‘There is a reason why woman shouldn’t involve themselves in men’s business,’ he said scathingly, letting go of her and looking as though he was contemplating kicking her prostrate form in retaliation for the damage to his face.
Before Purvis could lift his foot far from the ground, Sophia’s hand grabbed his raised ankle and tugged hard. Taken by surprise, he fell to the floor and seconds later Sophia was on her feet with a poker in her hand. Ross expected her to hesitate but she proved him wrong by bringing it down hard across the back of Purvis’s skull. A sound of cracking bone reached Ross’s ears seconds before Ewan pounced on him. The bigger man had superior strength on his side but clearly reckoned without a few of the dirty tricks that Ross had learned of necessity in order to survive the brutal times in America. He no longer fought like a gentleman and had no compunction in bringing his knee up with all the force he could muster into Ewan’s groin.
Ewan looked at him with an expression of total shock, released his hold on Ross and slowly crumpled to the ground, kneeling with both hands clutching his genitals and swearing fit to turn the air blue. Ross was taking no chances. Without giving his foe the opportunity to recover, he took the poker from Sophia’s slack hand and struck Ewan’s upper arm with it. He heard the bone break and saw the arm bend out of shape. Stepping forward, Ross put his foot onto Ewan’s chest and flung him backwards to the floor, where his head struck the floorboards hard, knocking him senseless.
He would be going nowhere.
‘Are you all right?’ he asked, turning to Sophia.
‘Have I killed him?’ she asked at the same time, glancing down at Purvis as the blood pooled beneath his head.
‘I very much hope so,’ Ross replied, taking her in his arms before she collapsed.
Chapter Nineteen
A lot had happened in the two weeks following the events in Wapping. Sophia still felt dazed and disassociated when she thought back to the small cottage, remembering how it had swarmed with the local constabulary when they had been summoned to take Purvis and McIntyre into custody. Neither man was dead, but Ross assured Sophia that the hangman would soon rectify that situation.
Ross’s man Tanner had been struck over the back of the head and they found him unconscious in the scullery. Of the coachman there was no sign. Presumably, he had either been told not to return until summoned or had decided that he wanted nothing to do with the abduction of a young woman.
Sophia had visited Maria the following day, this time taking Phyllis with her. She had explained to her sister about Purvis’s double personality and told her that he was now in custody awaiting trial for Andrew’s murder. Maria had sobbed; not for Purvis, Sophia sensed, but for the death of her own ambitions. She was pregnant with a dead man’s child and no longer had a knight in shining armour waiting in the wings to restore her reputation. She refused point blank to believe Purvis capable of murder, but that night she went into premature labour, no doubt brought on by the shock, and gave birth to a stillborn son.
She had returned to their home in Hampshire as soon as she was well enough to travel, and Sophia had felt duty bound to go with her. Maria was not herself and had become introspective. She didn’t even bother to make her normal superior remarks to Sophia, and the sisters existed in a state of uneasy harmony.
Sophia had seen nothing of Ross. She knew that he was occupied with the authorities, giving statements and making sure that the law took its course. Given that Maria’s indiscretion was indirectly responsible for his brother’s death, she would be surprised if he ever wanted to see her again.
She knew that Emily had returned to Ravenscroft, but had seen nothing of her either. As far as she was aware, Ross was still in town. Listless, restless and discontent, Sophia wondered if he was avoiding Hampshire because he knew that she and Maria were in residence. She wouldn’t blame him if that was the case. She had fallen in love with him, but that was her guilty secret to bear in solitude. She still had her pride, if precious little else to fall back on, and would no doubt recover her spirits given time.
The weather remained cold, and the snow settled. It might be inconvenient but Sophia adored the conditions and spent a lot of time outside, wandering along the frosty paths that the gardener had cleared in their grounds. She glanced at the hills beyond and thought wistfully of the toboggan ride that Ross had promised her. Yet another fantasy that would never come to fruition.
She sensed a presence behind her. Supposing it to be the gardener looking for instructions, she turned to find herself confronted by the solidity of Ross’s body. She gasped, wondering for a moment if she was hallucinating. She had been thinking about him, and now here he was—strong, robust and so very endearing. Definitely not a figment of her imagination.
‘What are you doing here?’ Her anxiety caused her to speak more acerbically than had been her intention.
‘Looking for you, of course. I assumed I would find you outside, so I came here first.’ He smiled at her in an intimate manner than made her melt with desire. She knew it was unwise to allow her emotions free rein. He had probably only come to tell her how things had gone in London and when the trials were to take place. She could of course have gleaned that intelligence from the newspapers, but assumed he was being considerate. ‘How are you? I hope you have recovered from your ordeal.’
‘Perfectly so. In fact, in retrospect, I rather enjoyed getting the better of Purvis.’ She smiled and tilted her head back to look at a clear sky that was currently free from the threat of more snow. ‘He definitely intended to marry my sister, you know. He was obsessed with her, but he also intended to punish her for her indiscretion with Andrew for the rest of her days.’ She frowned up at him as they strolled along the path side by side, his heavier tread crunching over the frosty ground. ‘How is it possible to love someone as comprehensively as he loves Maria and yet at the same time be so unkind?’ she asked, frowning up at him.
‘That isn’t love, it’s possessiveness. He’s been talking a lot to his lawyer since his incarceration. Seems he’s been underestimated for his entire life, for which the lion’s share of the blame must rest with his parents. His mother in particular tried to dominate him to avoid him becoming a mirror image of his father, and by the time he realised how…well, dominant she was, the pattern had been set and he found it easier to pretend compliance. I think even she was shocked when the truth about him surfaced.’
‘How else could she react, even if she did suspect the truth? She will be mortified when society turns its judgemental back on her.’
‘Lady Purvis is throwing money at his defence, claiming that he was influenced by Ewan, but it won’t save him from the gallows, I’m afraid. I would have something to say on the matter if it did, given the way he treated you.’
She flashed a mischievous smile as she tamped down the terror that swept through her when she recalled her skirmish with Purvis. He had been an evil and determined adversary. ‘Ah, but he underestimated me.’
‘That he did, my love.’ He looked down at her with admiration in his gaze. ‘When he held you in front of him and I couldn’t get to you, I died a little inside.’ Ross shook his head. ‘I was a fool to fall for Ewan’s ruse—but in my own defence I was so desperate to rescue you that I wasn’t thinking straight.’
‘Don’t be so hard on yourself. He was your friend. Of course you gave him the benefit of the doubt.’
‘He claims he arranged those fights to satisfy a need within the wilder echelons of the ton. He’s naming names, but the gentlemen are closing ranks and denying all knowledge.’
‘Blake and Swinton?’
‘Have taken themselves off to their families’ estates and are keeping their heads down. He won’t get any help from that quarter.’
‘What of Greenacre?’
‘He’s still missing. Ewan says he was involved, but if he has any sense he will have taken himself somewhere beyond English justice.’
‘Why did your friend do it?’
‘Hi
s family are in dire financial straits and he didn’t want to see their estate forfeited. Well, that and a desire to prove himself invincible. Looking back, he’s always been a little arrogant, but then we all were in our younger days. Born into privileged positions, we thought we were invincible and that we could rule the world.’
‘Well, at least Emily wasn’t involved in the plot to kill Andrew. That’s something, I suppose.’
‘Emily is going to live with her daughters permanently in town. It’s what she would prefer and I have agreed to provide her with a house and sufficient funds to run it. It will suit me better not to have her here at Ravenscroft under my future duchess’s feet. She still insists that she has had nothing to do with Greenacre.’
‘Then who was the man she met outside Miss Courtney’s ball?’
Ross shrugged. ‘Almost certainly Greenacre, but she will never make that admission.’
‘And your duchess, who is she?’ Sophia’s heart quailed as she belatedly realised what he had come to tell her. He had decided upon a future wife which, she had to admit, was fast work on his part. But he wouldn’t have lacked for suitable candidates, and a lot can be achieved in two weeks. ‘Congratulations. I must have missed the announcement in the newspapers.’ She refused to admit that she studied said announcements avidly every day, dreading that she would see his name. ‘Am I acquainted with the lady?’
‘You silly fool!’ He stopped walking, turned towards her and pulled her into his arms. She collided breathlessly against his chest. ‘How can you suppose, even for a moment, that I would consider marrying anyone other than you?’
‘Me?’ Sophia was genuinely astounded and widened her eyes as she looked up at him. ‘Are you absolutely sure that would be a good idea?’
‘If I’d had any doubt, those doubts fled when I saw the damage you had inflicted to Purvis’s face. That could so easily have been you, and I would have spent the rest of my days consumed by guilt. It took almost losing you to realise what I had and I don’t have the slightest intention of letting you escape me. I am desperately in love with you, you see. I have been in turmoil ever since I realised it and will remain so until I have your answer.’
‘Now that you are assured of Maria’s innocence, at least insofar as Andrew’s death is concerned, I suppose there’s nothing holding you back.’
‘Stubborn female! Do you suppose I would have allowed that to stand in my way? I have wanted to come down before now and declare myself. Every day I was detained in town was torment but I am here now and about to go down on one knee.’
‘Don’t do that, your fine tailoring will get soaked.’
‘It couldn’t matter less.’ Her strong, decisive duke looked endearingly unsure of himself. ‘All I care about is hearing your answer.’
‘Well, I might agree to marry you, but for one small matter.’
‘Name it,’ he replied without hesitation.
She glanced at the snowy hills. ‘You promised me a toboggan ride and have yet to make good on that promise.’
He laughed, relief writ large across his rugged features. ‘That can be easily arranged.’
‘Well then.’ She stood on her toes, wrapped her arms around his neck and gently kissed his lips. ‘In that case…I had thought that a lasting connection between us would be impossible. Not just because you are a duke and I am unimportant.’ Ross harrumphed. ‘But also because Emily might have had a hand in Andrew’s death. Now that would be far more scandalous than you marrying beneath yourself.’
‘Neither Emily nor Maria have behaved well, but they are no murderesses.’
‘Hmm.’ She mangled her lower lip between her teeth and smiled mischievously up at him, enjoying tormenting him a little. ‘I do rather love you, as it happens, even if you have left me here in a state of limbo for two long weeks. I thought you had forgotten all about me and I have been trying to tell myself that it would be for the best if you had.’
His smile was both triumphant and predatory as he claimed her lips in a drugging kiss, then lifted her from the ground and swirled her in a circle. He lost his footing and they tumbled together into a pile of soft snow, laughing and kissing. Sophia scrambled to her feet first, bent to mould a snowball in her hands and hurled it at him, hitting him directly in the centre of his chest, laughing at his shocked expression. Presumably, one did not hurl snowballs at a duke as a general rule, but then Sophia had never been much of one for obeying rules.
She squealed and hid behind a tree when Ross gathered up his own ammunition. She glanced back at the house and saw Maria staring out the window at their antics, her features pinched with envy. Sophia smiled at her, ducking just in time to avoid the snowball thrown at her and then returned to the comfort of Ross’s arms. They closed around her possessively and she forgot all about jealous sisters and vengeful duchesses. She and Ross had survived a murderous plot, and she was sure that together they would overcome any other obstacles placed in their path.
She glanced up at him, slipped her hand into his and smiled. Her misgivings about her suitability as a duchess fell away as she absorbed the full force of his love for her. Something that felt so right couldn’t possibly be wrong.
The End
About the Author
Hi, I do hope you enjoyed A Duke in Turmoil. If so, please take a moment to leave a review on Amazon. I’d love to hear what you thought of this particular novel – what you enjoyed most about it and what you didn’t like. Constructive criticism is always welcome.
Reach me at [email protected]
I’m a British author, brought up on the Isle of Wight, but now live in Andorra. I share my life with my long-suffering husband and until recently, a rescued dog of indeterminate pedigree named Jake Bentley after the hero in one of my books. Both Jakes are/were handsome mongrels with independent spirits and wild streaks.
I’ve had over one hundred books published, ranging from Regency romance, (my first love), to contemporary women’s fiction and marine crime mysteries.
When not writing I walk miles, make half-hearted attempts to retain flexibility by attending yoga classes, read other people’s tomes…oh, and I’m on a one woman mission to keep the wine trade profitable!
Check out all of my books, and learn more about me from my website: http:www.wendysoliman.com
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Also available from this Author
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A Reason to Rebel
Forgotten Heiress
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At the Duke’s Discretion
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Acting for the Duke
Emulating the Duke
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Dedicated to the Duke
Impugning the Duke’s Honour
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A Duke in Turmoil: Dangerous Dukes Vol 9 Page 24