A Bright Particular Star (29 page)

Theo felt his hackles ri
se
, but he replied evenly,
“
Miss
Devereux
feared
she wou
ld be forced into a
distasteful
marriage
.
Seen from that perspective
, her actions were understandable
.
And b
ringing her
here has not inconvenienced me
.
”

The corner of
Verney
’s
mouth lifted
, as if to acknowledge his visitor was merely being polite
.
“S
till, you must be glad
to be rid of her
.
Sophie
can be exhausting
at times, and
from her garbled tale
I hear
curious events have dogged your journey.
”
He shook his head.
“
Why
s
he thought it sensible to bring
the
jewel
along too, I can
’t
imagine.
Should have left t
he thing with the lawyer
!
I
’
ll tell
her to ensure
it is kept in
a safe
place, but w
ord about this sort of t
hing always
gets out.
De
vilish
awkward
!
”

Theo
resisted the urge to grind h
is teeth; Lord Ve
r
ney might look like a G
reek god
, but
his
supercilious manner
and
determination to think the worst of Sophie were
less than heroic
.
“
It is my belief
Miss
Devereux
may still be at risk
,
”
he said.

Disbelief
darted
over Lord Verney
’s
face
.
“S
urely that is nonsense?
The attempt to steal the jewel
, if
indeed that is what it was
, was
most likely made
by an opportunist thief
.
”

“
I believe it was planned.
”

“
But who
could be responsible?
From what I hear,
her
cousin
has
neither the necessary intelligence nor
courage
.
And while this Lu
cius Grey fellow sounds myster
ious, it is questionable whether
he even knew
of the Star
’s
existence.
Mr
Cavanagh, y
ou are obviously a man of sense
. D
o not let Sophie
’s
love of melodrama influence you
.
”

This time, Theo
only maintained his temper with an effort
.
He yearned to
smash his fist into Verney
’s
elegant, arrogant features.
“
I
think
I
am well
placed to
offer an opinion since I
accompanied Miss
Devereux
,
”
he observed curtly.

“D
id
you see the intruder yourself
?
”

“
No, but
—
”

“
Ah.
A
nd the highwaymen were
nothing more than a
n unfortunate coincidence,
”
continued Lord Verney inexorably.

Theo
’s
lips
compressed
into a thin line
; Verney had
clearly
made up his mind.
He tried one last time.
“
I see.
And h
ow do you explain the fact Miss
Devereux
’s
room
at
T
he Bell and Anchor
had been disturbed
?
”

“S
ophie informs me it was
her cousin
Olivia who noticed
this
and n
o doubt
by then she too
had been swept up
i
n So
phie
’s
flight
s of fancy.
”
Lord Verney
gave a slight smile
.
“
You forget
I was well acquainted with them
in my youth
.
Sophie
was never the highly strung type, but she did have a vivid imagination and thirst for adventure
gleaned
, no doubt,
from reading too many gothi
c novels.
T
hese
have manifested themselves in her
imagining
cutthroats and thieves
lurking
in every shadow
.
She should have outgrown such foolishness by now.
”
Glimpsing
Theo
’s
deepening frown
, he
added hastily
,
“
Oh,
I don
’t
doubt her fears are sincere
, but that does not make them any less fantastic to those of us w
ho retain a
sensible perspective
.
”

“S
o you do not believe what she has told you?
”

“
Let us say
I prefer to maintain a healthy scepticism.
M
y mother and I will ensure
she is ac
companied by a maid
—
Sophie will have no idea how to go
on
in London society
anyway
—
but I do not think any stronger measures are called for, do you?
”

“
Actually I do,
for a time at least,
but
it seems you are dete
rmined to push my concerns aside
in the same
careless
manner
you have
dealt with
Sophie
’s
.
”

Lord Verney stiffened.
“
I don
’t
wish to argue
, Cavanagh
,
”
he said, with a haughty glare.
“
We are grateful for your assistance, but Sophie is our responsi
bility now.
Of course, you are
welcome to call
whenever you are
—
”

Verney
was interrupted
by the entrance of
Sophie and a
n
older
lady
.
Sophie
’s
eyes
were
suspiciously moist,
but she smiled at Theo.
“
Have yo
u and James been getting
acquainted?
”
she asked gaily.
“
Famous!
I hoped you would get along.
This is
Lady Verney, James
‘s
m
ama.
”

Georgiana
, Lady
Verney
was a pretty woman
with a feeble
, vague
mien.
A
Mechlin
lace cap adorned
her hair
and she wore a morning gown of sprigged poplin trimmed with folds of blue satin
.
Three fine shawl
s were draped haphazardly about
her shoulders.
Reputed to be
neither learned nor intelligent
,
she had an amiable
disposition and
, Theo noted,
a
ready smile
entirely at o
dds with her son
’s
formality
.

She
floated toward
him
and
put out her hand.
“S
ophie
has
told
m
e
about you
.
Indeed, I
find myself in awe of your
perfections.
”

“
Miss
Devereux
is too generous
.
I am no paragon.
”

“
I am glad to hear it
…
they
are always
dead bore
s
,
”
she observed, still smiling.
“
James
, have yo
u ordered
refreshments for
our guest
?
”

“
Not yet, Mama.
”

“T
hen please do so
at once.
Mr
.
Cav
anagh must be in dire need
and I want to
thank him
properly
f
or bringing Sophie to us
.
”

Lord Verney
, looking
none too pleased at the prospect
of their visitor stayi
ng longer, d
id
as he was bid before sitting
down on
the
sofa
with
the air
of a man resigned to a tedious interlude
.

I
t was not long before Theo was being urged by his
hostess to divulge every
detail of their journey.
Sophie
stayed
mostly
silent
,
flicking
occasional
glances in Lord Verney
’s
direction and
Theo
contrived to watch
her
while maintaining a
flow of polite conversation.
It
proved to be
a bitter-sweet
occupation.
As
he
drank in
the
expressions and
mannerisms
he had come to find enchanting
, he
suffered searing
jealo
usy every
time her
gaze
drifted
to
Verney
’s
handsome features
.

Lady Verney
was
shocked by
Theo
’s
revelations and
seemed inclined to b
elieve Sophie had been threatened
, but
her son
’s
raised brows and
sceptical looks
indicated his
disdain
and she took his lead
.

Theo
, doing his utmost
to hide
his irritation as well as his jealousy
,
could only impress
the need for vigilance
, saying he w
ould not
call again for sometime
as
h
e was leaving
town
.

“
London i
s thin of company
,
yet
some
small
parties
and balls are still being given.
So
phie will be
kept
busy with all manner of
entertainmen
ts
,
but I am
sure she
will be delighted to see you
on your
return
,
”
observed Lady Verney.