Sophie gave a dismissive snort. “That is easy for you to say. You Wildes live on the edge of scandal and can be as wanton as you please. We commoners cannot afford such recklessness.”
He didn’t rise to the bait, however, so she tried another tack. “Jack, please … it will hurt my parents terribly if my marital chances dissolve in scandal.”
Jack wanted keenly to reassure her. “I promise you, there will be no scandal.”
She evidently realized that pleading with him would do no good, for after another moment, she scowled at him. “I can see how you came by your scoundrel’s fame.”
At her accusation, his mouth curved faintly. His character was not that black. “I am not a scoundrel. A rogue perhaps.”
Seeing his hint of a smile, she snapped at him with real anger. “Your levity is entirely inappropriate.”
“I beg your pardon, sweetheart,” he said, sobering his expression.
“Pray stop calling me ‘sweetheart’ and ‘love.’ I am neither.”
“Very well.”
Clearly she wasn’t mollified, for her frustration had only increased. “I demand you turn this vehicle around at once, Jack.”
He shook his he
ad regretfully. “I cannot do that.”
“Well, you cannot force me to accompany you. I won’t submit to your coercion.”
Suiting action to words, Sophie eyed the door handle, then lunged forward to grasp it. When the door started to swing open, taking her with it, Jack’s heart jumped to his throat.
Grabbing her arm, he hauled her back inside and held her firmly against him, much against her will. “Devil take it, Sophie—leaping from a fast-moving vehicle could get you killed.”
“It would be better than remaining here with you,” she muttered.
When she struggled against his grasp, he voiced another low oath. “Be still! I will tie you up if I must.” His threat was only half empty; the last thing he wanted was for her to be injured.
Her eyes were bright with fury. “I won’t stand for this, Jack. I will escape from you the first chance I get.”
He believed her. Sophie was normally sweet and mild-mannered, but he had awakened the slumbering rebel in her.
They both suddenly became aware that he still had his arms wrapped tightly around her. For a brief moment, Jack fantasized about claiming a kiss or even more, but given her present mood, he refrained.
A fortunate choice, for Sophie pushed her hands against his chest. “Let me go, damn you!”
When he complied, she edged away from him, to the far corner of the carriage seat, and folded her arms across her chest. “You are utterly outrageous.”
“So you have said.”
The look she cast him was blistering. “How can you do this to me? You know better than anyone how it feels to be a helpless captive. You were kept prisoner for months when you were a child. I should think you would never act so cruelly to anyone else.”
Jack flinched involuntarily as her accusation struck a hidden nerve. “How do you know about that?”
“Skye told me about your ordeal.”
“She ought not have.”
“Well, she did. But now you have demolished much of the sympathy I felt for you.”
It was Jack’s turn to scowl. He clamped his jaw shut, while Sophie averted her gaze to stare out the window.
For more than an hour they traveled in silence, with her simmering, him brooding. When it began to grow dark, Jack explored the storage compartment under the opposite seat and retrieved a flask of wine and a knapsack filled with nuts and cheese and fruit. When he offered her a taste of wine, Sophie refused. So he set the flask aside and fished in his inner coat pocket. From the custom-made leather sheath he found there, he withdrew a small but very sharp dagger.