Dominic (54 page)

“
W
hat
m
i
stress?
I have no
m
i
stress
.
” Then as enlighten
m
e
nt ca
m
e, “Is that what
W
roxh
a
m
s
aid?
That I...”

“John told
m
e that you had left London with your
m
i
stress. No one knew where you had gone, you disappeared, and he said that you had taken her away.
W
ithout
any
word
from you
,
what
other
option
had
I
but
to believe him
?
”

“Is
that
how he
persuaded
you
to
go
with
hi
m
,
to
enter into this damned elope
m
ent
?
”

Dropping her hold on his sleeve she would have turned away
but
he
took
her
into
his
ar
m
s,
forcing
her
to
face hi
m
.
“My
poor
little
one,
you
thought
I
had
deserted
yo
u
.
I have no
m
i
stress. I went to
Kennington
for a prizefight and stayed on thinking that you favored
W
r
oxh
a
m. It was a foolish thing to do. I did not think my absence would have such dire results.”

“I thought you did not want
m
e,” she said with a catch in
her
voice.
“And
if
you
did
not
want
m
e,
I
could
not
i
m
pose
on
your
fa
m
ily as
they
would
soon
tire
of
m
e.
I
went
with
John
because
I
c
o
uld
not
face
the
thought
of
being alone again.”

He held her fiercely to h
i
m
, quelling the anger that would
rise
against
W
r
oxham
a
nd
with
a
gentleness
his actions belied said, “I
m
ust put an end to these
m
i
sunderstandings. They go too f
a
r.
Marry
m
e,
urchin
that you
are,
I
love
you
to
distraction.
I
tried
to
tell
you
that day at Richmond, but I put it badly. Marry
m
e Sophie.”

“But you have no desire to be
m
arried,” she cried, atte
m
pting to break free of his e
m
brace, braci
n
g her hands against his chest in her agita
t
ion. “I heard you say so at Stovely. There is no need...”

“There is e
v
ery need,
m
y love; I knew not what I was saying. Even then I recognized that I could not let you go, that I
m
ust retrieve you. Now for
heaven
’
s
sake,
be
still. How else am I to prove
m
y regard for you
?
”

Sophie
quietened
her
strugg
l
e
and
allowed
him to
hold her
even
closer
to
hi
m
.
C
upping
her
chin
he
raised
her face to his and tenderly kissed her.

“I never dared hope that you could love
m
e,” she breat
h
ed
as he
raised
hi
s
head
to
l
o
ok
lovin
g
ly into her face. “I was convinced you thought only of
m
e
as Jack. Even that day at the ruins,
I did not understand. You were so i
m
passioned when you kissed me,
not gentle
as now. It was no lovers’ kiss and you
m
ade
m
e fearful.”

“I did it badly,
m
y
love, but your reluctance to listen to my explanation drove
m
e beyond endurance. My behavior was
boori
s
h
and
it
h
as
filled
me
with
re
g
ret.
It
is
so
m
ething
I
have
desired
to
put
to
rig
h
ts
this
while
or
more,
but
to
m
y
detri
m
ent,
I
have
behaved
no
better
than
a fool.”
S
m
iling
softly
he
brushed
her
curls
from her
cheek. “Now I fear I
m
ust beg your forgiveness yet again, sweetheart,
for
though
you
m
ay
not
like
it,
I
am afraid
that I
m
ust kiss you again.”

“Oh,
but
I
d
o
like it
Do
m
inic,
I
li
k
e it
v
ery
m
uch”
she whispered,
as
his
lips
once
m
ore
possessed
hers,
showing a tenderness and longing she never knew he owned.

*****

When they eventually
d
r
ew a
p
a
r
t, Vale ke
p
t h
e
r within the
circle
of
his
arm
and
led
her
to
sit
b
e
side
him on
a wooden bench that lay against the wall. “You must forget this
abs
u
rd
f
allacy
abo
u
t
the
Bird
o
f Paradise,” he
said, drawing her to his side. “W
h
at you witnessed at Vauxhalls was
all
th
er
e
was
to
t
h
e
a
ff
air.
I
k
issed
h
er
o
nly
in
an atte
m
pt to remove you f
r
om
m
y brain.”

“And did it work
?
”
asked Sophie,
m
i
schievously peeping up at hi
m
.

“No, i
m
p, it did not, and well
you know it,” he replied, playfully
flicking
her chin. “
I
t
s
erved only to i
n
crea
s
e
m
y love
for
you.
I
loved
you
when
we
were
at
Stovely
though I did not recognize it; how could I when I treated you as a boy,
indeed,
you
acted
as
a
boy?
Now you
can
never
be Jack again.”

She
s
m
iled
roguishly
up
at
hi
m
.
“That
will
be
a
great pity. How else am
I to amuse you
and keep your interest?”

“I
am
sure
so
m
e
other
m
ethod
will
prese
n
t
itself,”
he
replied, grinning
,
and taking her
hand to his lips he pressed
a
caress
into
the
pal
m
.
“But
we
digress;
you
have
still
given
m
e no answer.
W
ill you have
m
e?
Do you love
m
e
?
”

“Of course I do, need you ask
?
” she replied feigning superi
o
r
ity. “Though I will n
o
t pu
f
f you up a
n
d tell you how high my regard is for you, indeed has been since that first night in your roo
m
s w
h
en you so ungallantly kissed
m
e
and
I
wounded
you.
I
s
uppose
I
m
ust
m
arry
you
if only to ease my conscience on that score.”

“I will kn
o
w better than to present you with a weapon should I incur your
w
rath in the
future,”
he
replied, grinning. “You have a tendency for reprisal that is unnerving. I
m
ust take care to
keep
pistols
and
swords locked
well
away. It is not see
m
ly that
you should slay your
husband—
m
ost
unwifely.
Life
with
you,
my
love, will
be
anything
but
d
u
ll
and
I
will
c
ert
a
i
nly
n
e
e
d
have
my wits
about
m
e!
You
are
an
i
n
corrigible
i
m
p.
Now I
think
it wise
that
w
e
should
return
to
The
Greyhound before
the
light starts to fail
.
It would
not
do
that
we
should
be
forced to spend the night here, and besides, we have need for dry clothes. You
m
ust be chilled to the bone as am
I.”