The Rogue Not Taken
Page 99
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“Papa.” She paused. “You came.”
And that’s when she knew that something terrible must have happened. Jack Talbot did not hie across Britain with his wife and four daughters for a lark. A sense of wild foreboding threaded through Sophie, and she had the keen realization that this day would be the most important of her life. It was the day she said good-bye to King. And the day that her father changed everything.
Her father looked to the rest of the girls. “Find your rooms, girlies.”
They did as they were told, leaving in a squawking gaggle, along with the countess, to find rooms that were no doubt being aired for the first time in an age. If she weren’t so shocked by her father’s arrival, she would have been amused by the idea of the Duke of Lyne coming face-to-face with the Dangerous Daughters.
Once alone with her father, she asked, “Why are you here, Papa?”
“I came,” he said, “because I can’t take care of this.”
She blinked. “Papa, you know as well as I do, Society will find another thing to loathe in less than a week. It likely has already.”
“But Haven won’t.”
“Haven is an ass,” she said.
“That’s never been more true, kitten, but he’s a duke. He holds the purse strings.”
Her brows snapped together. “You’re Jack Talbot. You’re richer than all of them combined.”
Her father went silent. “Not without them, Sophie. That was the deal I struck for the title your mother wanted so badly. They invest, I mine. And you all become ladies. I can’t make money without the nobs. And you’ve done an excellent job of running them off. Calling Haven a whore did it better than I ever could’ve.”
Fear gripped her at the words. It made sense, of course. Titles weren’t simply doled out, not without requirements. “I thought it was a wager?”
He smiled. “It was. But Prinny made the terms. And I accepted them.”
“They’ve stopped investing?”
“Pulled their funds to a man. Haven took great glee in making it so. I received notice from thirteen of them by sundown after your excitement. The rest came in the morning.” He paused for a long moment before he approached her, and for the first time in her life, she saw Jack Talbot’s age. His worry. “You want your dowry? Your freedom?” He shook his head. “I want to give it to you. But there ain’t no dowry to be had, kitten. I can’t keep your mother and sisters in new clothes and gilded carriages and—” He looked to a nearby table. “Now why in hell do they need birdcages on their heads?”
She smiled, halfheartedly. “At least there’s no bird in it.”
“Don’t say that in front of Sesily, or I’ll have to find funds for birdfeed.”
She shook her head. “Papa. I thought we were—”
“You’d be surprised how quickly blunt flows out the door, kitten. Especially when the nobs want you gone.” He reached for her, and she went into the embrace. He smelled of leather and horseflesh, the scent wrapping her in memories of her childhood, when what was right was all that mattered. Jack Talbot had always been larger than life—a hero in every sense. He’d fostered Sophie’s love of books, embraced her desire for more than the aristocracy. And in all her life, he’d never once asked her for help. Perhaps she could have found a way to deny her sisters what they wished, but her father—he hadn’t an ounce of the dramatic in him. And if he was concerned for their future, so, too, was she.
He kissed the top of her head. “I was so proud of you for standing up for your sister. For yourself,” he whispered there. “But now . . . they have us by the bollocks.”
She pulled back, staring into his clear brown eyes. “Haven behaved abominably.”
“And I’d have beaten him blue, love. Don’t you doubt it. But the world was watching you. His world. You embarrassed him in front of it.”
I shall destroy you.
Her brother-in-law’s words, from the Liverpool greenhouse, echoed through her. And she’d taunted him for them.
I’d like to see you try.
He’d done it. Without hesitation. His name and title making him more powerful than they would ever be.
She shook her head. “I didn’t think.”
“You think now,” he said.
Jack Talbot might have been given the Earldom of Wight, but he’d never been given a son, and therefore, his five daughters had no future without marriage. They had no future. Not now that Sophie had ruined it.
She blinked up at her father. “What have I done?”
He offered her a little smile. “You acted rashly, my girl. You defended your sister in the moment without thinking of the long game. And we pay the price.”
She knew what came next before he suggested it. And later, when she faced the dark truth of what she had to do, she would admit her most private secret.
That she’d never in her life wanted anything more.
“How do we survive it?” she asked.
There was a long silence before her father answered. “Eversley.”
Chapter 19
BEYOND THE BEDPOST—CUMBRIA
CASTLE CONFESSIONS!
That night, long after the house quieted, Sophie waited for her thoughts to do the same.
She sat straight up on the edge of her bed, clad in one of Sesily’s dressing gowns, a beautiful grass green satin covered in pearls and feathers, with a matching silk nightdress and slippers.
It was a costume more than anything else—a uniform. She was to use it to do what countless other women had done in similar frocks. Land herself a husband.
And that’s when she knew that something terrible must have happened. Jack Talbot did not hie across Britain with his wife and four daughters for a lark. A sense of wild foreboding threaded through Sophie, and she had the keen realization that this day would be the most important of her life. It was the day she said good-bye to King. And the day that her father changed everything.
Her father looked to the rest of the girls. “Find your rooms, girlies.”
They did as they were told, leaving in a squawking gaggle, along with the countess, to find rooms that were no doubt being aired for the first time in an age. If she weren’t so shocked by her father’s arrival, she would have been amused by the idea of the Duke of Lyne coming face-to-face with the Dangerous Daughters.
Once alone with her father, she asked, “Why are you here, Papa?”
“I came,” he said, “because I can’t take care of this.”
She blinked. “Papa, you know as well as I do, Society will find another thing to loathe in less than a week. It likely has already.”
“But Haven won’t.”
“Haven is an ass,” she said.
“That’s never been more true, kitten, but he’s a duke. He holds the purse strings.”
Her brows snapped together. “You’re Jack Talbot. You’re richer than all of them combined.”
Her father went silent. “Not without them, Sophie. That was the deal I struck for the title your mother wanted so badly. They invest, I mine. And you all become ladies. I can’t make money without the nobs. And you’ve done an excellent job of running them off. Calling Haven a whore did it better than I ever could’ve.”
Fear gripped her at the words. It made sense, of course. Titles weren’t simply doled out, not without requirements. “I thought it was a wager?”
He smiled. “It was. But Prinny made the terms. And I accepted them.”
“They’ve stopped investing?”
“Pulled their funds to a man. Haven took great glee in making it so. I received notice from thirteen of them by sundown after your excitement. The rest came in the morning.” He paused for a long moment before he approached her, and for the first time in her life, she saw Jack Talbot’s age. His worry. “You want your dowry? Your freedom?” He shook his head. “I want to give it to you. But there ain’t no dowry to be had, kitten. I can’t keep your mother and sisters in new clothes and gilded carriages and—” He looked to a nearby table. “Now why in hell do they need birdcages on their heads?”
She smiled, halfheartedly. “At least there’s no bird in it.”
“Don’t say that in front of Sesily, or I’ll have to find funds for birdfeed.”
She shook her head. “Papa. I thought we were—”
“You’d be surprised how quickly blunt flows out the door, kitten. Especially when the nobs want you gone.” He reached for her, and she went into the embrace. He smelled of leather and horseflesh, the scent wrapping her in memories of her childhood, when what was right was all that mattered. Jack Talbot had always been larger than life—a hero in every sense. He’d fostered Sophie’s love of books, embraced her desire for more than the aristocracy. And in all her life, he’d never once asked her for help. Perhaps she could have found a way to deny her sisters what they wished, but her father—he hadn’t an ounce of the dramatic in him. And if he was concerned for their future, so, too, was she.
He kissed the top of her head. “I was so proud of you for standing up for your sister. For yourself,” he whispered there. “But now . . . they have us by the bollocks.”
She pulled back, staring into his clear brown eyes. “Haven behaved abominably.”
“And I’d have beaten him blue, love. Don’t you doubt it. But the world was watching you. His world. You embarrassed him in front of it.”
I shall destroy you.
Her brother-in-law’s words, from the Liverpool greenhouse, echoed through her. And she’d taunted him for them.
I’d like to see you try.
He’d done it. Without hesitation. His name and title making him more powerful than they would ever be.
She shook her head. “I didn’t think.”
“You think now,” he said.
Jack Talbot might have been given the Earldom of Wight, but he’d never been given a son, and therefore, his five daughters had no future without marriage. They had no future. Not now that Sophie had ruined it.
She blinked up at her father. “What have I done?”
He offered her a little smile. “You acted rashly, my girl. You defended your sister in the moment without thinking of the long game. And we pay the price.”
She knew what came next before he suggested it. And later, when she faced the dark truth of what she had to do, she would admit her most private secret.
That she’d never in her life wanted anything more.
“How do we survive it?” she asked.
There was a long silence before her father answered. “Eversley.”
Chapter 19
BEYOND THE BEDPOST—CUMBRIA
CASTLE CONFESSIONS!
That night, long after the house quieted, Sophie waited for her thoughts to do the same.
She sat straight up on the edge of her bed, clad in one of Sesily’s dressing gowns, a beautiful grass green satin covered in pearls and feathers, with a matching silk nightdress and slippers.
It was a costume more than anything else—a uniform. She was to use it to do what countless other women had done in similar frocks. Land herself a husband.
