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“Thomas?”
Thomas jumped. Both Hawksworth and Westbury were staring at him. Thomas hadn’t noticed that he had got distracted by Sophia. He shuffled his feet.
“Forgive me. I don’t know what happened there.”
“Well, let’s get you meeting Aimee. My daughter is really looking forward to meeting you.” Westbury looked very pleased with himself. “I’m sure this will be the start of something good between the two of you.”
Thomas didn’t know what to say about that. And now he didn’t want to talk to Aimee. He wanted to sit with Sophia and talk to her. She would be far more interesting.
It was a shame he wasn’t here to meet her.
Chapter 5
Sophia was sure she had been seeing things in the beginning. This couldn’t be her mysterious gentleman from the woods, standing in her home staring at her. It had taken all of her composure not to say anything and greet him.
That would have raised a lot of questions, and Sophia wasn’t about to reveal that she had been in the company of someone without a chaperone. While her parents didn’t really notice her, they would notice in front of others.
He was Thomas Ford; the man Aimee was planning on marrying? Sophia couldn’t believe it. How had she not realised that someone she hadn’t seen before – and she pretty much knew everyone in the St Neots area – was Aimee’s potential husband? She felt like a fool for not putting it together.
Now he was sitting in their drawing room, attempting to engage Aimee in interesting conversation. Aimee was talking a lot, not giving him much room to respond. Sophia had to give one thing to her sister: she wasn’t afraid to make her voice known once she had the attention on her. She could easily keep a conversation going, but only because she was doing all the talking.
The rest of Sophia’s family sat around the room, her mother, father, and sisters looking pleased at how things were going. The husbands weren’t paying too much attention, but Sophia saw Barclay grimacing. He looked as uncomfortable as Sophia felt, although probably for another reason.
Sophia just felt discomfort in her belly, knowing she had been alone with Mister Ford. If her family found out about this, she would get into serious trouble. Not that Sophia cared much about that, but they would punish her by locking her away. The only thing Sophia had was that she was ignored enough she could move around relatively freely. It was one of the few things that kept her sane. If that was taken away …
Hopefully, Ford wouldn’t give her away about this. He had to know it wouldn’t look good for either of them.
Although right now didn’t look good for him, anyway. Ford looked like he would rather be anywhere else. Given that he had all of Aimee’s sisters, their husbands, and her parents openly watching them, Sophia couldn’t blame him for that. It was disturbing for her, and she wasn’t even the focal point.
After about twenty minutes, Sophia couldn’t handle it for much longer. Excusing herself quietly, she left the room and headed towards the garden door. She couldn’t sit there watching Ford and Aimee together, nor could she look at the smug expression on her sister’s face. And why shouldn’t she be smug? Ford was a very handsome man. The two of them complemented each other.
Which made Sophia’s stomach twist even more. She didn’t want anyone to actually pay attention to her for once and see her expression; she was sure she looked shocked and disgusted, and it was hard to hide after a while.
Going for some air was the best thing for her right now.
Heading out the side door and into the garden, Sophia ducked into the vegetable garden. The hedges around this part were pretty high, and it was secluded enough that she could stay there until Ford was gone. She slumped onto the stone bench, feeling the sharp twigs tickling her back as she leaned back against the hedge.
Of all the people to be matched to Aimee, why did it have to be him? Sophia had been in his presence twice, and she had found him interesting. For the first time in her life, she actually felt some sort of attraction towards a gentleman.
He was kind, generous, and he made her laugh. He also didn’t seem to care about her appearance or that she had interests that weren’t exactly becoming of a lady. Other people found her interests boring, except for Barclay and his children. They didn’t mind hearing her talk about flora and fauna, and they liked her paintings.
But she didn’t find Barclay attractive like that. Sophia could handle it.
With Thomas Ford, however …
Sophia felt something twist in her stomach, and she was surprised to discover it was jealousy. Was she jealous of Aimee? Sophia never thought that would happen. How could she be jealous of what she had? Ford hadn’t come here to court her and had his attention distracted by Aimee; he was here for her sister. They were going to end up married at some point in the near future, Sophia was certain of it.
And she didn’t like that. A good person like Thomas Ford married to her vain, rude sister? That was surely going to be a bad match if she ever saw one.
“Hiding away, are you?”
Sophia gasped and shot to her feet. Ford was standing at the entrance to the vegetable patch, watching her with a bemused smile. Sophia felt her heart race to the point she was feeling lightheaded. Her mouth had gone dry. Why did he have such an effect on her?
She swallowed.
“What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be inside talking to my sister?”
“I excused myself for a few minutes. I need to get some air.” Ford gestured towards the house as he moved out of sight of the windows. “It was getting a little warm in there, so I thought I should cool myself down.”
