“How is this possible? You were not hidden in the shop, I assume!”
“No, I was not. But I called in Brook Street on my way home yesterday and saw Miss Wraxton.” He hesitated, and again looked across at his cousin. “You must understand that Miss Wraxton felt it to be her duty to tell me that she feared you might be in some difficulty! She was in Rundell and Bridge’s with Lady Brinklow when you were transacting this sale. It appears that Bridge had not properly closed the door into his office; Miss Wraxton recognized your voice, and could not help but overhear something you said to Bridge.”
Her hand, which was lying on the back of a chair, closed tightly on the polished wood, but relaxed again after a moment. She said, in a voice from which all emotion had been banished, “There is no end to Miss Wraxton’s solicitude. How very obliging of her to have interested herself in my affairs! I expect it was delicacy that forbade her to speak to me rather than to you.”
He flushed. “You must remember that I am betrothed to Miss Wraxton. In the circumstances, she thought it her duty to mention the matter to me. She felt that she did not stand upon such terms with you as could make it possible for her to ask you for an explanation.”
“Well, that is certainly true,” said Sophy. “Neither of you, my dear Cousin, stands upon such terms with me! And if you have any notion of asking me for an explanation of anything I choose to do, let me tell you that you may go to the devil!”
He smiled. “Then perhaps it is as well that Eugenia did not venture to address you on this head, for she would have been much shocked at being told to go to the devil. Do you always talk like your father when you lose your temper, Sophy?”
“No, not invariably. I beg your pardon! But it was quite intolerable!”
“I daresay, but I should not have asked you for an explanation had you not sought this interview.”
“You should have paid no heed to Miss Wraxton! As for repurchasing my earrings, good God, what a fix you have placed me in!”
As she spoke, the door opened behind her, and Hubert came into the room. He was looking extremely white, but perfectly determined, and he said jerkily, “I beg pardon, but I have been wanting to speak to you all day, Sophy, and — and to Charles! So I have come!”