The Virgin Who Ruined Lord Gray - Anna Bradley Page 0,61

never gives up, and in the end, she earns her happy ending. Why should you be any different?”

Because happy endings were a thing of books only? Because she wasn’t a fictional character, but a real person, and a dreadfully flawed one, at that? There were dozens of reasons, but Cecilia’s eager, relentless and utterly impractical optimism was a rare, precious thing, and Sophia wouldn’t be the one to smother it.

So, she held her tongue, and instead reached for Cecilia’s hand. “Well, when you put it that way, I suppose—”

“Your mother’s locket!” Cecilia interrupted with a surprised gasp. “You told me you used it to bribe a prison guard. How did you get it back?”

Sophia closed her fingers around the locket still nestled in her palm. “Lord Gray. He gave it to me this morning. It seems he, ah…he took it back from the guard.”

It must have cost him to do it, too. There was no way a man like Hogg would relinquish a silver locket without securing something valuable in its place. Money, and a good deal of it.

I thought you’d want it back.

Sophia did want it back, quite desperately, but in her experience wanting a thing rarely resulted in actually getting it, and it wasn’t as if Tristan owed her anything—

“Well, how lovely of him!” Cecilia tapped Sophia’s fist, which had closed around the locket again. “I confess I didn’t care much for Lord Gray when we met him the other day. I thought him a bit stiff, really, and too severe, but I must say this improves my opinion of him.”

Sophia’s lips quirked. Yes, it was just the sort of extravagantly romantic gesture Cecilia adored. Sophia thought it more likely he wished to tie up any loose ends between them so he could thoroughly wash his hands of her, but once again, she wouldn’t be the one to shatter Cecilia’s romantic illusions. “I don’t deny it was a gentlemanly thing to do.”

“Indeed, the act of a true gentleman—”

“Who’s a true gentleman?” a voice demanded.

Sophia and Cecilia looked up to find Georgiana peering around the door, with Emma right behind her, peeking over her shoulder.

“Lord Gray.” Cecilia patted the empty space beside her on the settee, and Georgiana and Emma hurried in and crowded onto it.

“Lord Gray? More troublesome than gentlemanly, I’d say.” Georgiana tapped a finger against her chin, thinking. “He doesn’t look much like a Bow Street Runner, does he?”

“No,” Emma agreed. “Very much like an earl, though.”

“It’s his cheekbones, I think,” Cecilia said. “Have you ever noticed all aristocrats have the same cheekbones? High, and rather sharp.”

They waited, but Sophia, who recalled in vivid detail how those cheekbones felt under her fingertips, said nothing.

“Well, it’s just as well he’s gone. The last thing we need is a Bow Street Runner hanging about, poking his nose into our affairs. Or an earl either, come to that.” Georgiana gave an airy wave of her hand.

Emma nudged Sophia’s shoulder. “Georgiana’s right. Earls and Bow Street Runners are disruptive creatures, and Lord Gray more so than most, given he’s both at once.”

“His nose!” Cecilia cried, then flushed when they all turned to gape at her. “He has a noble nose, I mean.”

“He’s not a biddable sort either.” Georgiana frowned. “One need only look at his face to see that, but he’s not rash, is he? No, he’s altogether too clever. It would only be a matter of time before a man like that uncovered all our secrets.”

“Yes, and goodness knows we have plenty of those,” Emma said with a sigh.

Sophia fell back against the settee and threw an arm over her face. “You’re right, of course. It’s just…”

It’s just that I’m a great fool.

“You’re fatigued, dearest.” Cecilia patted her knee. “Everything seems worse when one is fatigued, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, indeed. Come now, Sophia,” Emma said, pulling Sophia’s arm gently away from her face. “Once you’ve rested, you’ll see for yourself we’re well rid of him—”

“I’m afraid it’s not that simple, my dears.”

All four girls looked up in surprise. Lady Clifford was standing in the doorway. None of them had heard her come in, and now Sophia thought of it, she realized Lady Clifford had been conspicuously absent all morning.

“No, because nothing ever is simple, it is?” Georgiana grumbled.

Lady Clifford closed the drawing room door and seated herself in the chair beside the settee. “I won’t deny Lord Gray’s a bit troublesome, but we need him still.”

“What do you mean, my lady?” Sophia asked, then cringed, heat flooding her face at