"My lady. You shine like the very sun itself," he said as he took Sophia's hand and brought it to his lips for the gentlest of brushes. Lewis was once more surprised when he noted that, unlike before, her hands were not shaking this evening. In fact, save for her slight blush, there was no outward sign that she was at all discomfited.
"As my mother has already said, you flatter me, my lord." However Sophia also looked extremely pleased by his compliment, which Lewis took as a good sign as well. "Though I am delighted to learn that I am passable in appearance this evening."
Lewis offered her his arm and with a nod of approval from the dowager, Sophia accepted. "You are always lovely, Lady Sophia," he replied as he led her away from her family. "Perhaps we can discuss that very topic if you were to take a turn about the room with me."
"I would be delighted," Sophia replied, making certain that all of the old tabbies and even older dragons gathered nearby heard her response. She wanted them to believe this farce was real. The only real danger was that she might begin to believe in this false romance herself. "Then perhaps you could select your dances from my card. I know it is so very forward of me to ask, but it seems that I cannot help myself."
Sophia was very aware that she was doing things up a bit brown and skirting with disaster, but she did not care. The sooner her sterling reputation was ensured, the sooner this farce could end and both she and Lewis could go their own ways. For the longer they remained in such close proximity, the greater danger she was in of losing her head over this man. That would never do. She was attempting to leave the little girl in her - the one who was likely in love with the very concept of being in love - behind and emerge as a strong, sure woman who accepted what life brought her and made smart choices. Or at least as many choices as a lady in her situation was capable of making.
So for the better part of the hour, Sophia and Lewis strolled the perimeter of Lady Carlisle's ballroom, doing their best to avoid the crystal spikes that hung like daggers above them. For Sophia, the risk of injury was not all that great but for Lewis, with his exceptional height, he was constantly avoiding the glittering crystals and praying that he didn't put an eye out in the process. As he had somewhat limited vision in his left eye due to his injury, he could hardly afford to lose the right one.
With Sophia by his side, Lewis also quickly became conscious of several important things all at once. The first was that no one this evening had mentioned his scars. In general, it was inevitable that someone would, especially when he was among the ton. The person might not mean to be cruel or hurtful but, as someone who looked in the mirror each morning, Lewis was acutely aware of precisely how damaged his face was. He was no monster, certainly, but the scar was long, slightly twisted, and above all, since it traversed the entire length of his face, completely unavoidable.
He was also now very well aware of the stares he was attracting from other female guests, particularly the daughters of high-ranking peers, including a duke or two. In the past, Lewis had avoided spending more than the length of a single dance with any one woman. That he was now slowly strolling the ballroom with Sophia was enough to make others take note - especially the women who, knowing their prospects on the Marriage Mart were limited, were likely to settle for a wealthy but untitled gentleman since a man with a title was seen as beyond their reach. The notion bothered him a bit, but he attempted not to let it get to him overly much. The women were likely simply curious about him, he decided. They weren't really interested in him as a man or a husband. What sane woman would be?
However the single thing that Lewis was most aware of was Sophia beside him, her hand tucked securely into the crook of his arm. He took note of her light floral scent. Verbena, he thought the flower might be called. He was also aware of the weight of her hand on his arm, such as it was, as well as the mere presence of her beside him. He could hear the rustle of her silken gown and caught the faint hint of gold lace at the hem as she walked that marked the creation as a Madame LaVallier original. He caught the occasional wink of the rubies in her hair and the twinkle of the single gem at her throat. He was aware of the way her skin glistened so brightly, as if she was coated in stardust. Simply put, he was aware of the very essence of her.
That also led Lewis to the startling realization that he wanted her. In his bed. Beneath him. Panting for him as he entered her and took her body with his. As he introduced her to what passion could truly be like between a man and a woman.
Lewis desired Lady Sophia Reynolds in a way that he had no business even considering. She was not that sort of woman, a lightskirt who would indulge him in a cheap thrill and an even cheaper night of emotionless fucking. No, she was something far more dangerous. She was a woman who was fully capable of taking his heart and shattering it if he allowed her inside. Just as Valeria had so long ago.
That knowledge made Lewis want to turn tail and run, but above all, he was a military man. A member of the Twelfth Light Dragoons. He was also a Blackmore. He had been brought up to be strong and do his duty, no matter how unpleasant. So he refused to simply run away like a coward, no matter how much he might desire to do just that.
"Something troubling you, my lord?" Sophia asked as they completed their turn about the room and stopped next to the refreshment table. "You have yet to even select one dance on my card." She asked the question innocently enough, but Lewis could distinctly hear the undercurrent of uncertainty beneath her words.
Shaking his head, he reached for the card and pencil dangling about her wrist. "Not at all. I am merely woolgathering, just as you do on occasion. Happens quite frequently after the war, you know. My head isn't quite right, you see."
"Now why do I doubt that very much?" she grumbled under her breath, so low that only Lewis could hear.
He, in turn, ignored her words and instead scrawled his name next to two dances - both of them waltzes. Yes, such a bold move would create something of a stir, but then that was what this entire ploy was about, was it not? To make something of a scene and use his sterling reputation and high morals to ensure that no one questioned Sophia's reputation any longer? Yes, that was indeed the plan and he had best stick to it.
Not to mention that his leg would not allow him to perform more than a waltz these days. On occasion, he could mange something else, but certainly not the fast country style dances that filled the majority of the evening. There would still be talk, of course, but what could he do?
Nothing. That was what. Absolutely nothing. So for the time being, Lewis did his best to cease worrying about all that could go wrong and simply enjoy the time spent in Sophia's increasingly delightful company - something he feared he was growing to enjoy a bit too much.
Eventually, however, he was forced by propriety to allow her to leave his side, albeit grudgingly. They were courting, not married, and it would not do to create too much of a scandal. Or at least not a scandal of that nature anyway. Not even husbands and wives stayed by each other's sides or in each other's pockets for an entire ball.
As he watched Sophia chat with some of her friends, Lady Hallstone and Lady Candlewood among them, Lewis took note of how she moved and reacted when a man arrived. He noted that she shied away a bit at first before eventually relaxing her guard a fraction. That was progress, or at least he supposed that it could be construed as such. Lewis had to keep reminding himself that the goal of this plan was for Sophia to find a man that she cold tolerate enough to wed. Exposure to Society gentleman was a part of that, though strangely, the more she mingled in mixed company, the less he found that he liked it.
Lewis was so busy concentrating on Sophia that he did not notice the approach of the very young and very delectable Lady Elizabeth Ashford, the Earl of Devonmont's daughter that was known both for her nickname of "Lizzie" and her penchant for causing trouble. Including her not-so-long-ago attempt to steal away and wed her half-sister Jane's one true love, Lord Sebastian St. Giles, the fifth Earl of Covington. It had not helped matters that Jane's own father had attemp
ted to essentially sell Jane in an arranged marriage to the current Marquess of Hallstone's aged father in a rather blatant attempt to snare a title for his youngest daughter by his current wife.
"She is lovely, my lord." Lady Lizzie, as she was called these days now that Jane was married, all but purred as she slithered up beside him, quick as a snake about to strike. "I understand that your attachment dates back to the summer months?" It was not a statement but a question, and Lewis was certain the woman was on the hunt for any bit of juicy gossip she could uncover.
"We had a chance encounter at the Bull and Toad Inn, yes. Lady Sophia was traveling north with her aunt, Miss Euphemia Reynolds, and my traveling party happened to stop for the night at the same coaching inn as well. Lady Sophia took a nasty spill as she was departing her carriage, and I am simply thankful that I was on hand to help her to her room." That was the story that both he and the Reynolds family had agreed to use as of late so that they could effectively explain away why the two had been seen together the night of the Enwright masquerade. As Lewis was not known to deal in deception, few questioned him outright about the issue, though doubts did remain. Obviously, Lady Lizzie harbored a few doubts of her own on the matter.
"I was unaware that Lady Euphemia was even still alive." Lizzie tittered behind her fan in a seeming fit of brainlessness, but her eyes remained sharp, heightening Lewis' awareness. He had developed a keen sense for detecting danger while in the army and it served him just as well now.
Lewis nodded. "Very much so, I can assure you. She is, unfortunately, not as spry as she once was in her younger years, of course, but then who among us is?"
Lizzie fluttered her eyelashes at Lewis and he immediately went on high alert. He had no idea what this chit was playing at, but he didn't like it. Not one bit. She was trouble, among other things, and he did not trust her an inch even when she was standing in plain sight. A woman who would hurt her own sister to obtain what she desired was not to be trusted - ever.
"Oh, I suspect that you are still as spry as you were when you were younger, my lord," she purred seductively. "In fact, I am simply dying to discover how much."
For a lady of Society, that was as close to an outright invitation to seduction as there could possibly be. Lewis had no idea if Lizzie wanted to wed him or simply get him into bed so she could seduce him - for he had no doubt that she was not quite as innocent as she appeared. A true innocent would not speak as she just had.
Lewis offered her a bow in an attempt to end this interaction with her as quickly as possible. "Then I am afraid that you will be waiting for some time, my lady. My affections are otherwise engaged, as I am certain you are aware." He paused for a moment as he rose, his body stiffening a bit with the movement. "Good evening to you, then, Lady Lizzie. This conversation has been...enlightening, but I am required elsewhere at the moment, I'm afraid." Then he turned away and began to stride off as quickly as his bad leg would allow in no particular direction. He simply wished to get away from the woman who was looking at him as if she wished to strip him naked where he stood.
However before he completely disappeared though one of the nearby sets of pocket doors, he heard Lizzie call out softly, "I shall be waiting if you change your mind. I am curious to see how far those scars extend. After all, a gentleman with secrets is a gentleman worth knowing."
A mix of rage and hurt filled Lewis as he pushed his way through the crowd, not caring where the doors led. He simply needed to get away - from everyone and everything.
As always, Lizzie was simply a Society woman, or in this case debutante, looking to bed a man who was "different." She might not have said as much but it was clear in her tone that she viewed him as a challenge. There was also the distinct possibility that she desired him for his fortune. However, whatever her reasons, he was confident when he said that she did not desire him for himself. He was a game to her, a challenge to be met, won and conquered. Well, he refused to be any woman's amusement. Just because he was now deformed that did not make him any less of a man.
Chapter Ten
From her position across the room, Sophia had watched Lewis' exchange with Lady Lizzie through jealous eyes. She knew she should not feel thus, but she could not help herself. When he bowed to the wretched woman, it was all Sophia could do not to march across the room and tear out Lizzie's hair. Which was, of course, something that the old Sophia would have done without much thought, all the while relishing the challenge and spectacle to come. So that was also part of the reason why she stayed precisely where she was, quivering in anger until Eliza gave Sophia leave to simply go after the man and be done with it. That if Sophia was developing tender feelings for the former military man, that it was best to get them out into the open rather than avoid the issue as she had done with Nicholas. To Sophia's way of thinking, if the wife of the Bloody Duke was condoning Sophia's behavior, then it could not possibly be that bad. Well, not really anyway.
The pocket doors Lewis had used to exit the ballroom actually led down a short hallway to a difficult to access and little used side parlor where Lady Carlisle often stored excess furniture during the balls and parties she frequently hosted. Lewis would not likely know this since he had been out of Society for a good bit and out of the country even longer. But Sophia knew, and she planned to use that knowledge so that they might speak privately and she could make certain the former army captain understood just how dangerous Lizzie Ashford truly was. Especially to any man that happened to strike her fancy.
After a brief word to her mother about needing to use the retiring room, Sophia quietly slipped out of the ballroom and made her way through the maze of corridors, turning this way and that until she reached the other side of the pocket doors. There, she quickly tugged a large floor vase into the center of the hallway before anyone could spot her. If someone opened the doors from the ballroom now, they would see the vase hindering their progress and likely turn away. In her experience, not many members of Society were all that keen to do any sort of manual labor. Not even so much as moving a vase.
Satisfied with her handiwork, Sophia turned and scurried back down the corridor. There was a chance that Lewis had wandered off elsewhere, of course, but given that the hallway she had used to access the area behind the pocket doors was quite dark, it was unlikely that he would venture in that direction, even though it would lead him directly back to the ball. Rather, it was more likely that he would follow the glow from the wall sconces into an occupied part of the home. The sconces were only lit during parties in case Lady Carlisle's staff needed to access the parlor since no one ever used those pocket doors to exit the ballroom. However, Lewis likely did not know that either. Having been to more than enough gatherings here over the years, Sophia did.
As she approached the tiny parlor, she could hear a shuffling of feet and knew that she had guessed correctly. Also, given the low, grumbling profanity being uttered from within the dimly lit room, she was certain she had located Lewis.
For a single moment, Sophia gave pause just outside the door. Was she being foolish again? Leading with her heart and not her head? Doing so once before had cost her dearly and she could not afford to make that same mistake again. On the other hand, both her brother and her mother liked Lewis immensely and her mother had been the one to concoct this plan. No one in her family, including Thompson the butler, had cared for Alex, and they had done everything in their collective power to keep the two apart. Was that why Sophia had been so adamant that she wed Alex? Because he was forbidden to her? Had she even been in love with Alex at all, or had the initial attraction based on his handsome face faded over time, yet she refused to give up because she did not wish to be wrong and for her family to be right?
In all of the time that had passed since that night, Sophia now realized that she had never once asked herself those questions. Nor had she ever considered that perhaps being brash and bold had not been her true problem after all. Perhaps it had simply been her constant desire to be right. After all, she
had thrown a fit when Adam had courted Abigail at the Enwright house party, Sophia believing that the daughter of a mere merchant was not at all suited to be the wife of a duke. However, that had been less about Abigail, who was truly a lovely woman who cared for Adam deeply, and more about Sophia herself needing to be correct in her beliefs.
Those were all questions to consider later, Sophia decided, likely in the privacy of her chambers where she could write out her thoughts. Seeing her feelings on paper had helped her greatly after the night at the Bull and Toad. Perhaps the same would be true now.
For the moment, however, she believed that she was doing the correct thing in going after Lewis to warn him about Lizzie Ashford. Yes, Sophia herself would benefit immediately, but in the end, when their false courtship was over, Lewis would still require a wife. He admittedly did not get out much into Society so it was possible that he did not know the truth of the other woman. In that regard, Sophia was doing Lewis a favor by warning him privately. It had nothing at all to do with the spark of jealousy she had felt earlier. Nothing at all.
Squaring her shoulders, Sophia swept into the room, ready to give Lewis her best speech about why he should not become involved with Lizzie Ashford and how it had absolutely nothing to do with her feelings for him. However, she was stopped short when she entered the room and found Lewis leaning back against a settee, grinning at her.
"I wondered how long it would take you to finally enter." He crossed his arms over his chest, drawing Sophia's attention there instantly. "Likely you've come to give me a piece of your mind? Possibly about Lizzie Ashford?
"I...ah...the girl is a menace. You need to know that from the first!" Sophia stumbled about with her words for a moment before making her proclamation. "And how did you know I was out there, anyway?"
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