Chapter 31

31

Rafe locked the door again – Wyverne had in his bafflement most usefully left the spare key behind – and then sank down on the crumpled bed beside Sophie.

‘Rafe, that worked out splendidly! Much better than I could ever have hoped.’ She sat up, hugging her knees, triumphant, her dark eyes sparkling. He’d never seen this mischievous side to her before today, and he was enchanted by it. Would she never cease surprising him? But with a sharp little stab of pain he realised she’d be gone soon, and he’d likely never see her again. There’d be no time for him to discover any more enchanting things about her. He’d have to live on these memories.

‘You were magnificent,’ he said seriously. ‘Entirely convincing in the role you had chosen. It’s plain to me that the stage has lost a great actress in you. You might even have been too good – I thought Rosanna was about to scratch your eyes out when you commenced taunting her.’

‘She wanted to, but with great presence of mind you stopped her. It doesn’t matter, as she was always sure to hate me once she knew you and I were involved. You were excessively good too – the very picture of a man driven half out of his senses by lust. I’m sure they believed it all completely, and it was wonderful to see them so confounded.’

‘It was, and there’s no denying it went well.’ He gathered her up in his arms and looked down at her, his face still somewhat troubled. ‘But he will still be watching us – you heard him. We mustn’t be lulled into thinking that everything will be plain sailing now. You no longer need to hide away here, and you’re in no immediate danger – very well. But let us not forget that he remains a dangerous man, and escape will not be easy.’

‘I know it,’ she said. ‘Believe me, I do. I am not underestimating what is still to be achieved, nor letting down my guard for an instant, except when I’m alone with you. But it is important to celebrate a win, you know, when life is so uncertain. We bested them, Rafe! We did it together. And I do like you in this banyan – it brings out the blue of your eyes. It is most becoming, and besides I enjoy the knowledge that you are naked beneath it.’ She slid her hand between the fastenings to find the warmth of his bare skin. He closed his eyes for a moment and enjoyed her caress. He could see that she was in alt, quite intoxicated by their success, and he found it impossible to resist her, in this mood or any other. She had earned this moment of victory, however brief it might be. They both had.

He claimed her lips in a deep kiss, and she pulled him down to lie close by her, tugging persistently at the braid loops until she had undone as many of his buttons as she could easily reach and had free access to his nakedness beneath it.

‘I almost laughed aloud when you called me wench,’ she murmured against his mouth, her hands busy stroking him to excellent effect.

‘I struggled to keep a straight countenance myself at times. If I’d known deceiving Wyverne would be so enjoyable, I’d have done it years ago,’ he said between increasingly passionate kisses, and then as their mutual hunger grew he seized her ruined chemise and ripped it from neck to hem, pulling aside the rags that remained, impatient to see her in all her glory once more.

‘Oh, it’s just as I said!’ she purred. ‘You are so masterful, my lord! What is a poor girl to do but submit?’

He reached out and ran his hands slowly down her body, affection and amusement as well as desire written plainly on his face. ‘And you have the ability to be so deliciously vulgar, my most wicked creature. I was quite astonished by what had been unleashed in you.’

‘I know!’ she said gleefully, returning to her diligent exploration beneath the loose robe. ‘I can’t remember when I’ve enjoyed myself so much. I warn you, I’m going to be horribly, horribly vulgar over the next few days. It’s too much fun to stop now. I may have to think of an appalling nickname for you, and use it widely in front of others.’

‘I hate to think,’ he murmured distractedly as she began to wreak further havoc on him.

‘Stallion!’ she suggested, her fingers caressing his silky hardness. ‘My proud stallion!’

‘Call me what you like, in any language you choose, as long as you continue to do that!’ he groaned.

‘You’ll be sorry you said that. My vocabulary is extremely extensive!’

Lord Drake, just then, could not have said the same. His vocabulary seemed to consist entirely of moans and gasps, and half-muffled cries of, ‘Sophie!’ But he resolved, in his last coherent thought for some time, to be revenged on her by reducing her to the same state as soon as she had done with him.

A good while later they lay in each other’s arms, both drugged with pleasure, and he roused himself to say, ‘Thank you, Sophie.’

‘For what?’ she said with drowsy contentment. ‘You’ve done a great deal to help me, I’d have thought it obvious, rather than the other way around, if we are to talk of gratitude. I should be thanking you, and I have not properly done so. I’m the one with the portmanteau full of stolen jewels, after all. You didn’t have to concern yourself with the matter.’

‘No,’ he said, stroking her hair and trying to put into words what he wanted to say to her. He felt such happiness, holding her, and it would have been easier just to let it carry him away. But he wanted to tell her, if he could, while there was still time. ‘That’s true, as far as it goes, but that’s not what I mean. You’ve done far more for me than I could ever do for you. Sophie, I am quite serious.’ She let out an adorable little snort and caressed his cheek with lazy affection, which he chose to take as permission to continue with his explanation. These things were not easy to speak of, he found.

‘I’ve spent my whole life struggling with my feelings for my father. I often take myself to task for how little I have done to oppose him, but I’ve not been passive. What small measure of good I could perform, I have. I’ve kept a foothold here, for the sake of the staff and the estate as well as for my grandmother. When tenants or servants have been carelessly treated, I have heard of it, and tried to mend matters. I have a certain status as his heir which he is obliged to accept. The estate is not half so badly managed as it might be, and that is important to me. I’ve always known I couldn’t afford an open breach with him, because of Grand-mère, and now because of the children, whom he could take from my care in a moment if he chose to. He could overset their whole lives just to punish me, so I’ve always felt I was walking a tightrope. It’s been necessary, I can’t forget that, however hard it’s been. But I’ve never found a way to go on the offensive, and I realise now how bad that’s been for me. It’s almost as though I’ve been waiting for him to die so my own life could begin.’

He hesitated for a moment and then went on slowly, ‘I’ve never been able to laugh at him before today, to see him as preposterous. I’ve always been a little frightened of him, though since I reached manhood I’d never have admitted it to myself. But you’re not scared of him, though you have far more reason to be, considering all he’s done to you. You’ve given me a wiser perspective: he is a monster, and a wicked man, but he is also ridiculous, because he is so utterly predictable. I don’t understand exactly why he does things, though I see the greed and hatred that drive him, but I don’t need to. And therefore he can be defeated. I needed you to show me that.’

‘I’m glad,’ she said warmly. ‘I truly am. I came here thinking only of myself, and what I was owed, but I can see now that I should have realised just how many others he must have damaged. That’s been good for me too, I think. I’m very far from being the only person in the world with a valid grudge. Suffering can make one selfish.’

Rafe thought this was far truer of him than of Sophie, but he feared that if they continue to converse at this high emotional pitch he would be bound to say things he must later regret. ‘Are you hungry?’ he asked her with an effort at lightness. ‘I should think you must be. I can obtain more clothes for you, and we can eat where we please. You’re an acknowledged member of the household now.’

‘Lord Drake’s mistress,’ she said, and he couldn’t tell whether she was glad or sorry to be so known. ‘I do not care what your father and his wife think of me – I imagine I have demonstrated that to you quite adequately today – but I confess it would distress me if your grandmother turned a cold face to me. Do you believe she will?’

He laughed. ‘With her own history? Hardly! I think you underestimate her. That a man should take a mistress, or a woman a lover, is of little importance to her. If you feel a little awkwardness in her company, I assure you, it will be on your side only, never hers. And do not forget that she likes you, which counts for a great deal.’

‘If you say so, I must trust your better knowledge of her. But would it not be expected that you should remove me to your own home, rather than keeping me here under your father’s roof? Because you know I can’t leave until I’ve found a safe way to extract the jewels.’

‘I doubt Wyverne thinks of such things; he has very little curiosity about others unless their actions impact on him directly. And if he charges me with the matter – which he won’t – I’ll merely say that I am setting about finding a house for you where I can establish you, and that you will be gone soon. I have two young wards at home, my half-siblings; they’re not there now, but I’m sure he doesn’t know of their absence. It is hardly usual to bring one’s mistress into such a respectable household, where legitimate children are living. Even he didn’t do such a thing to me when I was a boy – Rosanna didn’t reside here until they were married.’

As he had expected, she changed the subject, moving it skilfully away from these dangerous topics. ‘How old are they, Rafe? I remember you said that they were much younger than you.’

‘Charlie is nineteen, currently at Oxford, and Amelia is seventeen, and staying with her mother’s family for a while; one of her cousins is to be married in a couple of weeks and she is to be her attendant. I’ve never seen her so excited. They lived with another aunt and uncle for many years, but their aunt died a couple of years ago and they came to me. I’d always visited them as much as I could, but they’ve never lived here at Wyverne Hall, not since they were tiny, and it is my earnest hope that they never will while my father is alive.’

‘I can understand that. Your lover did not live with you, then? I suppose that’s a foolish question – it would not have been possible.’

‘Sarah? No. I took a house for her in Oxford, and visited her there; her servants believed that I was her husband, and were ignorant of my true identity. The city was where we met, when I was visiting friends, and she was comfortable there. Since I was unable to live with her at my own home, it would scarcely have been fair to hide her away alone in one of the villages or small towns here, where everyone would soon have known her situation and made her suffer for it.’

‘It is always the woman who suffers in such a circumstance,’ she acknowledged. This was a fact of life that could not be denied, and he did not attempt to do so.

‘I hope nothing that we have set in motion today causes you any distress or difficulty, Sophie,’ he said gravely.

‘You don’t need to worry about me,’ she replied a trifle bleakly. ‘I have no reputation to lose. And neither do you, I suppose, since all the world believes that Lady Wyverne is your mistress. So there can be no damage done to either of us. We must be grateful that your brother and sister are not here to be dragged into all this. I must suppose that the servants will think the worse of me, but I cannot allow myself to regard that, when there is so much more at stake. Will you find us some food now, Rafe? I really am excessively hungry, and I think I would prefer to eat here.’

‘I cannot have you starving. I will be back soon!’