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“What do you want?”
“Can I talk to you?”
“Is that why you came out here? To talk to me?”
“Honestly? No. I had no idea you would be here.” Thomas sighed. “I feel like I should apologise first. Something I should have done earlier today.”
Sophia looked up at him with a frown.
“Apologising? For what?”
“For kissing you last night.”
“Oh. That.” Sophia glanced away, twiddling the pencil between her fingers. “It was something that just happened. And it’s not going to happen again.”
“Do you really think that?”
“I do.” Sophia closed her sketchpad and stood up, dusting the dirt off her skirts. “If you’ll excuse me, Mister Ford? I have to get back.”
“You must feel it, Sophia.”
Sophia stopped, blinking up at him.
“Feel what?”
“That there’s something between us. There’s something strong in the air, and I can most certainly feel it.” Thomas looked at her in earnest. “Surely, you can feel it as well. I’m not just imagining it.”
Sophia was about to say that she didn’t feel anything at all, but then she saw the look on Thomas’ face. He would be able to tell that she was lying. And she found that she couldn’t lie. It didn’t matter that he was about to marry her sister; this was something she couldn’t hold back.
She clutched her sketchpad to her chest, feeling like it was a shield between them. If she lowered it, she would end up throwing herself at him, and Sophia wanted to maintain her composure.
“I feel something,” she murmured.
Thomas looked hopeful.
“You do?”
“Yes. But nothing can be done about it.”
“Why?”
“Thomas, have you forgotten what our relationship is about to be? You’re about to marry Aimee. I’m to become your sister-in-law. We can’t act on that when you have a duty to your family.”
Thomas snorted.
“I don’t care about that.”
“But doesn’t your father want you to marry so you can carry on the viscountcy? He said you need to do this for your family, to secure the title with you.”
“He wants me to marry.” His voice came out bitterly. “But he’ll listen to me when I say this won’t be happening.”
Sophia didn’t believe that. She was sure that Viscount Hardwicke wouldn’t listen to his son and that this would be happening anyway. Just as it should. Her father and Thomas’ father had set this up, and neither man would be willing to break it off. It would humiliate Aimee that she couldn’t keep her engagement.
Thomas had to know the repercussions of what he wanted.
“Why did you agree to this in the first place?” she asked. “Why did you even consider agreeing to what your father wanted? You have a bit more freedom than women do when it comes to engagements.”
For a moment, Thomas looked like he wasn’t going to say anything. Then he looked away, moving towards a tree and leaning off one of the branches, his head down. Sophia watched him warily. Somehow, he had got closer to her, and she could feel her skin prickly in anticipation of him coming even closer.
