“You will be gone by morning,” Araminta said in a low voice. “I don’t ever want to see your face again.”

Sophie started to make her way to the door.

“But not,” Araminta said, planting the heel of her hand against Sophie’s shoulder, “until you finish the job I have assigned you.”

“It will take me until morning just to finish,” Sophie protested.

“That is your problem, not mine.” And with that, Araminta slammed the door shut, turning the lock with a very loud click.

Sophie stared down at the flickering candle she’d brought in to help illuminate the long, dark closet. There was no way the  wick would last until morning.

And there was no way—absolutely no way in hell—that she was going to polish the rest of Araminta’s shoes.

Sophie sat down on the floor, arms crossed and legs crossed, and stared at the candle flame until her eyes crossed, too. When the sun rose tomorrow, her life would be forever altered. Penwood House might not have been terribly welcoming, but at least it was safe.

She had almost no money. She hadn’t received so much as a farthing from Araminta in the past seven years. Luckily, she still had a bit of the pin money she’d received when her father had been alive and she’d been treated as his ward, not his wife’s slave. There had been many opportunities to spend it, but Sophie had always known that this day might come, and it had seemed prudent to hold on to what little funds she possessed.

But her paltry few pounds wasn’t going to get her very far. She needed a ticket out of London, and that cost money. Probably well over half what she had saved. She supposed she could stay in town for a bit, but the London slums were duly and dangerous, and Sophie knew that her budget would not place her in any of the better neighborhoods. Besides, if she were going to be on her own, she might as well return to the countryside she loved.

Not to mention that Benedict Bridgerton was here. London was a large city, and Sophie had no doubt that she could successfully avoid him for years, but she was desperately afraid that she wouldn’t want to avoid him, that she’d find herself gazing at his house, hoping for the merest of glimpses as he came through the front door.

And if he saw her... Well, Sophie didn’t know what would happen. He might be furious at her deception. He might want to make her his mistress. He might not recognize her at all.

The only thing she was certain he would not do was to throw himself at her feet, declare his undying devotion, and demand her hand in marriage.

Sons of viscounts did not marry baseborn nobodies. Not even in romantic novels.

No, she’d have to leave London. Keep herself far from temptation. But she’d need more money, enough to keep her going until she found employment. Enough to—

Sophie’s eyes fell on something sparkly—a pan” of shoes tucked away in the corner. Except she’d cleaned those shoes just an hour earlier, and she knew that those sparklies weren’t the shoes but a pair of jeweled shoe clips, easily detachable and small enough to fit in her pocket.

Did she dare?

She thought about all the money that Araminta had received for her upkeep, money Araminta had never seen fit to share.

She thought about all those years she’d toiled as a lady’s maid, without drawing a single wage.

She thought about her conscience, then quickly squelched it. In times like these, she didn’t have room for a conscience.

She took the shoe clips.

And then, several hours later when Posy came (against her mother’s wishes) and let her out, she packed up all of her belongings and left.

Much to her surprise, she didn’t look back.

Chapter 6

It has now been three years since any of the Bridgerton siblings have wed, and Lady Bridgerton has been  heard to declare on several occasions that she is nearing her wit’s end. Benedict has not taken a bride (and  it is the opinion of This Author that as he has attained the age of thirty, he is far past due), and neither has Colin, although he may be forgiven his tardiness, since he is, after all, merely six-and-twenty.

The dowager viscountess also has two girls about which she must worry. Eloise is nearly one-and-twenty and although she has received several proposals, she has shown no inclination to marry. Francesca is nearly twenty (the girls quite coincidentally share a birthday), and she, too, seems more interested in the season than she  does in marriage.

This Author feels that Lady Bridgerton does not need to worry. It is inconceivable that any of the Bridgertons might not eventually make an acceptable match, and besides, her two married children have already given  her a total of jive grandchildren, and surely that is her heart’s desire.

LADY WHISTLEDOWN’S SOCIETY PAPERS, 30 APRIL 1817

Alcohol and cheroots. Card games and lots of hired women. It was just the sort of party Benedict Bridgerton would have enjoyed immensely when he was fresh out of university.

Now he was just bored.

He wasn’t even certain why he’d agreed to attend. More boredom, he supposed. The London season of 1817 had thus far been a repeat of the previous year, and he hadn’t found 1816 terribly scintillating to begin with. To do the whole thing over again was beyond banal.

He didn’t even really know his host, one Phillip Cavender. It was one of those friend of a friend of a friend situations, and now Benedict was fervently wishing he’d remained in London. He’d just gotten over a blistering head cold, and he should have used that as an excuse to cry off, but his friend—whom he hadn’t even seen in the past four hours— had prodded and cajoled, and finally Benedict had given in. Now he heartily regretted it.