A Bright Particular Star (48 page)

She pulled away
, chafing at her
wrist.
“
You seem to have thought of everything.
I’m
left with no choice.
I must go wi
th you for Olivia
’s
sake, but
I
wil
l hate you every day of my life
!
”

“
We should enjoy an interesting marriage then,
”
he drawled.
“
I am ov
ercome by
your accep
tance of my offer
.
”
Perry
gave a
nother
flourishing bow a
nd
patted
his pocket.
“
Meanwhile, I will
keep hold of the Sta
r
.
Yo
u had best have
some
tea
after all.
A
long journey
lies ahead
and you would
be wise to take refreshment
while you
still
have the chance.
”

The next half hour was the most excruciating Sophie had ever exper
ienced.
She
schooled her voice into one of deceptive mildness and
appear
ed
accepting of her fate
,
while in reality
planning her
escape
.
She did not expect
many
opportunities; Perry
was too watchful
.
He had admitted
to a form of madness and
S
ophie could
easily
believe it after
wh
at she had witnessed today.
The thought flitted through her mind as to
her aunt
’s
reaction when
she h
eard of Peregrine
’s
secret life.

Eudora was
a
proud
woman
,
alwa
ys mindful of society
’s
opinion
,
and
the revelation
her son had been living a double life
as a
notorious
thi
ef must
prove shocking
, b
ut Sophie was more concerned about
Olivia
.
Learning the
truth
about
h
er birth could have terrible
consequences
.
Livvy
had little enough self-esteem
as it was.
It had been eaten awa
y
over the y
ears by Peregrine and Eudora
and the confidence she
had r
ecently
regained
could be swept away
forever
by this
devastating secret
.

A
knock at the door
jolted her back to the present
.

She watched as her companion
rose to his feet, slipped the key into the lock and opened
the door.
The servant
in the doorwa
y confirmed
Perry
’s
curricle was
ready.

“
Bring it around to the yard at once.
”

T
he man
went
to do as he was
bid and
Peregrine
observed
curtly
,
“
Make ready to leave.
There
no time to waste if we are to g
et to
t
he Green Man
.
”

Sophie
was about to ask for
another cup of tea
—
anything to delay leaving
—
when
there was a c
lattering of hoove
s in the yard outside, followed
by the grating of wheels on cobble—
stones.
When she heard
a
man
’s
voice
demanding that someone attend to his
horses,
Sophie
’s
attention becam
e acute.
She strained her ears
and
w
hen the new arrival
repeated his request
in a more imp
erative to
ne, she
was at once
astonished, relieved and overjoyed
.

Unheeding of Peregrine
’s
presence
, she uttered
a cry
of delight,
flew over
to the window and
wrenched
open
the casement
.

“T
heo!
”

****

Outside,
Theo
had just sprung
down from
his carriage
.
He
turned
to see
Sophie leaning out
of one of the
window
s
and
hailing
him in a
n urgent
voice
.
H
is face set in
forbidding
lines
, he
grabbed
his whip
and
ran
inside
.

He walked
through
the
hallway, pushing
unceremoniously
pa
st the
landlord
who ha
d bustled forward to greet the
new arrivals
.
It took b
ut
a moment
or two
to locate
what he thought was
the
right room and
,
w
hen he did
, he flung
open
the
door
and
surveyed the room briefly before his piercing gaze found her.

She
wa
s still
looking out of
the window
, only turning
round
when she heard the door open
.
He
stalked
over
,
tossing the
whip aside
as he went
.

“
My crazy little hellcat
!
”
he e
xclaimed a little unsteadily, before folding
her in a crushing embrace.

Sophie,
unable to compreh
end
how
he came to be here
,
flung her arms around him
.

“
How on earth did you find me?
”
she said,
into his shoulder.

“
We went to Lincoln
’s
Inn.
Another
hackney driver
overhear
d
Sloane
’s
instructions to the jarvey who
had brought you here
.
”

“
I-I had no thought o
f anyone coming
,
least of all
you,
”
she admitted
,
tears
rolling down her cheeks
.
“
I’m
sorry
to
have inconvenienced
you again
, but so
glad
you have come!
”

“
Inconvenienced me?
What nonsense is this—
?
”
he began
.
Then, suddenly aware of her tears
, he
pulled out his handkerchief and began to
dry her c
heeks.
“D
ash it
,
Sophie,
please
don
’t
cry
,
and
don
’t
apologise
—
I
’d
hand
over
my l
ast guinea to help
you out of a
scrape
again
.
”

“
Y
ou
would
?
”
she said quickly
,
look
ing
up
at
his smiling, softened face
.
“
Oh, if only
—
”
Recollecting, s
he
gasped and peered
over
T
heo
’s
shoulder.
“
Perry
—
he
’s
gone
!
The
coward!
H
e must have slipped out
of the room
whe
n he
realize
d
you had arrived
.
”

She
pour
ed forth all that had happened and
Theo interspersed the recital with suitable exclamations, observing when she had finished,

“
H
e
’s
an even
bigger scoundrel than we suspected
!
”

“
He is indeed,
”
said
another voice
.

Soph
ie looked over
to the doorway where
Luc
ius Grey
now stood,
his
figure silhouetted
against the
light
from
the passage
way
beyond.

“T
he man is a coward
and a villain,
”
he said grimly
, taking a step forward
.
“
He
will answer
to me for
his actions
.
”

Theo saw
Grey
’s
arri
val
had
astonished Sophie as much as
his own
had
done.
Grey’s
demeanour was as collected
as ever yet
there was a glint of savage determination in his eyes
and
Theo felt Sophie give
an involuntary shudder
at what
she saw
in his hard-edged features
.

“
I
’
ll
take the curricle and follow Sloan
e,
”
said
Grey
.
“
He can
’t
have go
ne
far.
”

“
I’m
coming with you,
”
declared
Theo.

“
Perhaps
you had best remain he
re
.
”
Luc
’s
gaze rested
for a moment on Sophie.
“
You must have a great deal to discuss with Miss Devereux.
”

“
I have, but
I have a score to settle with that fellow too
and
I int
end to
help
catch him
.
”

“
Very well.
”
Giving
a curt nod
of acknowledgement
,
Grey
turned on his heel
and went out.

“
W
hat is
he
doing here?
”
asked Sophie
.

“
I
’
ll explain more
later
,
but Luc works for Bow Street
.
He
’s
been following Peregrine for months and knows he
’s
the Bath Fox.
”
Theo
uttered
a deep sigh
and ran his fing
ers through his dishevelled
locks
.
“
It
’s
a deuced nuisance
, but
I need to go with
him
.
”
He gripped
Sophie
’s
shoulders, saying,
“
Will you wait
here
until I get back
?
You
’
ll be quite
safe
…
I
’
ll ask
one of the servants
to stay
with you
.
”

“
Go!
”
she urged.
“
If there were
enough
room
in the curricle
, I would come too
—
I
’d
l
ike to witness Perry
cut down to size
—
but
you
and
Mr
Grey
don
’t
need
the
distraction of
me.
”

H
e
planted a
swift
kiss on her
lips
.
“
As I observed once before, you
’
re not a girl for swooning, are you?
”

“
I suppose not
.
”
Looking bewildered, s
he flushed and stole a
glance
at his face.
“
You must think
me tiresome
though.
Once again you
’
ve come
to my aid.
I-I don
’t
know what to say.
”

“T
hen don
’t
say anything
,
at least until I get back.
”
A smile
of tender amusement
curved his mouth
.
“T
iresome?
No.
Adorable
…
yes.
”
H
e took
some coins from his pocket and press
ed
them into her palm.
“
U
se
this to secure
the
parlour for the rest of evening
.
I
’
ll return
as soon as I can
and don
’t
go anywhere until I get back
.
”

B
lushing
deeper
at the war
mth in his voice
,
Sophie found herself returning
his smile
.

“T
heo,
”
she murmured,
as he turned to leave,
“
you might need this.
”

He swung
back
and she handed him the whip
she had picked up from the floor and which
he had discarded earlier
.
He
took it
from her
,
gave a lop-sided grin
and left
.