idea of what she would do. Nor did she trust her intuition at this point.
“Sophie, you have been exceedingly quiet since your return,” Avis said. “Won’t you tell us about your trip?”
“Yes, tell us about the trip,” Elizabeth added.
Of the four of them, there wasn’t one to whom she could confide. Victoria had married Sophie’s half brother in December, and Anthony had known Nicholas since childhood. Elizabeth was Nicholas’s cousin. And Jennette was the woman Nicholas loved. Even Avis, was the wife of one of Nicholas’s friends.
They all knew him and would believe he should offer for her after what happened in Venice. But Sophie knew he was not the man for her. In addition to being in love with Jennette, he was a marquess. As such, he would never marry the bastard child of an earl she couldn’t even name. And worse, since she’d left his room in the middle of the night, she had never been able to “see” him again when concentrating on her future. All she’d seen was the blackness again. Clearly, her addled brain had given her a vision of what she wanted at that moment. Not her true love or match. Her cheeks burned as she thought about just how much she’d wanted him that night.
“Sophie!” Avis scolded. “You are not paying the least bit of attention this afternoon.”
“There is not much to tell,” Sophie finally said. “Venice was lovely. The weather a bit cold but nowhere near as frigid as London in January.”
Avis laughed softly. “So after being in Venice for four weeks, all you can tell us is it was lovely and the weather fair. We all know you better than that, Sophie. Did you meet someone?”
She couldn’t stop the heat from crossing her cheeks. “I cannot talk about this, Avis.”
All four women giggled.
“If not us, then who?” Elizabeth asked. “We have all told you about our men. Even our experiences before marriage.”
Sophie looked over at Elizabeth. With her red hair, freckles, and green eyes, Elizabeth looked nothing like her cousin. Sophie closed her eyes and remembered his light brown eyes. She could have drowned in his eyes.
“Sophie, I have never seen you like this,” Victoria added. “Please let us help you.”
For once, the only woman in the group not urging her was Jennette. Sophie stared at her dark-haired friend, wondering why she looked so pale and out of sorts.
“Sophie!” Elizabeth exclaimed.
Sophie knew if she didn’t tell them something, they would likely continue to badger her. “All right. I did meet a man there. But it was three days before I was to leave. So nothing came of it.”
“Oh,” Avis said quietly. “But you wish something had happened, don’t you?”
Sophie knew she had no choice but to lie. There was no chance of anything happening between them again and her friends would never discover the man was Nicholas. “Yes. He was a lovely man.”
“I’m sorry, Sophie,” Victoria said, staring down at her skirts. “You matched all of us and you deserve a wonderful man, too.”
Sophie pressed her lips together and blinked furiously. “Thank you, Victoria. I’m just thrilled for you all.”
And she truly was happy for her friends. Jennette and Avis had young children now, and Elizabeth would be delivered of her first child in October. As Sophie gazed at Victoria, she smiled seeing the glow of an unannounced pregnancy on her sister-in-law’s face. That meant Sophie would be an aunt. All her matches had worked out perfectly.
Sophie started at the sound of boots stomping down the hall. Avis’s husband stopped at the threshold and leaned against the doorframe with a warm smile.