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“Goodnight.” She reiterated the word and stepped away, letting her hand fall out of his. As they parted, something inside of her thought it a shame he didn’t break his own rules.
* * *
Sophia stepped in through the front door. These days, she knew she shouldn’t have to creep about. She should be able to walk freely through the hallway of the house and up to her chamber without fear of reproach or anyone thinking ill of her, yet even the butler seemed to sense her nervousness, for he closed the front door as softly as he could behind her.
Sophia crept across the hallway, tiptoeing toward the staircase. When she placed her foot on the bottom step, it creaked beneath her. She cursed under her breath, knowing she could not escape now.
“Sophia?” The deep voice made her turn on the bottom step, looking to the doorway of the sitting room nearby.
“Nick, you are still awake?” She tried to keep her tone nonchalant, as if she hadn’t been trying to sneak back into the house.
He leaned on the doorframe with his arms folded, not saying anything for a minute, but staring at her. He was much taller than her, even now when she was standing on the first step of the staircase, and his eyes were a pale blue, almost cold. They had this habit of freezing Sophia to the spot, as if a cold wind had buffeted through the hallway and turned her to an ice block.
“Sophia, we have spoken about this.” His tone was formal. “You should not stay out so late.”
“I stayed out no later than others at the assembly tonight.” She brushed off the words and turned, heading up the stairs. Sometimes, Nick reminded her of her late husband too much. There was something in the coldness of that stare that unnerved her.
Brothers are alike, I guess.
“I do not worry for others’ behavior and reputations; I worry for yours.” Nick spoke firmly, his voice almost shaking in his attempt to hold back his anger.
Sophia felt a fury bubble in her stomach. More than once since Nick had become the new Earl of Elkins had he commented on her behavior, but she was not going to accept it.
Halting part way up the stairs, she turned with her hand on the banister and faced Nick as he moved to the bottom of the staircase.
“If I say you should return home sooner, then you should –”
“Nick, you are not my keeper. You are my brother-in-law.” Sophia knew she could speak her mind because of the wine and the courage it had given her, but she didn’t care. “If I wish to enjoy an assembly and stay out an hour longer, then I will.” She turned to hurry up the stairs once again, yet she heard his quick footsteps behind her.
As she reached the top, she turned sharply back to face him, finding Nick standing just a few steps below her, so they were at eye level.
“What you do affects my reputation as well as your own.” His words were deep as he held her stare, never once blinking. Those blue eyes infuriated her.
They are cold. They are not warm and striking like the Duke of Pemberton’s.
Finding the Duke has somehow snuck into her thoughts, she tried to shake him free of her mind and return her focus to her brother-in-law.
“I have done nothing wrong, brother,” she murmured, addressing him as he had asked her to. Even now when the man that connected them was no longer alive, he had insisted she call him brother. “I enjoyed an assembly and now I shall retire for the night. Good night.” She offered a curtsey to him and retreated.
Even as she walked away, she could sense he wanted to say more. It was obvious in the way his hand curled around the banister, angered by her, and how his eyes followed her down the corridor.
I will not be kept by my brother-in-law the way I was by my husband, and my father before him. As Rachel says, I am free now!
The mere thought brought a smile to Sophia’s cheeks as she hurried away down the corridor and headed for her chamber. She hastened inside and closed the door behind her. She locked it too then kicked a chair in front of it, uncertain really why she had felt she needed the extra precaution.
One night, Nick had been furious to find her coming back home in the early hours of the morning. She had been gambling with Rachel and tried smoking a pipe. When she came back stinking of smoke, Nick had followed her to her chamber. When Sophia had tried to hide inside, he had followed her in, shouting at her about what a betrayal this was to her reputation to consider smoking and staying out so late.
He will not come in here again.
Sophia made sure the chair firmly jammed the door shut and then she retreated into the middle of the chamber, lighting a candle using a tinderbox in the darkness to keep her company. She could have called for her maid to help her change, but she found she wished to be alone tonight, and she didn’t want to move the chair out from under the door.
Instead, she undressed alone, and climbed into the bed, her thoughts so filled with everything that had passed at the assembly that as she fell asleep, it all came back to her.
Sophia was dancing again, though she could not see her dance partner. She could feel the strength in those arms though as he led her around the floor, and the grip of his hand on hers. It was reassuringly strong, yet she could also extricate her hand if she wanted to.
They were dancing amongst other couples. At least, she thought they were. Seconds later, she and this gentleman were the only two people dancing in this room. There was no one else there at all. No one to see that he bent his head toward her to whisper something in her ear, teasing her with how close his lips came to the top of her neck. Neither was there anyone to see him slip his hand further across her waist, drawing her to him so that their hips brushed together.
“We shouldn’t,” she murmured. “It will break all the rules.”
