Page 62 of One Waltz with the Viscount

Henry waited a few more seconds, then walked quickly towards the house. Without missing a step he launched himself at the wall, feeling a thrill of satisfaction as he gripped the first handhold and pulled himself up. It was only a short climb to the first-floor window, but the hardest part was pulling himself up on the window ledge without toppling over and crashing into the room, alerting the servants below that there was an intruder.

Once inside he took a moment to get his breath back, then began to creep through the house. Things had changed a little since he had last been inside 1 Grosvenor Square, but not so much that he didn’t know where all the creaky floorboards were and potential places he could trip.

The last time he had been in residence with his sister she had only been young and confined to the nursery. Now she was older—with Lord Burwell suggesting she would soon be ready to marry, no doubt she had moved into one of the other bedrooms.

There was nothing for it but to check each room in turn. Avoiding the master bedroom, Henry opened each door down the first-floor corridor. All the rooms were silent and empty. Hoping he did not meet anyone on the stairs, he climbed up to the second floor, considering two further bedrooms and then dismissing them. Instead he turned left and went to the end of the hall, to where the three rooms of the nursery were set up. It would seem Lord Burwell thought Sophia was old enough to marry, but not old enough to leave the nursery.

He did not wish to startle his sister. Having a strange man silently creep into your bedroom would be terrifying for anyone, but most especially for a fourteen-year-old girl. He was also conscious that there was likely a governess sleeping nearby who he did not want to wake.

His worries were unfounded, for Sophia was sitting up at a little desk, studying a book by candlelight. It was a huge atlas, the maps inside beautifully drawn, and with a pang of nostalgia Henry realised it was the same book he had lovingly flicked through when he was a child himself, dreaming of a different life far away.

Sophia looked up as he paused in the doorway, fear immediately replaced by joy. She stood and ran to him, throwing her arms around his body and embracing him with such unbridled joy that Henry momentarily forgot they needed to be quiet. Only when she squealed his name did he put a warning finger to his lips.

‘Hush,’ he said softly, ‘Father does not know I’m here.’

‘How did you get inside?’

‘There was an open window. I climbed in. I heard you were in London and I could not wait any longer to see you.’

‘Why have you left it so long, Henry? I waited for years for you to visit, but nothing.’

‘Father did not tell you?’

She pulled a face, screwing up her little nose, looking like an angry mouse. ‘He said you no longer wanted to see me, that you had grown bored of me, but I didn’t believe him.’

‘Never believe anything like that. I missed you each and every day we were apart, Sophia,’ he said, enjoying the expression of pure happiness at his words. ‘Our father withheld contact with you as a punishment for me choosing a wife he did not approve of.’

She nodded sagely. ‘I thought as much.’

He suddenly realised how much she had grown in the last few years.

‘Then, in the last couple of years, he has kept us apart as a way to coerce me into doing what he wants.’

‘I’m so pleased you are here now. Will you take me away with you?’

‘I cannot, Sophia. Father will raise the hue and cry and have me labelled as a kidnapper.’

She chewed on her lip and nodded. ‘You are right, but I cannot stay here with him.’

‘Has it been terrible?’

With a shrug she looked away. ‘Most of the time I am in Yorkshire with Miss French, my governess. It is a dull but comfortable life. Father spends much of his time in London, and only comes back to Yorkshire for a few weeks at a time.’ She paused, looking over at him with concern. ‘He sent a letter to Mrs French a few days ago ordering us to come immediately to London. Mrs French said he probably just misses my company, but I worry he has summoned me here for some other reason.’

Henry looked at the worried, innocent face in front of him and knew he had to do whatever it took to protect her. In his chest his heart tore apart. He realised there might not be a way to be with the woman he loved, if she would even have him now.

‘I am afraid that once again you are stuck in the middle of a feud between me and Father. He wishes for me to marry some well-born society lady. I have been resisting. Earlier today he told me either I get on and marry the young woman of his choosing, or he will arrange a marriage between you and an old friend of his.’

Sophia looked shocked, shaking her head in disbelief. ‘But I am only fourteen.’

‘I know.’

‘Surely that cannot be allowed. Not until I have had my debut.’

‘Girls can marry from the age of twelve, as long as they have parental permission.’

‘No,’ she said, her eyes wide in terror. ‘I don’t want to marry anyone.’

There was his answer. Whatever happened, he could not leave Sophia here with their father who would dispose of her however he wished.