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Sophie had barricaded herself in? Henri raised her head. A flicker of hope went through her. Maybe it could be resolved, but first Robert would have to trust her.
‘Can you wait for the priest until you have spoken to Sophie, Robert? Give her a chance to explain her side? Learn the whole truth before exploding?’
The silence stretched and then finally he gave a small nod. ‘If this is another one of your harum-scarum ideas, Thorndike, I will never forgive you.’
‘I will get Sophie for you and you will see that she is safe and unharmed.’
‘Good old Henrietta!’ Sebastian shouted. ‘I knew you’d be on my side.’
Henri felt Robert stiffen at her side. Silently she willed him to believe in her, rather than in Sebastian’s words. Even now, he didn’t fully trust her and that hurt. But she would show him.
‘I want you to be alive when I return, Sebastian, so I might have the pleasure of tearing you limb from limb. Do precisely as Mr Montemorcy says.’ She put her hand on Robert’s arm and said in an undertone, ‘Trust me. I’m doing this for Sophie, not for Sebastian. Intuition will prevail.’
Chapter Sixteen
‘I believe the lady you seek is in there,’ the innkeeper’s wife said after they had climbed a flight of stairs. ‘It is our best room. She refuses to allow anyone in. I told Mr Mumps that he should have made them pay first. And now his lordship is claiming, if you please, that she has all the money.’
The woman gave a small sniff as if she expected better of people who rented that particular room.
‘I believe I can find my way from here.’ Henri reached into her reticule and took out a coin.
‘As you like, ma’am.’ The woman gave a small curtsy and bustled off, muttering about people who had too fine a manner.
Henri waited until she heard footsteps on the stairs. Then she tapped on the door. ‘Sophie? Sophie Ravel, are you in there?’
‘Henri! Oh, Henrietta Thorndike, is it you?’ Sophie called out. ‘Or am I dreaming? I’ve so longed for a friendly voice.’
‘Yes, dear, it is I.’ Henri felt a catch in her throat. She wanted something more for Sophie than to be hiding out in grimy rooms with peeping innkeepers. She wanted to throttle Sebastian. Sophie Ravel deserved so much more. ‘And Robert is downstairs.’
‘You have come to rescue me?’ Sophie’s voice sounded very young and uncertain. ‘I fear I’ve made an awful pickle of things, Henri. I thought…I thought I could handle him.’
‘Nothing that cannot be put right.’
‘You’re wrong. I know what happens next.’
Henri tried the door handle, but the door was bolted from the inside. She put her hand on the smooth dark wood and willed Sophie to open the door. ‘Why did you go with Sebastian? You said that you had no interest in my cousin.’
‘I should never have quarrelled with Miss Armstrong, but she would complain about what a busybody know-it-all you are. And I know what a good heart you have. Everyone says so. Jealous cat.’
Henri took a calming breath. She did things because she liked to make people happy, because she cared about them and wanted to help, not because she wanted to gossip about them. And right now, she was here, determined to help Sophie. ‘Miss Armstrong’s opinions are of no matter. It doesn’t explain why you went with Sebastian.’
‘He seemed so understanding. And I wanted…I wanted…well, that is…I thought I ought to see what a man who was unsafe in carriages was really like before it was too late. I’m here and hope never to see his face again and now everyone will say I have to marry him or—’
‘Sophie, I’m here to help. You quarrelled with Miss Armstrong because you said I had a good heart. Allow me to prove it. There will be a way around this coil. No one will force anyone to marry.’
The noise of a bolt sliding filled the hallway. Henri relaxed slightly and willed Sophie to open the door.
The door opened a crack and Sophie peeked out. Her normally well-coiffured hair hung down in snakes around her shoulders, her eyes were red, her dress creased and the lace torn. In her right hand, she brandished a reasonably sized frying pan.
Henri stepped back and gestured in the empty hall. ‘See, me, Sophie, no one else. You’re safe.’
Sophie burst into fresh tears and ran into the hall. Henri held her, patting her back until the sobs and hiccupping subsided. ‘Henri, I’m ruined. Really ruined. People will draw their skirts away from me. But nothing untoward happened. I shall become an Example!’
‘Sophie, your true friends will stand by you.’ Henri held the young woman away from her. ‘They always do. We’ll find a way around this. Did my cousin attack you? Did you know what he intended? Did he dishonour you?’
