AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Grace is here?’ A single tear ran down Sophie’s cheek. ‘Do you think she will clean me up and fix my hair before we go and see Robert?’
‘Life is always much brighter when you are properly dressed.’
‘Henri, you know my one regret about not marrying Sebastian is that you and I will not be related.’ Sophie gave a sad smile. ‘I don’t suppose after this, there is any chance you might fall for Robert, is there?’
Henri took a deep breath. Fall for Robert? She already had. ‘I have no plans to remarry, Sophie. And no one has asked me.’
‘Then he jolly well should.’ Sophie put a hand on her hip. ‘And you should accept him.’
‘Whatever happens, Sophie, remember you have a friend in me.’
* * *
Robert glared at Cawburn, who continued to sit at the table, humming a strange tune. Robert wished that he could simply take Sophie and leave, but Cawburn had deliberately ruined the young woman and her prospects. Unless he could find a way around the coil, Sophie would have to marry this man and would suffer. It was something he didn’t want. Yesterday, everything seemed clear-cut, but today, it was far from straightforward and he hoped Henri would find a way. He gave a small smile. The man who prided himself on solving his problems had discovered he needed someone else. Henri was fast becoming indispensible to his well-being and that made the current arrangement entirely unsatisfactory.
‘Why did you kidnap Sophie?’ Robert asked, breaking the silence.
‘I didn’t,’ Sebastian spat out. ‘I’d thought about it, but she came willingly enough once I spun a few lines about being like Henrietta. She even wrote the notes, you know.’
Robert flinched, remembering how he’d accused Henri about the notes. ‘You seduced her.’
‘It was the only way. You refused to let me speak to her alone and I thought she pined for me just as I pined for her. And abduction is far too harsh, Montemorcy, merely forcible persuasion. I wanted her to admit the truth and recognise that we belonged together. How wrong I was about that hell-cat. Now I can’t wait to see the back of her. But first I will get my debts paid.’ He leant back in his chair and a slow smile crossed his features. ‘Oh, yes, I will be rolling in clover. Things always work out in my favour.’
‘Pity you haven’t read her father’s will. Sophie possesses a small allowance, if she chooses to marry without my consent.’
Cawburn’s mouth opened and shut several times. ‘But…but I have a title.’
‘I’ve never been very impressed with titles. It is more the measure of the man. If you have ruined Sophie, and it becomes necessary for you to marry, then I will be holding the purse strings.’
‘You could pay me to keep my mouth shut. Just enough to get my creditors off my back.’
‘Blackmailers always return for more.’
‘Not blackmail, just a way of helping out.’ Cawburn signalled to the innkeeper for two more tankards of beer. He cleared his throat. ‘However, you are in no position to judge, not being a man of honour.’
‘I refuse to play word games with you, Cawburn.’ Robert clenched his fist, counted to ten and unclenched. It was not worth smashing Cawburn’s face in. Not with witnesses. ‘You should be grateful if I do not set the law on you. Abducting an heiress is not looked on with favour in any county of England.’
‘You would not want to do that to your future relation. After all, we are all honourable men here and wish to do the correct thing, the thing society expects from honourable men.’ With each repetition of the word honourable, Cawburn appeared to grow more self-assured, as if the very word was a magic talisman.
Robert pressed both his palms into the wooden table and took deep breaths. ‘Plain English, Cawburn.’
Cawburn gave a laugh. ‘I was speaking about your marriage to Henrietta.’
A great rushing noise filled Robert’s brain. What did Cawburn know? He had to be ignorant about everything that had passed between Henri and him. He had left before Robert arrived at Dyvels and discovered Henri in the garden. Cawburn was merely clutching at straws and seeking to disconcert him. What was between Henri and him stayed private until she decided otherwise. ‘Am I getting married to Lady Thorndike?’
Cawburn raised himself up and put his face close to Robert’s. His blue eyes shot daggers. ‘You and my cousin have been travelling together. I don’t see her maid. And you must have spent an intriguing night together last night.’
The back of Robert’s neck crept with ice. He wasn’t worried about himself, but about Henri. ‘Would you stoop to blackmailing your cousin? She has saved you so many times.’
