Do you? Lady Myers countered.
No. I mourned Mama and I mourned the man my father once was, but that was three years ago and, strangely enough, Papas last words to me were, Do not mourn me, I am unworthy of it.
Then lilac is perfectly fitting, except that gown is very simple.
Simple things do not become outdated so quickly and I cannot afford to buy something just because the fashion changes.
Hmm, no doubt you are right, her ladyship said. It was sympathy and help the girl needed and strutting about in the height of fashion would not further that end, though she was wise enough not to utter her thoughts. I will order the carriage for noon.
Sophie was shaking with nerves by the time the barouche drew up outside the house in South Audley Street and only Lady Myerss hand under her elbow prevented her from taking flight. She was being a ninny, she told herself sternly. There was nothing to be afraid of; she was her mothers daughter and Mama had always told her to be proud, hold up her head and look the world in the eye, and that is what she would do. If the Duke of Belfont refused to recognise her, then so be it.
Lady Myers and Miss Sophia Langford, her ladyship said, handing the liveried footman her card. We wish to speak to the Duke on a personal matter.
I will ascertain if his Grace is receiving, my lady, he said pompously. Please be seated. He waved them to a row of chairs ranged against the wall of the vestibule and disappeared down a marble tiled hall, his back stiff, his white-wigged head held high.
Lady Myers sat down, but Sophie could not sit still and began looking about her. There was an ornate cantilever staircase that set off at the centre of the hall and divided on a half-landing before climbing again to a gallery lined with pictures. On each side of the stairs the hall was lined with doors, all of which were closed. The footman had gone through one of them and shut it behind him.
Oh, I wish I had never come, Sophie whispered. The grandeur of the place was overwhelming.
Take heart, dear. I am right beside you and I will make the introductions.
The footman returned, leaving the door ajar. This way, ladies, if you please.
They followed him and waited while he announced them. Your Grace, Lady Myers and Miss Langford. Then he stood aside for them to enter the room.
A second later Sophie found her jaw dropping open because the man she faced was not the sixty-year-old duke she had expected, but the handsome equerry she had dubbed Lord Ubiquitous, elegant in dark green superfine coat and cream pantaloons, his fair curls brushed into attractive disorder. And he was looking just as astonished as she was.
Good God! he murmured loud enough for her to hear.
Before she could open her mouth to retort, Lady Myers spoke. Your Grace? It was a question, not a greeting.
He recovered himself quickly and bowed. At your service, my lady.
Her ladyship curtsied. Your Grace, may I present Miss Sophia Langford? You have been expecting her, I think. She gave Sophie a prod with her elbow because the girl seemed to have forgotten the basic courtesies.
Sophie, jolted from her contemplation of the man who had occupied so much of her thinking in the last twenty-four hours, dropped a curtsy. Your Grace.
James, who had expected a child, a schoolgirl at the most, found himself looking at a grown woman, a woman he had seen before, though for the life of him he could not remember where or when. It was hardly surprising; she was not particularly memorable. Her lilac dress was so plain, it could have been worn by one of his chambermaids and not been considered too grand. She had a hideous bonnet that hid most of her face and almost all her hair, but her figure was good. I am afraid you have me at a disadvantage, he said.
How so? Sophie asked. Did you not receive my letter? If he had not, then she would have to explain who she was and why she was standing in this magnificent drawing room and wishing herself anywhere but there. He was not welcoming and certainly not smiling.
I received a letter from Italy, yes, but I had not expected its writer to turn up on my doorstep the very next day.
You may blame me for that, your Grace, Lady Myers said. Lord Myers and I were returning to England; as poor Sophie had no one else to escort her, I undertook to bring her to you. I am afraid it was not possible to wait for your reply.
That was where he had seen them, in Dover, trying to enter the hotel where the Regent and the King of France were taking refreshment and he had noticed them later, following the procession. Being anxious about security, he had been concerned they might be jeopardising that and had kept an eye on the carriage, until it had turned off north of the river. He had laughed at himself for his suspicions.
And now you are here, he said, wishing Harriet were on hand to relieve him, what do you expect me to do?
Nothing, your Grace, Sophie snapped. I was mistaken in coming here
Again that defiance; it was almost a defensiveness, as if she expected to be turned away as she had been from the hotel in Dover. And so she should be, turning up at his door as if he should take in every waif and stray who claimed kinship! It was all very well for Harriet to say his fathers niece had married a Langford, but he had never met this cousin and there might have been a very good reason for the family not to acknowledge her. His uncle could have been a reprehensible reprobate who had disgraced the family name; his daughter might have been a demi-rep of uncertain reputation and her husband an unmitigated rogue, which was more than likely if they had to live abroad. Until he knew the truth he could not risk taking her daughter in. If you expected me to fall over myself to offer you a home, then I am sorry to disappoint you
My disappointment is not on that account, Sophie said. It was in thinking that I was dealing with a gentleman. She had no idea what made her say that. Perhaps it was the dismay which had been evident on his handsome countenance when they arrived, or the lack of a welcome. Why, he had not even offered them refreshment!
He had never met anyone, certainly not a chit of a girl, who was prepared to answer him back in that fashion and for a moment he was taken aback, and then it amused him. Beneath that muslin-covered bosom there beat a heart of fire. She was beginning to intrigue him. Be thankful that I am gentleman enough not to entertain such a ridiculous idea
Lady Myers put her hand on Sophies arm to stop her answering. Your Grace, she said placatingly, we had no idea We assumed Sophie thought
What did Miss Langford think?
That you were old, Sophie burst out.
Old! He gave a bark of laughter. I am but four and thirty.
I can see that, she countered. But Mama told me that the third Duke had died and his younger brother had inherited and so I assumed Her voice faded away to nothing.
It is a mistake to assume anything, he said, remembering how he had assumed she was a child. If he had stopped to think, he would have realised it was unlikely. His uncle, her grandfather, had been the second eldest of the third Dukes brothers and would have inherited if he had not died first. It would have made all the difference to the young woman who faced him now; her mother would have been a dukes daughter and she would not be sitting there in that hideous gown, appealing to his softer nature. Perhaps it was as well he had, over the years, managed to stifle that. The brother you mentioned was my father, the fourth Duke. He died last year and I came into my inheritance.