Page 59 of To Redeem an Earl

“It is all my fault!”

“Sophia, I need you to calm down. Please, my love. Whatever this is, we will sort it out.”

“I could have caused your death!”

“My love, Lord Wood could have caused my death. And your brother might have put him up to it. But you did not do this, Sophia. Please, calm yourself.”

Sophia sobbed in his arms with such gut-wrenching pain, he wanted to hunt down Cecil Hayward so he might pound the man into the ground. He had no idea what the blackguard was about, but he did know he wanted to kill him. Meanwhile, he must be content with making soothing sounds and caressing his hands up and down her slight back while she wept.

Finally, her storm of tears eased, and her head hung limp against him.

Perry walked over to hand him a handkerchief. Richard gently pushed Sophia back and used it to wipe gently at her downcast, swollen eyes. She would not look at him, an expression of guilt pasted across her face.

“Why would your brother target me? Did I cuckold him in some way I am unaware of?”

Sophia shook her head.

“Was he targeting me?”

Again, she shook her head.

“So, the doxies in my bed, the caricatures, manipulating Lord Stanford and Lord Wood, the rock through the window, and the threatening note—these were misdirection to hurt you?”

She nodded.

“I feel I am missing some vital information—”

“I should leave! I will go to Saunton Park, and my brother will surely follow me there! Then you and Ethan will be safe!”

Richard took her face between his hands and gently turned her to look at him. “My love, I am not leaving you vulnerable. Now that we know who is behind this, we will find him and end it. But Sophia, you have to explain what this is about.”

Sophia looked at him with such guilt and pain, it tore through him. He wanted to comfort her, to make her feel safe. It was his duty as her protector, but he knew she needed to explain the situation. Not just so that he and Perry could take action, but because she carried some unnamed burden that wreaked havoc on her usual composure. His wife needed him to listen.

“Would you like Perry to leave us alone?”

She shook her head. “I put your household in danger. Perry should know what hangs over our heads.”

“Why would Cecil target you in this manner?”

She exhaled in a shaky breath before pulling out of his arms. She stood and went to stare out the window.

“I am not sure how to start. Where to start …” She paused. “Ten years ago, my father died. He was a prolific gambler, and he drank too much. I was told he died of some sort of apoplexy while playing cards in the early hours. My mother was not a strong woman, and she died from a laudanum overdose within days of his death. Cecil is my father’s son from his first marriage. He was sixteen and became very angry after our father’s death.”

Sophia stopped, raising a hand against the glass as if she were peering into the past.

“What happened?”

“Lord Moreland, my mother’s brother, and his wife took us in. Cecil is not a blood relation of the Abbott family, but they have always valued family above all else, so they took my brother in along with me. They were not aware that Cecil started drinking quite heavily. Perhaps he was drinking before my father’s death. It is possible my father encouraged it when they spent time together. I … I did not know what to do about it. He is my brother … the only one I had left after my parents both …”

Richard struggled to understand where the story would lead and how it related to their wedding, which had apparently set her sibling off on this rampage, but he remained silent to allow Sophia to find her way through the tale.

“Uncle Hugh provided him with an allowance, so Cecil started wagering. Playing cards, betting at disreputable clubs. The Abbotts were not aware of his descent. He fooled them with gracious manners, and they are not accustomed to his sort of depravity …”

His heart skipped a beat. He did not like the direction this was going. Had the brother hurt her in some manner?

“When I turned eighteen and came out, Uncle Hugh gave me a generous allowance. Cecil needed to pay his gambling debts, and I had money. So he took it from me. When I threatened to tell my uncle, my brother … made it clear that I would regret it if I ever informed on him.”

Perry and Richard both stiffened, his brother casting him a questioning look. Richard shook his head to indicate he did not know, but he disliked the tone of her voice when she stated it.

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