Read A Bright Particular Star Online

Authors: Elizabeth Hanbury

A Bright Particular Star (27 page)

“D
o you i
ntend to stay in
London
long,
Cavanagh?

said
Grey
, casting Theo a penetrating glance
.


Perhaps a
week at most
,

Theo
replied.


Oh
!
T
hat is
a pity
,

Sophie
blurted out, feeling
suddenly
downhearted
; she had not envisaged him
leaving
so soon.


I have som
e business to attend to in the country
,

he explained
.


You won
’t
ne
ed any company but mine
,

Peregrine assured
her.

I

ll be happy to squir
e you around the sights
.

He then
shouted for
a servant
and t
he lack of i
mmediate response sent him
striding
out into the hallw
ay, grumbling about the
servic
e and intent on
obtaining a pack of cards.
Mr
Grey went out too, promising to
procure
a pot of
coffee for Sophie and Olivia
after
discussing an urgent matter
with his valet
.

A short time later,
Olivia went upstairs
to collect
her shawl and
Sophie
found herself alone with Theo
.
As she had been doing all evening, she sto
le surrept
itious glances at him
, greedily
committing
every
detail to memory
.

She noted h
ow the
candlelight picked out threads of dark gold in his hair and glinted off the faint growth of bristle along his jaw
, and
h
ow his hair
curled into the rigid nape of his
neck.
She
loved the
humour
around his firm mou
th
and the smile
lurking
in his eyes.
H
e had pro
ved himself to be kind and thoughtful
, yet she
also
knew
the
s
teely, passionate depths
beneath his
easy—
going exterior.
They had so
little time left
together
.
In a few hours
,
they would go their separate ways
and
Sophie
felt
c
lose to tears at the prospect
.
She ought to
be overjoyed at the thought
of seeing
Ja
mes again, but instead was
conscious
only
of the bitter taste
of unhappiness
.
Misery
clogged her throat
and her heart gave a slow, painful roll
.

I
-I think I

ll retire


she began
.

Olivia
returned
and
Sophie knew at once from her expression
something was wrong.


What
’s
the matter?

she prompted.

Olivia da
rted a glance at Theo.
“S
ome
one has been in our room
.

Sophie star
ted forward.

What!
Has it been
ran
sacked?


No, nothing like that,

said Oli
via, in an urgent
voice
.

Indeed, I probably would not hav
e noticed anything at all
, but
my shawl was in a slightly different place
from
where I left it.


Are you sure you a
re not mistake
n?

said
Mr
Grey, who had just
strolled
back
in
and overheard
.

Olivia
shook her hea
d.

I had folded it as
I always do, yet it had bee
n refolded in a different way
.
Nothing seems to be missing
though
.


Yet more mystery,

said Theo
.

Any ideas,
Grey?

He raised
an eyebrow.

Why
ask me?


I thought you might have some suggestions.

Mr
Grey regarded hi
m steadily
.

A few, but all of them implausible.


None of us
left the room during dinner,

pointed out Sophie.

“T
rue,

acknowledged Theo,

but
the person responsible
might have used
an
accompli
c
e.

He concluded with an accus
ing
look
at
Grey, who stared back, his expression impassive.

A long, uncomfortable
pause ensued.

When Grey finally spoke,
his tone
was
clipped but not uncivil
,

When we were at
T
he Pelican
, I made a comment about you trusting me, Cavanagh.
It was spoken somewhat flippantly at the time,
which I now regret.
You are cautious on Miss
Devereux
’s
behalf and
I
understand
you
r
wish to keep
your cards close.
But it is not always
the best way
.
Shared knowle
dge can be
far more useful
.


You might apply that advice to yourself,

retorted Theo.

Mr
Grey smiled faintly, lifting his hand in the manner of a fencer acknowledging a hit.

T
ouch
é
,

he murmured.

Very well.
P
erhaps you will feel
more
inclined to con
fide in me
when
Miss
Devereux
is inst
alled in the Verney
house
hold.

He pushed bac
k his chair and
bow
ed briefly
.

Ladies, I bid you goodnight.
I f
ind I have no taste for
cards t
onight after all, and am for
bed.

His gaze lingered
on Olivia.
“S
leep well, Miss Sloane.

He went
out, passing Peregrine on the way,
who
voiced his disgust
when he learned Grey
’s
objective
was bed rather than a hand of piquet.

Chapter
Nine

 

T
hey set off
promptly after breakfast
.
Sophie
had spent a miserable night
tossing and turning
in her bed
in a way that left the sheets and blankets crumpled and askew,
even though
there had been no intruders
to distur
b her
.
When she awoke to find the room full of sunlight, she was glad to get up and dressed, but
she felt exhausted and
a
dull headache throbbed in her temples.

Now the time
for meeting James
was drawing near
she
was entertaining every conc
eiva
ble doubt
.
W
hat
she would do if he was not at home
?
Worse sti
ll, what if he was there and
so disgusted with her behaviour that he gave
her the cut direct?

No, that w
ould not happen
.
He
could not have changed so drastically
in the interveni
ng years.
At least
in Madame Lavalle
’s
outfit
sh
e
would
not arrive looking like a
provincial
ragamuffin.

She was prey to a wild mixture of emotions
.
S
he wanted
to see James again

it
was the object
of her journey
after all

but
she dreaded
saying goodbye to Theo.
It was hard
to believe she
’d
only known him for
a short time
.
L
ast night
she had realiz
ed
with
sudden and
devastating clarity how
much
she
would
miss him
.

Unable to resist
this last
opportunity to study
his
profile, she
peeked at him
as he sat next to her in the carriage.
H
e
was sterner
than usual
, but nothing
in his expression or his
manner gave a clue to any other
feelings.
H
e
had been the perfect gentleman
du
ring the journey.
As for
whe
n he
had almost ki
ssed her, he
must be
regretting that aberration now.
He wasn
’t
interested in
someone like her
.
How could he be?
Theo
Cavanagh
could
have
his pick of
women
so what could
he see in an
impulsive
ingénue from the country
?
She would never be the sort
of woman he would want
.
Duty and honour
was all that
bound hi
m to her side
; h
e had admitted
as much
a
t T
he Castle.
This dismal reflection made he
r utter an involuntary
sigh.


Nervous
?

inquired
her companion.

Sophie
, unwilling to reveal the real direction of her thoughts,
forced a smile.

A little.
Understandable, I suppose, when I have not seen James for several y
ears.
I hope he will be
pleased
to see me
wh
en he has recovered from the
shock
.


He
’s
a fool
if he is not,

he said after a pause
.

Where is
the Verney
townhouse
?


Upper Brook Street.

“T
hen we sh
all take our leave of
Peregrine
soon
if he
is staying at Limmer
’s
.


Where
is that?

she asked, hoping it
was not too near Upper Brook Street.

“T
he corner of Conduit
Street
and Hanover Square
.
It
’s
usually see
thing with sporting bloods
and
,
since y
our cousin
fancies himself among their number
,
it will suit him per
fectly.

He glanced
at her
, his gaze anxious
.
“D
on
’t
let him bother you, will
you?
H
e intends to insinuate himself i
nto your company
, but you
can
refuse
.
And if he will not be gainsaid, get Vern
ey or his mother to send him
packing
.

Sophie shrugged.

I’m
not
concerned about Perry
.

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