A Taste of Paradise (36 page)

“I need to speak with you, Sophia. It's important.”

“Another time, perhaps. I just sent Dunning to find a hack. He should return soon.”

“This is important, Sophia. I need your help. I want Claire back. Will you speak to her on my behalf?”

“I don't know what good I can do. You haven't exactly endeared yourself to your wife, or to me.”

“I'm a changed man, Sophia, I swear it. I've even paid off my debts.”

Sophia lifted her brows in surprise. “Wherever did you get the money? Never say Amanda gave it to you. The last I heard, she kicked you out.”

“I . . . earned the blunt,” Ray said, refusing to look at her. “Will you come with me now? I've rented a carriage. It's parked at the curb. Why wait for a hack when I have a conveyance at my disposal?”

“No, Ray, not now. Lady Standish is expecting me.”

“Are you refusing to help me?”

Sophia sighed. She owed Ray nothing, but if he was serious and had paid his debts, perhaps Claire could keep him on the straight and narrow.

“Come back tomorrow morning, Ray. I'll be ready around ten. I'll do what I can for you, but don't get your hopes up. You've given neither Claire nor me much reason to trust you.”

“Thank you, Sophia.” He sent Sophia a sly smile. “By the way, I saw your husband with Amanda Dartmore the other day. He was just leaving her house. I thought you should know.”

A hack came clattering around the corner. Dunning sat on the box with the driver. “Ah, here's your transportation. Until tomorrow, Sophia.”

Sophia nodded numbly. Ray's words stung. Had he really seen Chris with Amanda? He could be lying. It was hard to tell with Ray. Would he lie to her after asking her to help with Claire? She didn't know what to think. But she intended to ask Chris about it tomorrow.

After the hurtful news Ray had just imparted, Sophia no longer felt like visiting Grace. She dismissed the hack and sent Dunning to find someone to deliver a message to Grace postponing her visit.

The following day, as Sophia considered her promise to accompany Rayford, she began to have second thoughts. Being alone with her untrustworthy stepbrother wasn't a good idea. When Peg entered her bedroom to make up the bed, Sophia said, “I'd like you to accompany me today, Peg. I'm going with my stepbrother to call on his estranged wife.”

“What time should I be ready, milady?”

“Meet me in the foyer at ten o'clock.”

“Very good, milady.”

Peg was waiting when Sophia arrived downstairs. Dunning stood nearby to open the door. Rayford arrived at precisely ten o'clock.

“I shouldn't be long,” Sophia informed Dunning. “Tell Casper I'm looking forward to having lunch with him.”

Dunning peered out the window. “A hack just arrived, milady. Could that be your stepbrother?”

Rayford stepped out of the closed black carriage with shuttered windows and waited at the curb. Dunning opened the door. Sophia walked down the stairs, Peg following close behind. Dunning watched a moment, then shut the door.

“You brought your maid,” Ray said. “You don't trust me.”

“Do you blame me? Let's just get this over with, Ray. Chris is coming over later.”

Ray handed Sophia into the carriage. But when Peg started to enter behind her, Ray pushed the maid to the ground, jumped into the carriage and slammed the door. The carriage rattled off down the road at a fast clip.

“Dunning! Help!” Peg cried as she picked herself off the ground and raced toward the house.

Dunning opened the door. “What is it? Why aren't you with your mistress?”

“Something is wrong, Dunning. The carriage took off without me.”

“Come in, girl, come in.”

Shaking violently, Peg entered the house. “You have to do something, Dunning. Milady's stepbrother shoved me to the ground and fled with milady in the carriage.”

“I have to think,” Dunning said, looking every bit as distraught as Peg.

“Why would milady's stepbrother do such a thing to her?”

“I understand the man is a ne'er-do-well, a veritable cad. Perhaps he intends to hold her for ransom.”

Just then Casper came running down the stairs, his tutor hard on his heels. “We heard a commotion. Has something happened?”

Wringing her hands, Peg said, “Milady has been kidnapped by her stepbrother. I was to accompany her, but he shoved me to the ground and took off with milady inside the carriage.”

“The Earl of Standish must be told immediately,” Dunning said.

“Someone should tell the captain,” Casper insisted. “I'll go. Mr. Dexter has taken me to visit him at the Thorn and Thistle several times since he arrived in London.”

He started out the door. “I'll go with you,” Dexter said. “You shouldn't be running about London on your own.”

“And I'll fetch the earl,” Dunning said. All three men sped out the door, Casper and his tutor in one direction and Dunning in another.

Once Sophia regained her wits, she rounded on Rayford. “What is the meaning of this, Ray? What are you up to now?”

“I had to do it, Sophia. It was either obey him or go to debtor's prison.”

Sophia's heart pounded with fear. “Him? Who are you talking about?”

“You'll find out soon enough.”

Sophia decided she wasn't going to wait around to find out. She reached for the door handle, intending to jump out the door before the carriage picked up speed.

“Oh, no, you don't,” Ray said, reaching for her and hauling her back against the squabs. “I don't want you to kill yourself. That wouldn't do at all.”

“Where are you taking me?”

“Please understand my predicament, Sophia. You're not going to be harmed, I promise.”

Sophia sneered. “Don't tell me you sold my favors again.”

Ray refused to look her in the eye. “Claire won't take me back. Her father threatened me when I asked for money to keep myself out of debtor's prison. I was desperate. Then
he
arrived and offered to pay my creditors. He was a godsend, Sophia. I had no choice but to agree.”

“Why me? London is full of whores willing to accommodate a man for a few coins.”

“They're not you. Just do this, Sophia. What can it hurt? You're no longer a virgin.”

“You vile bastard!” Sophia cried. She began beating on his chest and screaming for the carriage to stop.

Ray grasped her wrists in a bruising grip. “Be still. The driver has been paid to ignore any outbursts from you. My benefactor has seen to everything.”

“Tell me his name, Ray. I want to know what I am facing.”

“No, it is best that you don't know.”

“Chris will kill you. Think about that before you carry out your nefarious plan.”

“You and Radcliff aren't even living together,” Ray said smugly. “He never wanted you, Sophia. If he had, he would have asked for your hand after Desmond's death. But he didn't. He ran off to sea and left you to face the scandal alone.”

Ray's cruel words hurt, but he was right. Chris hadn't wanted her. He'd run off, leaving her alone. She knew now that guilt had driven him away, but nonetheless, his feelings for her hadn't been strong enough to keep him from fleeing.

“I have no idea how you two met again after all these years, but I knew your marriage wouldn't last when I learned about it. Do you really think Radcliff will care what happens to you?”

“Damn you! Let me out of this carriage! Your plot to sell me the first time didn't work, and it won't work this time either.”

She lunged for the door again but stopped herself when she realized the carriage was barreling down the road much too fast. Her rash act could kill her child, a child she desperately wanted.

“I'm expecting Chris's child, Ray. Have you no compassion?”

Ray's stunned expression quickly faded, dashing Sophia's hopes. “I'm sure
he
won't care. You look no different to me.”

“Tell me who
he
is, Ray. You owe me that much.”

“I owe you nothing. You owe me. I kept a roof over your head when Society abandoned you.”

Sophia tried to raise the shade as the carriage sped down the road, but it had been tied down, using complicated knots. She had no idea where she was being taken or to whom. Ray had no scruples, no morals. Whatever he did was for his own benefit.

Two hours later the carriage rolled to a stop.

“We're here,” Ray said. He opened the door and stepped down.

Sophia peered out at a small shuttered cottage placed in a bucolic setting. There was nothing sinister about it, but she knew that what she'd find inside could very well place her life and that of her unborn child in jeopardy.

The cottage door opened. Ray hauled Sophia from the carriage and shoved her through the opening. Though it was too dark to see anything, she knew she was not alone.

A voice came out of the darkness. “You can leave, Caldwell. You can return for her in the morning.”

Sophia gasped. She recognized the voice. “You!”

Chris wasn't at his lodgings when Casper and his tutor arrived.

“Maybe he's visiting the earl,” Dexter said.

“If he is, Dunning will find him,” Casper replied. “But I think we should wait here for him in case he's gone off on an errand.”

They found an empty table in the common room and sat down to wait. Casper kept jumping up and pacing to the door to peer outside. He even counted the minutes in his head.

“Perhaps we should return home,” Dexter suggested. “Dunning probably found the captain at the earl's house.”

“Can we wait a little longer?” Casper begged.

Their patience paid off when Casper spotted Chris walking through the door soon after. “Captain!” he cried, rushing to intercept him.

Chris sent Casper a welcoming smile. He was always happy to see the lad, but wondered what he was doing here when Casper had visited him just yesterday.

He nodded to Dexter. “I'm surprised to see you. I thought Casper was to resume his lessons today.”

“It's Sophia!” Casper cried.

Chris's heart slammed against his chest. Had something happened to Sophia? He prayed not. He had spent the last two days thinking about Sophia, missing her, chiding himself for being too stupid to recognize love when it hit him in the gut. He had been so consumed by guilt and misery that he had failed Sophia utterly. But he wasn't going to make that mistake again. He knew what he wanted and intended to make sure Sophia understood that he loved her, that she was the only woman he wanted, would ever want. They belonged together. He'd been miserable without her and hoped he wasn't too late to make things right.

Today Chris had intended to tell Sophia how much she meant to him. He had even purchased a wedding ring worthy of Sophia's beauty.

“Has something happened to Sophia?”

“I don't really know her reason for doing so,” Casper explained, “but Sophia went off in a carriage with Viscount Caldwell. Peg was to accompany her, but Caldwell shoved Peg to the ground and jumped in the carriage with Sophia. The carriage took off immediately, and no one knows where Caldwell took her.”

A cold sweat broke out on Chris's forehead. What kind of nefarious plan had Caldwell hatched for Sophia this time? Chris knew intuitively that Sophia's abduction involved money. He'd heard that Caldwell was just a breath away from debtor's prison.

“Go back home,” Chris said. “I'll find Sophia.”

“I want to help,” Casper cried.

“You can help by returning home and keeping track of any messages that arrive. Caldwell might be holding Sophia for ransom. The man is desperate. I cannot imagine why she went off with him, knowing his penchant for mischief.”

“Dunning went to inform the earl,” Dexter ventured.

“Good. Perhaps he can learn something I cannot.”

“Good luck,” Casper called as Chris hurried off. “Bring Sophia back.”

Chris intended to do just that. No one was going to take Sophia away from him. Not after he had finally buried his ghosts and opened his heart to love. He loved Sophia. He had always loved her, despite his unwillingness to admit it. No other woman would do for him.

Chris's first stop would be Amanda Dartmore's spacious home in Berkley Square. Even though she and Caldwell were no longer together, she might know where he could find the bounder. Chris retrieved his horse at the nearby livery and headed to Berkley Square. The butler opened the door to him. Chris knew him from his previous visits. His name was Warring.

“How may I help you, Captain?” Warring asked.

“Please announce me to Lady Dartmore.”

“It's rather early, sir. Milady rarely leaves her bed before noon. Perhaps you can call later.”

Chris pushed past him. “Tell her Captain Radcliff wishes to speak with her. It's important.”

“Please wait here,” Warring said as he started up the staircase. “I'll see if milady is receiving.”

Chris didn't have long to wait. Amanda appeared at the top of the stairs, wearing a dressing gown that left little to the imagination.

“Chris!” she squealed. “I knew you would come to your senses. Come up, my love, I've been waiting forever for you.”

His face grim, Chris mounted the stairs. When he reached the top, Amanda had already disappeared into her bedroom. Chris followed. He found her arrayed provocatively atop her bed, smiling coyly at him. She beckoned him forward.

“This isn't a social call, Amanda,” Chris said.

“I don't care as long as you're here,” Amanda purred.

“Where is Caldwell?”

Frowning, Amanda sat up, shrugging so that her gown slipped off her shoulders, baring her breasts. “He's gone. He meant nothing to me. He merely amused me for a time. Now that you're here, I need no other man.”

“Can you give me the direction to Caldwell's lodgings?”