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He would have to do better.
***
Sophia watched him from the foyer as he stood there in the shadows. The duke was a regal presence, totally at home with the opulence of his estate. She’d noticed him lurking there long before he’d seen her. He looked like he’d rather be drawn and quartered than forced to host a house party. He raised a finger to his lips, as though they shared an unspoken secret. A shiver crept up her spine.
“Are you all right, dear?” the duchess asked of her. “You’re not taking on a cold, are you?” She snapped her fingers at the butler, who stood sentry over the servants who hurried about with the arriving guests. He glared at the duchess, raised his nose in the air, and very promptly dismissed her without saying a word. “I detest that man,” the duchess mumbled. “He’ll learn his place if it’s the last thing I ever do.”
Sophia smothered a laugh.
Sophia’s grandmother smoothed a hand down the duchess’s arm. “Good help is so hard to find.” The duke’s daughter skipped down the steps toward them. Sophia couldn’t keep from smiling at her, particularly since her father still lurked behind the drapes. She tried not to look directly at him and draw attention to his position behind the drapes, but it was incredibly difficult not to. Knowing he was there made her want to study him, to watch him as closely as he was watching his guests. Despite his unsociability, he was obviously interested in the proceedings.
“It looks as though you have someone’s attention,” her grandmother murmured at her.
“It would appear so,” Sophia whispered back. That was part of her task, wasn’t it? “But he’s frowning a bit. You don’t think that’s on my account, do you?”
“He smiled when you looked up at him, Soph,” her grandmother chided with a soft smile. “I’d say that’s a good sign.”
“Good morning, Miss Thorne,” the little girl chimed as she finally reached the bottom of the stairs.
Sophia put her hands on her hips and pretended to look affronted. “Well, look who’s here,” she said playfully. “Do they know you’ve sneaked into the party? I say, the duke is going to be none too happy if he finds out there are party-crashers about.” She shook her skirts out. “Perhaps you should hide in my skirts so they won’t toss you out into the street. I hear the duke doesn’t like urchins.”
The little girl’s eyes grew as big as saucers. “I am not an urchin. I am Lady Anne.”
Sophia rubbed at her chin between her finger and thumb and pretended to contemplate the situation. “You’ll never pass for Lady Anne. I’m sorry, it simply cannot be done. I hear Lady Anne is the most regal of creatures and that she always has a smile for everyone. When I saw you in the park, you certainly were not smiling. You were being quite a termagant.”
“But my papa is the duke,” the child said, and Sophia feared she would stomp her foot and fling herself into a tantrum any moment.
Sophia knelt down with a conspiratorial whisper. “The man in the park with you was the duke? The Duke of Robinsworth?”
The girl looked supremely satisfied with herself as she nodded. She pointed toward the drapes, but no one lurked in the shadows. “He was there a moment ago.” Her face fell. Then she shrugged. “It’s of no importance. He bade me to give you a
message.”
“Is it written in blood on secret paper?” Sophia asked.
Lady Anne covered her mouth and giggled. “No, it’s in my head.”
Sophia straightened back up to her full height. “That’s the best kind of secret, then. Let’s hear it. If such a thing exists.” She looked down her nose at the girl.
Lady Anne giggled again. “He’d like to welcome you to the Hall.”
Sophia leaned toward the girl’s ear, and cupped her hand around her voice. “He might just have to come out of the drapery to do so, won’t he?”
“He doesn’t do that,” the little girl said. “But he’s waiting for you in the garden.”
Sophia’s heart skipped a beat. “Which way?” she asked.
The little girl slid her hand into Sophia’s. “I’ll show you.” Then she gave a gentle tug and started down the corridor.
Sophia shot a look at her grandmother, who responded with an ever-so-tiny nod. She became immediately thankful of Anne’s guidance as they traversed the maze of corridors that was the Hall. It seemed almost as though one turn led to another. And another. And another, until Sophia found herself lost.
Then suddenly, they arrived at a door that was manned by a servant who immediately stepped out to open it. “Do the guards get changed at midnight?” she asked of Anne.
“The one on this door does,” Anne informed her, as though it was the most normal of occurrences. “This is my father’s favorite place. And no one but he is allowed to visit it.” She grinned sheepishly. “Except for me, of course. But only if I behave.”
“Of course,” Sophia replied. “I’m honored to be invited into the inner circle.”
“It’s just a garden. Not a circle.”
