Lords of Honor (47 page)

“It’s necessary, Sophia,” Lyon whispered to her
.
His hand
slid down to
rest at the small of her back.

Sophia nodded
.
“I know
.”
She felt her husband’s hand move up and down her back
in a soothing motion
.
She
turned to find
hi
m studying her
.
She allowed herself to lean against him
.
She
offered him a smile
.

Lyon
returned his wife’s smile
.
His hold on her tightened
as h
is
fingers curved around
her hip
.

Sophia’s
heart fluttered
.
She allowed her
hopes
to rise
.
Perhaps there
might be
a chance
for
her and Lyon
after all
.
She
hoped so
.
When she looked back to her husband, she n
oticed
his
eyes were
now
focused on her lips
.

L
ater in the afternoon the ladies were left in the parlour with Charlie and Lord Elveston as guards
.
In the morning Libby and her two new friends
met with
Cook
and Mrs. Clarke the housekeeper
.
The rest of Libby’s clothes
arrived
from Mrs. Bingington
’s shop
in Salisbury
after luncheon
.
She was
happy
to have more than four dre
sses. She and the ladies went t
h
r
ough them and
assisted
M
a
rtha
in
put
ting
everything away.

Sophia
cleaned, tended and stitched
Lord Elveston’s wound
.
The
ir party was
delighted to know Sophia
possessed
a
thorough
knowledge of
the
healing
arts
.

Currently
Jack
rested on the chaise with a poultice concocted by Sophia on his upper arm.

“I shall make some salve for you for Micah
’s thigh
.
I made some for Lyon
.
He says it does help with
his pain,
”
Sophia said to Libby.

“Thank you, Sophia
.
I am certain it shall help Micah
.
He still suffers some pain from his wound at times.”

Charlie moved to the window
.
The
re was
a guard of Micah’s men posted outside, but still
he
watched for any signs of intruders
.

Elveston
dozed
.
Sophia made him drink
a large
brandy mixed with a special tea
a half hour earlier
.

“What are they doing in the library, Charlie?” Rowena asked.

Charlie
answered
, “Formulating a plan
.
They received some fai
r
ly
helpful
information from the two Brown Coats.”

“What sort of plan, Charlie?” Libby asked.

Charlie only grinned
.
He shrugged.

“Surely you’ve some idea?” Rowena posed.

“No
,
I do
n’t
.
I’m here with you, Ladies,
”
h
e
stated
matter-of-factly
.

Rowena’s back was to him
.
She rolled her eyes
and
sighed in frustration.

“Clearly, if we are under attack, and the Chynoweth’s
are
as well, these Brown Coats must be of a sizeable number
.”
Libby pursed her lips
.
“I do not like the fact that we are pursued by them,” she said remembering her journey from Andover to Templecombe
.
“Nor do I like the fact that we must stay here, sitting and waiting for an attack.”

“Clearly it would be best to set a trap for them,” Sophia offered.

“I agree,” Rowena added
.

Charlie stood with one leg propped upon the window box and watched for signs of intruders
.
He
rolled his eyes and grinned
.
He
turned his attention
to
Jack
on the chaise
.
Elveston opened one eye and looked at him
.
The corners of his mouth turned up.
He winked at Charlie
and closed his eye
.

“What do you think, Charlie?” Libby asked.

“
About w
hat
?
I wasn’t paying attention
to your conversation
, Miss Libby
.
I’m on
watch
.”
Charlie still called her by his pet name he’d given her as a child
, even though she married
Micah
.

“Why do we not set a trap for these men, as we did in Glastonbury?” Rowena posed.

“Three reasons.
” Charlie began,
“
We have valuable treasures within these walls
.
We have three Ladies within these walls
.”
Three bored ladies
.
“And we do not have a contingent of twenty Cornishmen.”

“Oh, you mean we are outnumbered
.”
Rowena frowned
unhappily
.

“Exactly
.”
Charlie turned to peer out the window again, smiling
.
Having three strong-minded sisters, Charlie was used to the way ladies’ minds worked
.
He doubted he would ever grow bored by
their antics and ideas
.

“Charlie
!”
Harry’s voice bellowed
from
down the hall.

“Excuse me, ladies.” Charlie tapped Elveston’s shoulder
.
“You’re on watch, Jack.”

“Umm
.
Yes
, g
o on
,
Charlie
.
I’ve got it
under control
.”
Jack opened his eyes.

“How do you feel, Lord Elveston?” Sophia asked.

“Better, thank you, Lady Amesbury
.”
His
eyes
closed again.

After a few minutes of chatter, Sophia glanced at Lord Elveston
.
“Is he sleeping?”

“I think so
.”
Libby
peered at him
.
His deep, even breaths and his closed eyes certainly made it appear that way.

Rowena rose
.
She walked toward him and
scrutinized Lord Elveston as he slept on the chaise
.
She returned to the settee
.
“I do believe he is sleeping, else he would have stirred when I rose
.
Tell us, Sophia, were things any better last night
?”
The ladies
had been
unable to talk privately since their conversation the previous evening when Rowena and Libby
escorted Sophia to her rooms
.

Sophia shook her head
.
“
I fell asleep
before Lyon came in
.
He did get in the bed
.
He w
as
holding me
when the alarm rose this morning
.
I think he must not be attracted to me
.
Or perhaps he thinks ill of me for…what happened when I was drug
ged
.”
Sophia’s cheeks flamed
.
“Perhaps he
sees
me as whore because of that night,” she whispered sadly
.
“We did many things that I
never heard of being done.”

“Nay, Lyon would never think that
way
of you, Sophia
.
You were a virgin after all
!
Though I
do
believe Lyon was
in his younger years
a thorough rake; even Harry and Micah were rumored to be. Many of their
gentlemen fr
iends
still do
possess such a reputation
.
Perhaps he merely feels guilty and fears hurting you
again
.
Yes, Sophia, on second thought, I fee
l it
must be guilt that keeps him from pa
rticipating in the marriage bed,
”
Rowena offered.

She continued,
“
He’ll come around
.
What have you done to encourage him?”

“I – nothing
.
I’m afraid of his reaction
.
I – I don’t think I could bear knowing he just did not desire me, for whatever reason
.
And if he
thinks of
me as a whore and I encouraged him, why that would make it worse, would it not?
”

“You say you fell asleep last night before he came in?” Libby queried
thoughtfully
.

“Yes
.”
Sophia nodded.

“Does he sleep close to you in the bed?” Libby asked.

“Yes, sometimes
.
Sometimes I wake during the night and he is next to me
.
Sometimes he is
holding me in his arms
like last night
,
”
Sophia said with a wistful sigh
.

“Ah
!
I
f you retire before him tonight, you must go to bed naked
.
When he reaches for you, he will notice right away
.
It will make him hard
.
At least, it makes Micah hard when I am naked
.”

Rowena smiled brightly
.
“
Most d
efinitely
!
You must go to bed naked, Sophia
.
It
has the very same effect on
Harry
.
Good idea, Libby
!
Also, snuggle up to him when you are naked
.
That works well also
.”
Rowena grinned
.
“You can
rub
against him,
there
, you know
.
Or you can just reach out and grab his
-
“
Rowena stopped mid sentence when the sound of footsteps
and male voices
could be heard
from the hallway
.
“
Never
mind,
here they come
.
Try it tonight.
I
f being naked doesn’t work,
Sophia,
then just
reach over and
grab hi
s cock
!” Rowena whispered the last of it.

The ladies
laughed hysterically
.

That’s how their husbands found them
.
Holding their teacups and giggling.

Harry’s brows drew together
.
“What devious plan are you ladies concocting?”
He eyed them warily
.