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He reached the box and a liveried footman opened the door for him.
“Good evening, my lord.”
With a quick nod to the footman, Nicholas entered the box. Four gilt and embroidered chairs faced the stage. Elizabeth smiled at him as he walked inside.
“Your Grace,” he said to Kendal.
“Ancroft.”
“Nicholas, I am so glad you decided to join us,” Elizabeth said. For appearances, she introduced him formally to Sophie.
Nicholas bowed over her hand with a smile. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Reynard.”
“Thank you, my lord.”
He couldn’t help but notice she watched his every move as he headed for his seat next to Kendal. Once seated, he made some polite conversation with the duke before the orchestra started to play. Instead of paying attention to the opera, he watched Sophie.
Why had he never noticed the length of her slender neck? Or the way her hair shimmered like ebony in the flickering candlelight. The more time he spent with her, the more he was coming to terms with his feelings for her. He’d observed pain in her eyes last evening when discussing Fanny Burney’s book. Sophie desperately wanted a family. Something he wanted, too.
Perhaps in a few more weeks, he could broach the topic of marriage again.
He smiled at her mesmerized face. So intent on the opera, she hadn’t even noticed his gaze remained strictly on her. But Elizabeth had. She reached back and slapped his thigh with her fan.
“I believe you should give the opera a bit more of your attention, Nicholas,” she whispered.
He knew she scolded him only to protect Sophie. If anyone else in the audience perceived his attraction to her, Sophie’s reputation might be damaged. And Sophie would rightly blame him if that happened.
Moving his attention to the stage, he attempted to watch the performance. Only his gaze kept sliding to her. He wanted to strip that emerald gown slowly from her body. His thoughts turned to the erotic as he imagined untying her stays and dropping her shift to the floor.
He had to stop. Thankfully, the intermission halted his excruciating ordeal but left him with a slight problem. Being a gentleman, he should offer to retrieve a glass of lemonade for Sophie. But there was no way he could stand up right now.
Sophie turned toward him with a smile. “Wasn’t that beautiful, Lord Ancroft?”
She had no idea how lovely she looked tonight. “Lovely, indeed, Miss Reynard.”
Elizabeth ordered lemonade from the footman, saving him the embarrassment of standing up while his trousers were tented. The door opened and several young men stood in the threshold, staring directly at Sophie. Nicholas had not counted on this unexpected event.
“Good evening, Lord Riverdale,” Elizabeth said as the viscount entered the room.
“Good evening, Your Graces,” Riverdale said and then nodded toward Nicholas, “And you, my lord.” He looked longingly over at Sophie.
Several other men scrambled into the room, in search of an introduction. Nicholas rose and moved to the back wall to watch the scene from afar. His cousin presented Sophie to each of the men in the room. Several glanced back at Nicholas as if to verify that he was not her protector.
He had no doubt that every man in the room wanted only one thing from her. Flexing his hands in frustration, he waited for the crowd to leave. Sophie blushed at the compliments given her and smiled at all the men. Jealousy rippled through him as he watched her speak directly with Riverdale in hushed tones.
Never in all the years he’d been with women had he felt such protectiveness over a woman, except his daughter. But the way he wanted to protect Sophie felt completely different. He barely stifled the urge to pull her away from all those men and growl at them. Instead, he released a long held breath.
Finally the men shuffled out of the box allowing Nicholas to return to his seat. Sophie and Elizabeth pulled out their fans and waved them in front of their flushed faces. They looked at each other and giggled as the opera resumed.
Nicholas stared at Sophie knowing he was in deep trouble.
Three nights after her trip to the opera, Sophie heard the slow tap of a cane and smiled, knowing Lady Cantwell was here for her weekly reading. The woman usually only wanted to know about her grandchildren’s lives. But the last time she was here she surprised Sophie with questions about love. Perhaps the older lady had an infatuation.
“That walk gets longer every week,” the woman stated as she entered the room.
“Come in, Lady Cantwell,” Sophie said with a grin.
