Courting Miss Vallois Read Online Free PDF Page B

have taken offence. A man in pain often lashes out at those around him, and I would hate to think I had scarred the child I left behind with a callous remark or a thoughtless word.’
    So, that was the reason for his reserve, Sophie reflected. It had nothing to do with the people they were now, but rather with the impression he had made all those years ago. ‘You did nothing wrong, Nicholas,’ she said. ‘Even in the depths of pain, you could not have been more vaillant. And if some of your memories of that time are dim, it is probably not a bad thing. It allows you more room for the good memories. For the ones that are worth remembering.’
    â€˜I’d like to think so.’ He looked at her and a smile trembled over his lips. ‘What about you, Sophie? Have you happy memories of the last three years?’
    Sophie knew that he wanted her to say yes. She could see in his eyes, the hope that her life had not been an ongoing series of struggles and hardships, and perhaps one day she would tell him the truth. But not today. ‘I have many happy memories, but I’m quite sure this is going to be one of the happiest.’

Chapter Three
    â€˜A re you sure I cannot offer you more tea, Sophie?’ Lavinia asked. ‘Or another scone? Cook was most insistent that you try both the orange marmalade and the raspberry jam.’
    â€˜ Merci, non, I have already eaten too much,’ Sophie demurred, sitting back on the loveseat. Nearly an hour had passed since she and her brother had sat down with their hosts in the elegant rose drawing room, and in keeping with the spirit of the day, the formalities had long been dispensed with. ‘If I continue like this, I will not fit into my clothes.’
    â€˜Nonsense, you could do with a little extra weight,’ Lavinia said. ‘Don’t you think so, Nicholas?’
    â€˜I cannot imagine Sophie looking any better than she does.’
    Lavinia’s lips twitched. ‘Spoken like a true diplomat. No wonder you do so well in the House.’
    â€˜It does but pass the time.’ Nicholas set his cup and saucer on the table. ‘But now that we’ve all had a chanceto become better acquainted, I think our guests would like to know why they are here. It isn’t every day a stranger from one’s past invites you to come to London.’
    â€˜Especially when that stranger happens to be a member of the English aristocracy and an intelligence agent for the British government,’ Antoine added. ‘ Former intelligence agent,’ Nicholas said. ‘I am happy to say those days are behind me. But it does bring me to the reason for my invitation, the first and foremost being to thank you properly for having saved my life. Without your discretion and most excellent care, I would certainly have died. A man doesn’t forget something like that and because I am in a position to repay you, it is my sincere hope that you will allow me to do so.’
    â€˜But there is nothing to repay,’ Sophie said. ‘We did what anyone would have done under the circumstances.’
    â€˜On the contrary, given the political instability of the time, finding an Englishman shot and left for dead should have raised any number of questions. You asked none.’
    Antoine shrugged. ‘By your own admission, you had no answers to give.’
    â€˜But you must have wondered.’
    â€˜ Bien sûr. But at the time I was more concerned with keeping you alive than with trying to find out why you had been shot.’
    â€˜And therein lies the difference, Antoine.’ Nicholas got to his feet. ‘Where others would have waited until they knew why I had been shot, you went ahead and removed the bullet regardless. That is the mark of an honourable man.’
    Sophie had no need to look at her brother to know that he would be uncomfortable with the praises beingheaped upon him. Whatever services he had rendered had stemmed from a