A Bright Particular Star (21 page)

It took three attempts to light the candle because he
r
fingers were trembling so much
.
She lifted the candle up to see the bandbox containing her clothes had been opened and its contents strewn around the f
loor.
Now
s
hivering uncontrollably
from head to toe
, she stumbled to the door and turned the
handle.

Nothing happened.

She fumbled for the key, only to find it was missing
. H
er assailant had
locked
her in from the outside.

Sophie
’s
abraded nerves tumbled over
the edge.
She banged her hand
against the door
several times
, opened her mouth and, despite her dislike of histrionics, did something she had not done since she was a child and found herself stuck in the attic with a large moth
.
S
he let out a long, piercing scream.

****

Theo was
stretched out on his bed,
both hands behind his head and
s
taring into mid-distance
.
He had removed his boots
, but was st
ill in his shirt and
breeches
. H
e couldn
’t
sleep.

Sophie
haunted him
day and night.
He co
uldn
’t
stop thinking about her
.
It was like an illness, but one
bringing
both pleasure and pain.
Her smile, the look in her
eyes, her voice,
her
wonderful low and free laugh
,
her expressions, the way she som
etimes tilted her head
when she was about to speak
…
everything about her
called out to something
in him, a part of his soul
he had not kno
wn existed until she had,
literally, fallen into his l
ife.
Now he felt her everywhere
, with his body
and his mind
.
The need
to be
near her
was overwhelming and t
he memory of her
delectable figure
pressed against him
made his bod
y pulse with need.
Restless a
nd full
of longing
, he
ground
his fist
int
o
the mattress in
an agony of
frustration.

A
blood curdling
scream
ripped through the silence
.

Knowing instinctively
it was Sophie, he lea
pt off the bed and,
cursing, pulled
on his boots and snatched his pistol from the table.
Ther
e was enough light from the lamp
to see his way and he ran the intervening yards to her room.
In the background, other occupants of
the inn were stirring.
A few cracked open their doors and peeked outside
.
T
hey too had been
awakened by the scr
eam and
were
anxio
us to know what was afoot
.

Theo tried Sophie
’s
door.
It was locked
.
He put his ear to th
e panel and
sai
d in an urgent voice,
“S
ophie!
Are
you alright? What the deuce
has
happened?
”

Her voice floated back from the o
ther side of the door.
“T
hank goodness
!
I
was so frightened
.
S
omeone was
in my room.
They tried to kill
me, I think…I
-I
don
’t
know because it all happened so quickly.
I’m
not hur
t
—
I managed to fight them off
—
but they escaped.
”

He swore fluentl
y and profusely
.
“
Let me in!
”

“
I
can
’t
!
The doo
r is locked from the outside
…
whoever it was must have taken away the key.
”

“S
tand back
then
.
I
’
ll see if I can shear the lock
off
.
”

Theo
grabbed a
chair from the passageway and used it as a battering ram
.
His
final
thrust
was accompanied by a s
plintering
sound as the lock mechanism and upper hinge
ripped away from the wood
.
He kicked at the lower hinge
where the
door still clung at a drunken angle
, sending it
cras
hing to the floor before stepping
over the debris into the room.

Sophie
rushed to him.
“
Oh,
I’m
glad you have come!
”

He
gathered her into his embrace and s
he leaned against him, her brow resting against the centre of his c
hest.
Glistening strands of her
hair fell over his arms, trapping him in a fine, silken web and he was
aware of her curves
through the
thin
fabric of her nig
htgown.
H
er warm, scantily
-
clad body was impossible to resist and, d
espite the
ir
circumstances, desire coursed
through him.
He
fought to contain a need that threa
tened to rage out of control,
berati
ng himself for a scoundrel and trying
to redirect his thoughts towards
comforting her instead.
His
hold tightened and
he felt her nestle
closer,
her sobs
muffled by his shirt front
.

Sophie, relief sweeping through her,
wound her arms about his waist
.
Nothing had ever felt
this
wonderful.
To be held like this was an echo of her earlier fa
ntasies.
It
also
brought home
how little affection she had received over recent years.
To feel safe,
wanted,
protected,
cared for,
even for a short time, was pure delight.

In the seconds
when she
had
thought she might die,
a
ll she could think was
she would never see Theo again.
Now, his chest rose and fell beneath her cheek and she could feel
his body heat and
hear
the reassuring thud of his heartbeat.
She
skimm
ed
her hands over
his back
,
aware of every
taut
muscle through his
shirt
.
When s
he tilted her
head back
to look at him
,
she
sa
w his eyes were shadowed
with concern.

“T
ell me what happened,
”
he insisted.

She
explained in brief, halting sentences, barely reaching the en
d when the noise
from the landing grew louder.

“
S
ophia!
What
are
you
doing, you shameless girl!

Sophie peeped over Theo
’s
shoulder.
Her
aunt was standing in the mangled
doorway,
a shocked
expression on her face.
Her hair hung down in a neat plait from under her night cap, and she had donned a lace
-
trimmed robe, but
her
gimlet
stare was undiminished.
Olivia
stood at her side
,
her
dark curls
tumbling down her back,
her eyes like
saucers
.

Sophie kne
w how the scene must appear
.
She was clad only in a
nightgown while Theo was in his shirt and breeches and they were in each other
’
s arms, but only a fool or her a
unt could
conceive of
any impropriety.
If Theo had been intent on seducing her, he would hardly have woken everyon
e
by breaking down
the door.

“S
omeone has been in Miss
Devereux
’s
ro
om,
”
explained
Theo
curtly
.

A
larm
flickered
in
Mrs
.
Sloane
’s
ey
es, but the sight of her niece in
Mr
Cavanagh
’s
embrace
, coupled with the spectacle they were affording the group
gathering on the lan
ding, offended her
.
“
I’m
sure that
’s
no reason
for her to cling to you in such a
deplorable fashion
!
”
she snapped.

Theo
’s
features might have been carved from stone.
“
Have
you no thought for Sophie
’s
welfare?
You have not even
inquired
i
f she has been harmed.
”

A murmur went up from the crowd and Eudora coloured.
With studied patience and a forced smile, she said,
“
Perhaps it was remiss
of me not to enquire
at once.
Are you unhurt, my dear?
”

Sophie almost laughed out loud
. H
er aunt had
never
called h
er
“
my dear
”
.
She nodded, reluctantly pulling
away
from Theo.
A large
group of people had now assembled
outside the doorway.
Most were clad in their night attire
and holding candles, some
still s
mothering yawns.
Lucius Grey had appeared beside
Olivia.
He was fully dressed
apart from his cravat, his
eyes alert and absorb
ing every detail, his
brows
drawn together in a frown.
Peregrine was there
, too, dressed in a calf
-
length
brocade dressing gown
of startling design
with
military
-
style braiding.
His hair was dishevelled and his eyes still looked bleary with sleep an
d wine.
The droop of his mouth was more accentuated than usual
.

“
What on earth is
going on,
cousin
?
”
he demanded
.
“
Your banshee-like scream has woken everyone up.
”

“S
omeone has been through my
things.
When I
a
woke and
disturbed
him, he
attacked me
.
”

Gasps broke out, but Peregrine gave an incr
edulous snort.
“
What, here in
The Pelican
?
Errant nonsense!
This is an exclusive coaching inn,
not some shabby
tavern
.
Robbers and rakes don
’t
wander in off the street here.
You must have had a nightmare.
”

Sophie threw him a disgusted
look.
“
I know when I have been attacked.
”

An
agitated discussio
n broke out among the audience, who quickly ranged themselves into two camps.
The naysayers were convinced Sophie had dreamt the whole thing; others argued she
was unlikely to have thrown
her
clothes around the ro
om herself.
There was a
stir of activity
at the back
and the landlord
, elbowing his way through, demanded
to know what had happened.
Simultaneously, and with
great
relish, several pe
ople offered
their version of events.