Page 45 of To Redeem an Earl

Sophia looked relieved. “Is that all? I thought something serious had happened.”

Richard handed her the print he was holding. He hoped she would find the humor in it as she had done before.

She took it from him and looked down. She was deathly quiet for some time. Suddenly, she exploded to her feet in a shriek of rage, knocking over her chair. “How dare they!”

Richard clamored to his feet, rounding the table to calm her, but she broke into a storm of agitated pacing. “How dare they! He is a child. This is unforgivable!” She spun to glower at him. “You must do something! Sue them … or … or purchase their shop and tear down the presses!”

Richard felt panic descending when he saw her blue eyes awash with angry tears. His dear wife was frantic in her desire to protect his son, whom she had only just met days before. He felt like such a cad. He knew he could never tell her about the shameful note and how he put not only her sought-after security at risk with his past misdeeds, but he had jeopardized the safety of his tiny child with his actions, too. She was correct. It was unforgivable.

He must make it right. She could not be forced to live with the burden of fear he now carried with him while he fought to protect his wife and child. It was clear he would need to keep the note to himself, but he would hire every runner in London if he had to. He would make this right and protect them.

He hurried over to fold her in his arms. She was quivering with rage and grief, dropping her head on his shoulder and sobbing in earnest. For the first time, Richard found himself comfortingher, which was a novel experience.

“Sophia, I will make it right,” he promised in a soothing voice, gently stroking her back.

“He is a child! A tiny, innocent little boy,” she wept.

“I know, love. I will take care of it. Whoever is behind this will regret it.” Her gasping sobs eased and her trembling body slowly relaxed into his arms while he continued to calm her with soft assurances.

Richard felt the worst kind of scoundrel for creating this situation, but he knew he must keep his promise. He did not care about the print shops that sold the illustration. Nay, he was going to hunt the instigator because he knew in his gut this was a campaign of terror with a single, vengeful cuckold or lover behind it.

The individual may have just cause to pursue him in this manner, but there was no excuse for attacking his wife and child who were innocent of wrongdoing. He would find the man and tear his beating heart out of his chest, before displaying it to the worthless, dying bounder.

CHAPTER14

Sophia felt foolish over her display of emotion. Now her husband would be convinced she was a weak-minded female and never share the details of the mystery note he was hiding from her. It was her fault for making an utter cake of herself and behaving like a temperamental child.

Why the cut at Ethan scrambled her wits so thoroughly, she could not quite say. She cared not one wit about the malicious print aimed at her, but when she had seen the one aimed at the little boy in her care, her soul shattered and it had taken several minutes of sobbing in Richard’s arms to gather the pieces back together.

It would not do. She must find a method of coping with attacks on Ethan, or the vicious gossips of thetonwould eat her alive. Showing such weakness in elite society would leave her and the child exposed. She supposed she should be thankful that only Richard had witnessed her reaction, and that she had the opportunity to prepare her composure for contending with the contentious subject in the future. There was no doubting that eventually it would, and she owed it to Ethan to remain calm in those inevitable encounters.

There was no denying the drawing had caught her by surprise. It was so willfully disparaging of Richard’s child that it physically hurt to think about it. Perhaps that was the key? Perhaps she should predict the type of confrontations or snide remarks that she might find herself in regarding the boy and plan out possible responses with a clear head, so she was not caught unprepared again?

The idea had merit. Planning strategies for dealing with members of polite society and the cross-purposes of her family was precisely how she had avoided matrimony with an unwanted suitor for so many years. If one handled these matters poorly, it doomed one to re-experience them over and over again, but if she made nothing of it, like her encounter with Lady Partridge at the modiste, people lost interest in their taunting and cruel gossip. Once she made up her mind that she refused to feed the gossip, Sophia felt her composure return.

With a calm face, she peered at her reflection in the full-length mirror in her dressing room. Her first delivery of the gowns she had ordered from the Italian modiste had arrived, so she finally possessed an evening gown suitable to attend the theatre. The one she wore now was a deep blue lace in a leaf pattern over a silk slip with the longer waist of this Season’s fashion. A wreath of leaves covered the bodice and the puff sleeves were ornamented with rich lace and two bunches of leaves, while the hem of the skirt appeared to be two layers of skirts due to skillful bias and lace work.

The front of her hair was dressed in loose curls to fall low to the sides of her face, while the rest of her hair was loosely fastened with a pearl comb. Signora Ricci had recommended the lace color, and Sophia was pleased with how her hair shone in contrast and the hue of her blue eyes was picked out by the shade of the gown. She did not recognize the woman in the mirror in the fine colors not permitted to debutantes. The woman in the reflection looked elegant and high-born, just like a countess. Her pulse quickened when she thought of descending the stairs to meet Richard. Would he be proud of the woman on his arm when they attended Drury Lane tonight? She knew he looked especially fine in evening clothes, which was why she had been relieved to see the gown amongst those delivered earlier that day.

She pulled on her evening gloves, and the maid assisted her with a shawl before she headed out the door while the tall case clock down in the entrance hall announced the hour.

Richard was waiting at the foot of the stairs when she descended. His jaw dropped when he looked up to find her.

“You are … ravishing.” His voice was thick with emotion. She stopped on the last step, the extra inches bringing her almost to eye level to gaze at him. She picked up his hand and brought it up to clasp against her breast.

“I am glad we married.”

A flash of pain crossed his face. “Why? I have brought you nothing but chaos since the first night.”

“Because you are an honorable man who is doing his very best to change. Because of how you give Ethan your attention and make him smile. Because of… the pleasure you have brought me.”

Richard smiled lasciviously at the last. “I am rather excellent at that endeavor, am I not?”

“Thank you for taking me to the theatre tonight. I think it is a good idea for us to take these moments to enjoy ourselves.”

“You mean before the next crisis presents itself?”

She grinned, pressing a quick kiss to his warm lips. “Exactly.”

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