Chapter 9

9

Sophia peered over her copy of An Insatiable Lady's latest book and pretended not to have heard Margot's pointed question. Not that ignoring Margot ever did any good. It was well after midnight and the other mistresses had joined her in her drawing room to discuss the book and to gossip as was their wont anytime they were allowed to be together without interruption.

Thursday was Lily's night with the earl, but he had sent her a lovely leather-bound volume of Shakespeare's plays and his regrets. Joshua had left to spend the evening in rehearsals at the King's Theatre and told Sophia not to wait up for him. She had a strange feeling about the coincidence of it all, but discounted her worries as her sensitivity about what was to happen between her and Joshua. Speaking of which…

"I will not dignify that question with an answer, Margot. He is my music master. I am the earl's mistress." She picked up her teacup and sipped, but the tea had gone cold. They'd rung for Short Rutherford quite some time ago. Where was he? How long did it take for him to leave his post at the front door and fetch a tea tray? He was supposed to be keeping watch in case the earl or Joshua should appear.

She put down her cup and turned to find four sets of very amused eyes on her. Margot, Lily, Saida, and Margot's maid, Gabrielle, sat sprawled in their nightgowns and night rails on the various settees, chairs, and chaises before the fireplace. The night was damp and cold and the fire had been built up quite high in the hearth.

"She's tupped him," Lily said with a lurid grin. "More than once, I'd say."

"I do believe you are right," Margot fairly crowed as she closed her book. "Look at her face."

Sophia touched her palm to her cheek where the heat of her blush radiated. She placed her book on the table and went to the bell pull by the doors. Once she had given the embroidered rope a tug she listened to the laughter behind her and sighed. The minute she turned around they went silent, but stared at her expectantly.

"Well?" Saida urged. "Does the man know what he is about?"

Sophia frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, for pity's sake," Gabrielle threw up her hands. "Does the man know how to fuck or was it terrible?"

"Ohh." Sophia covered her mouth with her hands, but she had little luck hiding her smile from them. They howled with delight. Margot jumped up and clasped her hand to drag her back to her place on the settee.

"As good as the earl? Or better? Do speak up girl. We simply must know."

Sophia could scarcely countenance she was about to discuss something so personal, but these ladies were like sisters to her. Sisters who shared the same lover in the form of the earl. Good. Lord!

"We will all concede the earl is an accomplished and generous lover," Lily said. "How does your Joshua compare? We haven't heard any tales of bed-play since Adrienne and Obadiah left on their wedding trip."

"Now that man was an accomplished lover. Mrs. Collins was afraid he and Adrienne would break the bed." This elicited a delighted squeal from the group.

"Well, we haven't broken the bed yet." Sophia thought she might burst into flames from embarrassment. "But we've tupped in other places so I'm not certain if we are in danger of breaking the bed."

"Oh, do tell. You can't stop there," Saida said.

"Vauxhall," she said. "And in the carriage. And in the music room. And—"

"What was it like?" Gabrielle asked. "We need details."

"I don't know how to explain it." Sophia brought visions of them together in the throes of passion into her mind. "It was like…music. Not like the music that makes you tap your foot and want to dance. Like the music that fills your soul and makes every fiber of your being long for something you never thought you'd find."

"You're in love with him," Lily said softly, a sense of wonder in her voice. "You've fallen in love."

"Have I?" Sophia touched her face. Had something changed about her, her face, her appearance? Did love do that to a woman? "I've never known love of any kind so how will I know?"

"Oh, sweeting," Margot said and gave Sophia a hug. "Of course you've known love. We all love you. I suspect the earl loves you in his own way. Though God only knows with that man."

"Mrs. Collins knows," Saida said with a sly smile. "Or she soon will."

"The Rutherfords adore you, Sophia," Lily added. "And I suspect Mrs. Collins may even love us. We are a great deal of trouble, and yet she stays."

"It isn't the same though, is it, Sophia?" Gabrielle reached for Margot's hand. "You must trust our judgment in this." She indicated all of the ladies in the room. "You are in love with Joshua Norcross." Her words provoked a soaring thrill and a frightening twist in Sophia's belly.

Could it be true?

"The vital question now," Lily said thoughtfully. "Is Joshua Norcross in love with you?"

Sophia remembered his words from the night he tried to show her how beautiful he thought her in spite of her scars. "Well, I think—"

CRASH! The sound of breaking crockery and something heavy falling down into the foyer startled them all.

"What the devil?" Saida leapt to her feet and ran to throw open one of the drawing room doors. "Rutherford!" The other women joined her. Margot threw open the other door. Sophia's underbutler lay at the bottom of the stairs a bloody wound to his head. He was surrounded by broken china, squashed macarons, and spilled tea. Saida rushed to check his injuries. Simultaneously heavy footsteps and angry voices sounded from the first floor and back toward the kitchens. The voices were not those of the Rutherford men. They were the rough, coarse voices from Sophia's childhood—Seven Dials brutes and thieves.

"Here." Margot shoved a fire poker into her hand.

Two dirty rough-dressed men appeared on the first-floor landing. A third one burst into the corridor that led to the kitchens followed by Slow Rutherford who grabbed him and slammed him into the wall, dislodging several paintings.

"There's another one in the kitchens," Slow Rutherford shouted. "He's locked my brother in the pantry with Molly Black. Come here, you fucking cracksman." He spun the man around and punched him in the face.

The two on the landing aimed their attention at Sophia. "That's the one," the short plump one cried. "Fetch her." He shoved his muscled young compatriot toward the stairs. They both came running down into the foyer. Lily scurried out to help Saida drag an unconscious Short Rutherford into the drawing room. Margot and Gabrielle, each brandishing a jeweled stiletto, pushed Sophia behind them.

"Where did you get those?" Sophia moved around them and strode to meet the first man who reached the foyer. He lunged for her, and she brought the fire poker down on his head. He staggered back, and Gabrielle stepped behind him and stabbed him in the back of the thigh. She wrenched the stiletto across and he went down screaming. Sophia bashed him in the head again for good measure.

"Captain El," Margot gasped, as she brandished her knife at the second man on the staircase. The muscled younger one feinted in one direction and reached for the stiletto with the other. Margot stabbed him in the hand, and he backhanded her so hard she fell on her arse and her stiletto slid across the marble floor. Lily and Saida came back into the foyer, each with a long silver candlestick in her hand.

Suddenly the younger ruffian wrapped his arm around Sophia and started to drag her toward the back of the house. She swung wildly behind her with the fire poker. She saw the man Gabrielle had stabbed crawling away from her. She was holding the side of her face. Lily and Saida went to her aid. The man Rutherford had been wrestling in the corridor broke free and ran into the foyer with the underbutler right behind him. A cold breeze blew into the foyer as the front door was slammed open.

"What the bloody—Shite!" A familiar voice cried out as Sophia felt her flailing fire poker connect with someone behind her. Suddenly she was free of the miscreant's grasp so quickly she fell to her knees. Margot grabbed her and they scooted across the floor toward the stairs. The man from the corridor had Slow Rutherford up against the wall, choking him. Lily and Saida flew to his defense, beating the man with the candlesticks and screaming vile obscenities the entire time. Gabrielle pulled herself up on the banister and held her stiletto at the ready.

When Sophia looked toward the door, she saw Joshua beating the man who'd grabbed her mercilessly. He rained blows on the man with his fists so quickly his hands appeared a blur. The man's face looked like raw meat. "Bugger me," Margot said as she and Sophia watched from their spots on the floor. "Your Mr. Norcross is a right bruiser." From the corner of her eye Sophia saw the portly housebreaker stagger to his feet with Margot's stiletto in his hand. He lumbered toward Joshua.

"Joshua, behind you!" She lurched to her feet. Joshua turned and the man stabbed the blade into his shoulder. He released the man he'd been beating, who crumpled senseless to the floor. The stiletto-wielding man stabbed Joshua again. He raised his hand for a third blow when the entire foyer echoed with a deafening roar. Smoke filled the air. Sophia ran to Joshua. His assailant staggered back and slid down the open front door. With Slow Rutherford's help Lily and Saida had his assailant trussed up like a Christmas goose with what looked like silk night rail sashes.

"Are you injured?" Joshua ran his bloodied hands over her body. "Did he hurt you?" His face was pale and he swayed on his feet. He glanced up at the first-floor balustrade. "You're a bloody good shot, Mrs. Collins."

"And you're bleeding all over Mrs. Hawksworth's floor." The ever-serene housekeeper came down the stairs her pistol aimed at the groaning man by the door. "The fourth man has fled, Rutherford. Let your brother out of the pantry and send him to Lady Camilla's to fetch Mr. Carrington-Bowles for our music master."

"Yes, Mrs. Collins." The poor man tried to put his livery to rights with little success.

"Then go next door, break up the card game in the still room and send Tall Rutherford to fetch the watch and Quick Rutherford to find Mr. Archer Colwyn, he'll be at home or at Bow Street." The underbutler limped toward the kitchens to do her bidding.

"He's in an alley at the Prospect of Whitby," Joshua said weakly. Sophia put her arm around his waist. He hissed in pain but leaned into her embrace. Mrs. Collins handed Lily the pistol and began to peel Joshua's jacket off. She gave him an inquiring look. "It's a long story," he offered.

Sophia had so many questions, she had no idea what to ask first. However, she decided the questions could wait because all she could see was the knife going into Joshua's body over and over. She reached up to touch his face, battered and bruised and now the most beloved face she'd ever known. She loved him, deeply, and with no end in sight.

Joshua perused the foyer and turned his gaze back to Sophia. "Framlingwood's other mistresses?" he ventured with a ghost of a grin.

"You did not see them, Mr. Norcross," Mrs. Collins said sternly. "They were never here. Ladies, I suggest you adjourn next door, and Mrs. Hawksworth and I will come up with a plausible explanation for all for all of this." She glanced about the foyer and sighed. "And do take those pig stickers with you. Leave the pistol in my sitting room, Lily." Margot retrieved the two stilettos, bobbed Joshua a cheeky curtsy and went to help Gabrielle into the drawing room. Lily and Saida gave the bound man a last kick each, curtsied to Joshua and followed the other two ladies into the drawing room where they could access the staircase and passageway to Lily's house.

"Framlingwood really doesn't know they know?" he asked, whilst Sophia and Mrs. Collins helped him up the stairs.

"He does not," Mrs. Collins said. "And he will not. Nor will any of your cronies from university. I have more than one pistol."

"No one will hear it from me," he said with a groan as they reached his bedchamber door. "I'm very tired. Its quite dark in this corridor. Someone needs to light a lamp. I'm thirsty. Sophia? Did they hurt you, Sophia? I'll kill them if they hurt you. He's dead, you know. They don't want you to…" He sagged into Sophia and Mrs. Collin's arms. They half carried him to his bed between them. Mrs. Collins stripped back the counterpane and sheets. She went to his washstand and tossed a few thick pieces of toweling to Sophia.

"Put those under him once you get him out of those clothes," she ordered. She poured water from the pitcher into the bowl and dropped some linen cloths into the water. "Sophia, you do not have time to be afraid. Do as I say."

Sophia shook herself. The sight of Joshua so pale and still and covered in blood brought back so many different memories. She pulled off his boots and stripped off his clothes as quickly as she could. He groaned several times as she shifted him back and forth on the bed, but neither spoke nor opened his eyes. And she wanted to see his eyes. She wanted to gaze into them and tell him she loved him. She stroked his hair back from his face and fought the sting of tears behind her eyes.

Mrs. Collins bustled about the bed wiping the blood from his body and tucking the folded towel beneath his shoulder and his hip where he'd been stabbed. The wounds were clean, but deep. Trust the mistress of Goodrum's to provide her girls with sharp, well-made knives. The housekeeper gripped her elbow and shook her.

"You've seen this sort of thing before, Sophia. I know you love him, but you must steel yourself and help me." She handed her the basin of bloody water. Throw that out the window and bring me more clean water."

Sophia stared at her, dumbfounded as she gripped the basin tightly. "You know?" She strode to the window and raised the sash enough to pour the water into the garden below.

"I make it my business to know," she said as she pressed clean linen cloths to the wounds to stop the blood. "How else do you think I manage this Drury Lane farce?"

The door burst open, and Young Rutherford stumbled in followed by a tall blond god of a man carrying a leather portmanteau. "Mr. Carrington-Bowles, Mrs. Collins."

"She knows who I am," the distinguished, exquisitely dressed gentleman said. "Run down and fetch the things I asked for."

"Yes, sir." The underbutler dashed out the door to do the gentleman's bidding.

"Carrington-Bowles, Mrs. Hawksworth." The gentleman offered her a bow before he went to Joshua's bedside. "At your service. I understand you have had a rather exciting evening."

"You could say that," Sophia said, as she sat at the foot of the bed and rested her hand on Joshua's foot. "You are a friend of Lord Framlingwood?"

"I am." He pulled a silver tray from his bag and placed it on the bedside table. He placed a number of items on the tray and moved a lit candle closer. "I am also well-acquainted with your music master." He ran a length of thread through the flame of the candle and then threaded a curved needle. With the warmest most comforting smile she'd ever see, he met Sophia's gaze. "This is not the first time I have had to patch together the damage he's done to his body."

"Oh, dear," she said quietly.

"Quite." He began to sew Joshua's side together with neat precise stitches. Rutherford came in with strips of muslin over his arm and a bottle in each hand. One of the bottles contained vinegar, the other Scots whisky. He handed the items to Mrs. Collins.

"Go down and help with the cleaning," she told him. "Where are the three ruffians who instigated this misadventure?"

"The watch has them in the back of a cart. Taking them to Bow Street for Mr. Colwyn to see to I should think. The one you shot is going on like a bawling calf, but Molly Black took a look and she says he'll live."

She dismissed him with a nod. He walked, dragging his feet to the door. "I'm sorry I let them lock me in, Mrs. Hawksworth. I'm glad you and…I'm glad you weren't hurt. Mrs. Collins, if you want to turn me away, I'd—"

"Do stubble it, lad," she said as she began tearing the muslin into smaller strips. "I suspect your brothers will make you pay for your sins far better than I can."

"Too bloody right," Young Rutherford muttered as he closed the door behind him.

"How many brothers does he have in your employ?" the capable physician asked as he started to stitch Joshua's shoulder. Sophia winced at each tug of the thread through Joshua's flesh. He was still so wan and still. She reached up to touch his belly. His flesh was warm but not hot. No fever. Yet.

"He has four brothers and his father in the earl's employ," Mrs. Collins said. "The ruffians locked him in the pantry with one of the maids. I will allow you to decide what he and the maid were doing."

Mr. Carrington-Bowles laughed. "Oh, he's in for it for certain." He glanced to where Sophia's hand rested. "Too early to tell if he'll turn feverish. I have a few tricks to make that less likely. He's going to live, Mrs. Hawksworth. I promise you. His injuries are not nearly as bad as they look."

Tears began to roll down her cheeks. The gentleman pulled a neatly folded handkerchief from his coat pocket and handed it to her. She blotted her face and allowed a few hiccuping sobs. Mrs. Collins patted her back "You've had a fright, Sophia. You'll be fine and so will he."

Everything came rushing back to her at once. Her home had been broken into and not for the theft of goods or money. They'd come for her. Why? And what had Joshua meant?

"He said he's dead," she said out loud. Both the housekeeper and the physician froze. They gave each other a brief glance before the turned to Sophia.

"Who did, dear?" Mrs. Collins asked casually.

"Joshua. Mr. Norcross. He said he's dead you know. They don't want you to….to what? What did he mean by that?"

Mrs. Collins fixed her lips in a tight line. She didn't say a word.

"He was likely delirious," Mr. Carrington-Bowles said. "However, I would suggest you ask him when he awakens." His gaze lingered for a moment, then he set to wrapping the items from the silver tray in muslin and placed them in his bag. He and Mrs. Collins began to bandage Joshua's side.

I suggest you ask him.

An icy wind blew in from the open window. Sophia had experienced this sensation only once before, the night she'd heard Edward was looking for her at Goodrum's. Her entire life had changed. And suddenly, she wasn't certain she wanted to know what Joshua meant.