Page 73 of To Woo and to Wed
West inclined his head. “On the contrary, Father—I look forward to doing anything that I can to assist with the sale of Rosemere to its new owner.” He smiled at his father; when, Sophie wondered, was the last time he’d had cause to do that? “I don’t think this is the time or place for such a discussion, but I’d be happy to continue it later. But”—and here, his smile vanished, and he took two steps closer to his father—“I wish to make it perfectly clear to you that if Rosemere is the price I must pay for my marriage, then I would pay it a thousand times over. Indeed, I amhappyto pay it, if it means that you no longer have any leverage over me.” He stepped back again, reaching behind him, and Sophie slipped her hand into his once more.
West turned slightly, so that he and Sophie were no longer facing his father directly, but rather were including the group at large. “I’m sorry that we have doubly deceived all of you, but I hope you will wish us both happy—and perhaps we can now turn our attention to where it belongs.” He nodded at Alexandra and Blackford, then turned to Sophie’s mother. “Lady Wexham, would you do me the honor of saving a waltz for me?”
This simple question somehow broke the dam, and in short order Lady Wexham had swooped down upon them both, raining kisses on cheeks and shedding a few discreet tears into the handkerchief that West handed her. Their siblings and friends followed suit, and for some time there was little sense to be had from anyone amid the melee of well-wishes and joyful exclamations.
At one point, Sophie found herself back at West’s side, and she turned to him. “My cheeks hurt,” she said, raising a hand to her face, where a helpless smile seemed to have been permanently stuck.
West leaned down and—mindless of the impropriety involved—pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “I would see that smile on your face every day for the rest of my life.”
Sophie, in that moment, did not think this would be a difficult wish to fulfill.
It was later, when Sophie was enjoying a brief respite from dancing and had left West chatting amiably with Blackford and Belfry and their brother-in-law, the Earl of Risedale, that Alexandra found her.
Sophie had just accepted a flute of champagne from a passing footman and had ducked behind a potted palm to enjoy it—not entirely out of sight, but just hidden enough that one would have to be properly looking for her to spot her—when her sister appeared beside her.
Alexandra looked very pretty this evening, her dark hair gleaming in the candlelight, wearing a gown of bright yellow that somehow made her skin glow radiantly, though a similar shade would no doubt have made Sophie look sallow.
“I just escaped a five-minute lecture from Maria about how I was very wrong to taunt you with threats of a double wedding and leaving the church on horseback,” Alexandra said, not sounding remotely apologetic.
“I’m surprised she was so defensive of my tender sensibilities,” Sophie said, taking a sip of champagne.
“Oh, she’s not,” Alexandra said cheerfully. “I’ve no doubt your own lecture will be forthcoming.”
“I’ll look forward to that,” Sophie said wryly, though Mariahadpressed her hand and wished her happy with obvious sincerity, and the satisfied air of someone who felt that a great wrong had been corrected.
Alexandra craned her head around. “Do you think it would drawattention to our hiding place if I were to summon a footman to a bit of greenery? I’m parched.” Not waiting for an answer, she hissed, “Pssst!” The footman she was attempting to summon, standing about ten feet away, paused, then glanced around, as if suspecting someone had let a snake into the ballroom. “Psssst!” Alexandra hissed, a bit louder this time, and when he at last turned she waved him frantically over, relieving him of two glasses from his tray before sending him on his way.
“I do not think the War Office will be recruiting you for intelligence work,” Sophie said.
Alexandra ignored her, taking a hearty gulp of champagne. A silence descended between them as they both leaned against the wall, one that Sophie was slightly hesitant to break. But this was Alexandra—her sister, yes, but also, these past few years, her very dearest friend. She could not bear this slightly strained note that now existed between them.
“I’m sorry, you know,” Sophie said, turning her head toward her sister without lifting it away from the wall. Alexandra mirrored the movement.
“So am I.”
Sophie hesitated. “West says… he says that I worry too much over you.”
Alexandra lifted her champagne flute in salute. “For that reason alone, I should toast your marriage. If he can finally make you see sense, then I am even fonder of him than I already was.”
Sophie gave a wavering smile. “It is just—for so long, I worried so much about you—aboutallof you. As the eldest, it was my job to marry well, to ease the way for the rest of you.”
“Our father is a viscount, Soph, and thanks to Mama, we are positively rolling in money.” Sophie was shocked into a laugh, which hadno doubt been her sister’s intent in speaking so bluntly. “I do not think we would have found our paths unduly difficult—so long as we had the good sense not to fall in love with the heirs to dukedoms who had fathers with giant sticks up their—”
“Thank you, point taken,” Sophie interrupted hastily, laughing again. “I suppose my experience with the duke did make me overly concerned for the rest of you. But I hadn’t reallytaken, you know, in my first two Seasons, before I met West. All of the gentlemen who were highest in the instep didn’t want to marry the daughter of some upstart viscount with a fortune from trade.”
“But would you want to marry any ofthem?” Alexandra pressed.
“I—I suppose not,” Sophie said, rather startled.
“Then why were you so concerned about what they’d think of the rest of us? Do you think Mama and Papa so obsessed with rank that they’d set their sights on some appalling snob, just so that they could say their daughter married an earl? Even Maria settled for a second son, after that disaster with Sandworth, and if anyone among us would care about such things, it would be her.”
“Well… no.” Sophie sighed. “Being the eldest, though, I think I’ve always considered it my responsibility to worry over the rest of you.”
“That’s why we haveparents,” Alexandra pointed out. “They worried over us plenty, if you’ll recall. It’s not as though we grew up in an orphanage trying to elbow our way to the front of the line for a bowl of porridge. And even if there was cause for concern, we’re all well-settled now—you’re allowed to care for yourself, you know.”
“Butyouwere the one who wasn’t going to marry if I was unwed!” Sophie pointed out, half-laughing, half-exasperated. It was a bit gallingto be criticized for the same behavior that Alexandra had employed herself.
“As a matter of fact,” Alexandra said carelessly, “that’s not actually true, which you’d know if you’d bothered to ask me, instead of taking matters into your own hands. I tried to tell you as much this afternoon.”
