“You shouldn’t stay with her,” he said softly. “Even if she changes her mind and wishes you to stay, it is time to leave. Come with me. You can stay as long as you like, and leave whenever you wish.”
Sophie shook her head. “Let me think on it,” she said. “I promise
you that
I will leave
that house
, even if Delia changes her mind.”
He turned to face her, his gaze intent. Sudd
enly his arms surrounded her, p
ulling her close, and his mouth touched hers in hunger…a hunger that caused her heart to
race
. She made a sound in her throat and put her arms around his neck, wanting more. Jackson broke away, breathing heavily, and looked at her with desire in his eyes.
“I won’t do this,” he muttered. “I won’t convince you this way. Come to me with your decision, Sophie.
I promise to not try and sway you any further.” He grinned crookedly. “
Now I must take you home, before I embarrass us both
by begging
.”
Sophie’s chest heaved and her heart felt heavy. “Perhaps that is best,” she said.
“You’ll meet me here tomorrow?” His voice was diffident, and he
didn’t
look at her. Sophie smiled to herself.
“Of course.
You make my day brighter.”
He still
wouldn’t
look at her, but he smiled to himself, and he held her hand all the way to the front gate. Sophie turned to look back at him before she opened the front door, and he waved before turning away.
“My lord, he’s adorable,” she whispered to herself. She watched him walk away.
“A big, strong man one minute and a little boy the next.
I don’t know if I want to pinch his cheeks or kiss him senseless.”
Delia had taken to her bed
, much to Sophie’s relief
. She let out
the breath
she’d
been holding
when Mrs. Ferguson came bustling out of the kitchen to tell her so, her round face creased with worry.
“What are you going to do, Sophie?” she asked. “You know
,
if you have nowhere to go, you can
share quarter
s
with my sister. I sent a boy over with a note, and
she’s
agreed. It would be crowded there and not what you’re used to, but it would be a roof over your head.”
Sophie hugged the small, round woman to her. “That’s the sweetest thing,” she choked
out
. “Let me see what I can do first, but it may very well come to that.”
“My sister would be glad to have you,” Mrs. Ferguson said. “She’s a good woman, and she’d treat you a sight better than your own sister does.”
Sophie forced herself to work hard all afternoon, hoping it would distract her from her gloomy thoughts. How she wished she had someone to talk to, she thought as she scrubbed the fireplace in the sitting room. She needed someone who would listen to her fears and reassure her that everything would be all right.
Someone to tell her everything was going to work out fine.
Someone who would tell her what to do, because she
hadn’t
the faintest idea.
The next morning, Sophie
heaved
herself from her bed, still thinking about her predicament.
She pulled on her clothes, feeling hopelessly weary.
She
hadn’t
slept well. The night had been full of vivid dreams – ones where Delia had cast her into the street,
where Jackson had laughed in her face when she told him
she wanted to go with him, and Mrs. Ferguson’s sister had turned out to be a monster that stood over her with a whip.
To her surprise, Delia sat at the kitchen table. Sophie sighed.
She’d
been hoping to eat a quick breakfast and hide from her all day. Sophie held her breath, waiting wearily for the fight to begin again. She almost tripped over a chair when Delia smiled cheerily at her instead.
“Sophie!” she cried. “How are you this morning?”
“I am just fine.” She poured herself a cup of coffee from the pot that sat on the sideboard and smiled her thanks when Mrs. Ferguson brought her a plate of eggs.
“You’re not holding a grudge from yesterday, are you?” Delia fluttered her eyelashes, and Sophie took a sip of her coffee to keep from rolling her eyes.
“No, of course not,” she said. “You seemed the one who had a grudge, not me.”
“I was merely upset.” Delia put her hand on Sophie’s, and she struggled against the desire to pull it away. She
couldn’t
help but believe this was false – Delia hadn’t been this nice to her since she’d arrived on her doorstep. What, exactly, had made her change her mind?
Sophie drained her coffee, wanting to get away from this table. Whatever game Delia was playing, she could play it alone.
“Let me get you another cup of coffee, dear.”
Delia plucked the mug from her hand and swept away with it before Sophie could say a word. Sophie stared at her back, wondering
just why Delia was being so nice.
Delia put the mug in front of her with a sweet smile.
“Drink up, dear one.” She
slipped into her chair
and drank her own coffee
. “My, Mrs. Ferguson makes a fine cup of coffee, doesn’t she?”
“Yes, she does.” Sophie sipped the hot drink as she picked at her eggs.
She tried a half-smile. Perhaps Delia really did want to make up.
Best to give her the benefit of the doubt.
It
couldn’t
hurt to make small talk over one meal, could it?
“It seems a little bitter this morning, though.”
She took a big drink of the coffee and made a face.
“Really, really bitter.”
“You’re just tired,” Delia said. “You look a little peaky.”
Delia was right
,
she was tired
.
Sophie felt funny all of a sudden, and she put a hand to her head. Her vision swam. What was happening to her? She looked across the table at Delia, who had a smile
like the cat that got into the cream
. She reached out a hand to steady
herself
on the table and missed it entirely, slumping sideways in her chair.
“What is it, dear?” Delia cooed. “Not feeling well?”
Sophie felt her stomach clench
, and her thoughts raced
. Just why had her selfish sister offered to refill her coffee, when she couldn’t even be counted on to serve
herself
?
She’d
been known to call Mrs. Ferguson from the other room just to fill her cup of a morning. This was wrong.
She opened her mouth to call for help but the words
wouldn’t
come. Mrs. Ferguson stared at her from across the room, and Sophie tried to raise her hand to th
e woman, who looked frightened. S
he
couldn’t
seem to make her limbs work.
She felt horror grow
cold
inside her, but she
couldn’t
scream.
Delia had poisoned her.
“Let me help you to back to bed, Sophie.” Delia grasped her with hard hands and pulled her from her chair.
Sophie listed to o
ne side and Delia pulled her up
right.
“
You
have a little lie-down, and you’ll feel just the thing later.
I’ll do it, Mrs. Ferguson,
”
she
trilled
as the woman
hurried over and
tried to help. “No need to disturb your work.”
Sophie tried to resist, but it seemed impossible. Delia dragged her up the stairs and into her room, throwing her down on the
hard
bed
and losing the loving attitude
now that she no longer had an audience. She thrust her face down to Sophie’s, and smiled, but it
wasn’t
a merry smile.
It made Sophie shudder
inside
.
“Thought you’d just run off and leave me high and dry, did you? Thought
you’d
just leave, after everything I’ve done for you. You know that would be a hardship for me, having to pay someone else to keep my house, but you
don’t
care.
You’re a selfish, selfish woman, and you don’t care about my feelings in the slightest.
”
Delia’s
tone was reproachful
and as matter-of-fact as if they were discussing the weather.
‘
She’s mad
,’ Sophie thought. ‘
S
he’s killed me because I wanted to leave
, and she still blames me for it
.
’
“But I’ve found a way to get the money I need to run this household
and
pay for two more servants beside.” She rubbed her hands together and smiled angelically at her sister. “And all I have to do is deliver you and that insipid little maid to a woman I know.
She’ll
pay top dollar for you both, and I’ll never have to worry about money again.
And
if I run short
again
, all I have to do is find another pretty young woman
to serve up to her guests
.
I used to work for her, but she says I’m too old for her clientele.
”
Delia made a face and
pinched her cheek, hard, but Sophie
couldn’t
even flinch.
She
was trapped
in a body that had become a prison, and she was growing increasingly sleepy. She struggled to stay awake, to
focus on what Delia was saying, but the words seemed to be coming from very far away.
“
You’re just the right age, though, Sophie.
Don’
t
worry
: You’ll get paid for the work you do after tonight.
I’ll
only get your fee
this once
, not forever.
And
it won’t be
nearly
as bad as when father did it to me – at least you’ve had a lover already. You know what to expect.
Of course, there will be more than one tonight, but I promise you
,
it
won’t
be so bad. I’ll make sure to give you another dose of laudanum before they get started.
”
She smoothed Sophie’s hair
and sat on the edge of the rough bed
, her face pensive
.
Sophie’s
skin crawled at her touch. Her
eyes closed, and
she forced them open again. Delia kept stroking her hair, and Sophie so wanted to move away, but the most she could do was move her head an inch to the right. Delia paid no attention to that
at
all
; she just moved Sophie’s head right back where it was before and continued, her touch becoming
harder and harder, until they felt like blows instead of strokes.
“
I never told you about Father, did I?
At first, he seemed to love me so much more after coming into my room at night and doing things to me.
He told me that I was taking Mother’s place, and
that
I
would
learn
to like it after a while.
He was right; I did like it. Before very long, h
e made me crave him and
the
things he did
to me
, and th
en
he
changed
toward me
. H
e started talking about sin and stopped coming to me
at night
.
I
begged him to change his mind
, but he refused
. H
e seemed
almost to loathe me; he could hardly stand to look at me, he said
.
I told him
that
I would tell everyone what he had done unless he came to me again, but he
wouldn’t
. He
struck
me
across the face and knocked me to the ground
, called me a whore and an abomination, so I ran away
and found someone else who would love me.
For a while, anyway.
All men are fickle, I suppose.” Delia sighed. “
I do so hope I
’ve got the dose of laudanum right
, Sophie
.
You’ll
miss all tonight’s fun if that’s the case.
They want you groggy, not unconscious.
”
Sophie’s mind cried out in horror as her sister
giggled
and left the room. She fell into
darkness with her unvoiced
scream
s
echoing through her head.