Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

“Come along, Sophia, out onto the terrace. The air will do you good,” Henry said, taking Sophia firmly by the arm and leading her away.

She glanced back towards Jasper, a desperate look on her face, longing for the chance to talk to him, if only for a moment. She did not know if he was angry with her or had come to make his peace. Peter was there, too, and Sophia feared what he, too, now thought of her – and of what Penelope and the Dowager Duchess thought, too.

“I was quite all right inside,” Sophia said as Henry led her forcibly through a set of doors out onto the terrace.

“But I wasn’t. The atmosphere was stuffy, and my cousin’s presence…” Henry trailed off as he turned to Sophia and glared at her.

There was a challenge in his voice – the question of Sophia’s continued feelings for Jasper, of what those feelings meant for what was to come.

“Jasper? But…” Sophia began, even as Henry glared at her.

“Yes, Jasper – my cousin, the Duke. The feted one. Oh, yes, Jasper always got what he wanted, and if it wasn’t given to him, he took it instead. But I’m finished with Jasper. I’m not interested in what you think of him. Forget about him, just as he’ll forget about you. What did I tell you, Sophia?” Henry said, but Sophia shook her head.

She had believed Henry when he had told her how easily Jasper’s attentions were diverted by a pretty face and a seductive smile. But here he was, alone. There was no other woman on his arm, no coquettish slip of a girl, her cheeks powdered, the silk fronds of her dress rustling as she clung to Jasper’s arm with a silly expression on her face, laughing, a seductress seeking a fortune. He was unaccompanied, and there had been no sign of his intention to pursue a match. Sophia had watched him from the top of the stairs, curious to know why he had come, and now she could think of no other reason than he had come because of her…

“But has he really forgotten about me?” she asked, and Henry’s eyes flashed with anger.

He grabbed Sophia by the hand, pulling her roughly towards him, even as she tried to resist.

“Enough, Sophia. Enough of this. I’m to be your husband. Hasn’t your cousin made that clear? Hasn’t your mother made that clear? Jasper was a flight of fancy – just as he’s been to so many other women, too. You’re nothing special, Sophia. You’re just one of a long list of women who struck my cousin’s passing fancy. You barely knew him – A few days at a house party? One swallow doesn’t make a summer, Sophia,” he said, still gripping her arm tightly in his hand.

Sophia struggled, tears welling up in her eyes at the pain he was causing her – and not only because of his grip on her arm. He would ruin her life. There could be no happiness for her, no prospect of anything other than the misery of a loveless marriage, trapped by the cruel circumstances inflicted on her by her cousin.

“Why do you have to force me? Don’t you want me to marry you out of love? But I don’t love you, Henry. I can’t love you. And I refuse,” she cried.

But now he dragged her across the terrace, and down a flight of steps into the gardens below. The scent of roses and lavender hung headily in the air, their perfume sweet against the foul stench of Henry’s wickedness. He was dragging her now, and Sophia was about to scream when he turned and pulled her into his embrace, his lips meeting hers, forcing her into a kiss.

“There… scandal, Sophia. You can’t escape me now,” he said, but as he did so, a hand grabbed him from behind, and he was knocked to the side, a blow delivered to the side of his face, causing him to cry out with pain.

Sophia screamed, looking around to find Jasper standing behind her, his face red with anger. Henry had fallen to the ground, clutching the side of his face and groaning.

“Oh, don’t be so pathetic, Cousin,” Jasper said, shaking his head as Henry now staggered to his feet.

“How dare you,” he snarled, and he struck at Jasper, missing him, as Jasper struck him another blow, knocking him sideways.

“And how dare you, Henry? Now, if you don’t want me to ruin you by exposing what you’ve done – and your underhanded dealings – I suggest you leave,” Jasper said, and Sophia watched fearfully as Henry got to his feet, his cheek red from Jasper’s blows.

He drew himself up, pointing at Sophia, his eyes wide with anger.

“This isn’t over, Sophia. When your cousin hears about this…” he said, the threat hanging in the air.

But Sophia was no longer afraid of him, and whatever happened now, she knew Jasper would defend her.

“I don’t care what you tell him. I’ll tell him you tried to force yourself on me. You’ll never marry if it’s known,” she said, drawing herself up defiantly.

Henry cursed under his breath, turning away from them, and marching off across the gardens towards the terrace. Sophia turned to Jasper, blushing under his gaze. She did not know why he had done what he had done, but she was grateful to him for having done so, and now he smiled at her, glancing down at his knuckles and grimacing slightly.

“That hurt more than I expected it to,” he said, and Sophia laughed.

“I’m sure it hurt Henry more. But… thank you…” she said, for she could only be grateful to him for what he had done for her.

He smiled and shook his head. “I couldn’t let him… well… Men like that. It’s wicked,” he replied, and Sophia smiled.

“He thought I’d be his. He thought I was his. He was jealous of… you,” she said, and Jasper rolled his eyes.

Sophia could not tell if he was perturbed by these words or not. Had he come to her aid with chivalry in mind, just as any right-thinking man would surely have done, or was it also because he had felt partly responsible?

“He’d be jealous of anyone. He’s a liar, Sophia,” Jasper said, and he sat down on a stone bench nearby, beneath an arbor of roses, sighing and shaking his head.

Sophia was curious. She remembered Henry’s words about Jasper – the lie he had told about the Duke being a womanizer, always with another conquest in mind. It made her wonder if Jasper, too, had been lied to. Had Henry told lies about her? Had he sought to drive a wedge between them?

“I think he is, yes. He told me a lie about you,” she said, and Jasper looked up at her curiously.

“Did he?” he asked, and Sophia came to sit next to him on the bench.

She was still wary, unsure of what Jasper would think – if he would believe her. But it seemed the truth was preferable to a half-truth, and Sophia wanted to be honest, even if they parted merely as friends when all was said and done.

“He told me you were a womanizer. That I was just one of many. He didn’t know about our ruse, of course. But in the end, was it really such a ruse?” she asked.

Sophia had held back from asking that question – even before. She had wanted Jasper to feel the same, but his dismissal of her in his study had raised doubts as to how she believed he had felt for her. But now, there was no holding back – no reason not to question Jasper’s feelings, just as she had questioned her own.

He looked at her and shook his head. “It didn’t seem like it, no,” he replied, and Sophia breathed a sigh of relief, closing her eyes for a moment, allowing his words to wash over her.

She still had so many questions for him, but to hear him say those words, to hear him admit what she herself had felt, too – that all this was not a ruse, but a truth they had both discovered – filled her with both relief and trepidation. But what did it mean? What would happen now?

“I… I felt the same. At first… well, I wasn’t thinking properly. I just knew I had to find a way of getting out of the betrothal – of Ethan’s promises,” she said.

Jasper furrowed his brow, and a questioning look now came over his face. “You and Ethan, were you… colluding?” he asked.

Sophia stared at him in astonishment. She shook her head, denying it emphatically. There had been no collusion between her and Ethan. Quite the opposite, in fact. Sophia had never sought to collude with her cousin. It was Ethan who had made the decisions, Ethan who had forced the issue, and Ethan who would have been the only one to benefit if Sophia had suffered the sorry fate of marrying Henry.

“No, not at all. Why? Did you think we were?” she asked, and Jasper sighed.

“No… well… it was something Henry said, you see. He wanted to make it out as though you and Ethan were in on it together. He planted a seed of doubt in my mind. I’m sorry, Sophia. It was wrong of me. I shouldn’t have believed him. He told me you and your cousin had planned the whole thing – to marry a rich man and gain whatever benefit you could from doing so. He told me you’d done the same to him,” Jasper said, blushing and turning away.

Sophia reached out and took his hand in hers. She could not blame him for believing his cousin, even if it was yet more lies on his part. Sophia had never agreed with Ethan’s choices, nor would she ever have gone along with such a plan if her cousin had suggested it. But it was a natural enough assumption to make – a lie told so as to plant doubt in Jasper’s mind. Henry had tried to drive a wedge between them, and it had worked.

“He lied to me, too, Jasper. He wanted me to believe you were a womanizer – that I was nothing more than a game to you. And I did. I was… insecure. I’ve never had such feelings before, and they washed over me so suddenly. I mean… we barely know one another, do we?” Sophia said.

She had thought a lot about this fact in the days since returning from Weston House. She really did not know Jasper, and he did not know her. But there was one thing she did know – that her first impressions of him had been wrong. She had thought him arrogant, self-interested, cruel, even cold. But he was none of those things. Behind his demeanor – a demeanor Sophia felt certain could still be portrayed under certain circumstances – the Duke was kind and thoughtful, a man of intelligence and wit, charming and possessed of delightful conversation. He was handsome, too, and no other man had ever made her feel as he did.

“Then let’s get to know one another, Sophia. Everything that happened before – the lies and deceit, the games, the ruse, the confusion – let’s put it all behind us now. We’ve got a chance for a fresh start. To get to know one another, to realize where our feelings lie,” Jasper said, and Sophia nodded.

She was excited at the prospect of doing so – of having the chance to get to know him properly.

“You mean… a courtship?” she said, and Jasper nodded.

“That’s exactly what I mean,” he replied, and now he leaned forward, as though about to kiss her.

But as he did so, a shout came from across the gardens, and the sound of Ethan’s voice broke the spell between them…