Free Emily French by Illusion Page B

bought.
    She nodded. “Er... yes, I did.”
    He curled his palms around the neck of the glass in front of him. Smiled at her, the merest slant of his mouth. The smile of a beast hot on the scent of its prey. “Well, how did the visit go?”
    Sophy recalled Madame Bertine’s sage advice on love, sex and marriage. Her eyes lit up. “It was... interesting.”
    Uncle Heinrich gave a deep sigh, which seemed to come from the very depths of his being. Twin blue flames glittered in Seth’s eyes. Pieter ran his eye swiftly over Seth’s face, and raised his eyebrows. Bernard rolled his eyes as he pursued with his tongue an errant drop of cream that was rolling down his chin.
    “I see. Do you intend going there again?” His words were level, but his eyes spoke a different message. They were accusing, questioning, as if in some way she had hurt him.
    Sophy’s ringlets vibrated. She looked enormously pleased as the affirmation issued from her lips. “Oh, yes. I have another appointment for the day after tomorrow.”
    “Perhaps you would like me to accompany you?” There was a lazy, taunting quality in Seth’s voice. He took a sip of his wine. “As your husband, it is proper that I share your... interests. Will you take me along on your next visit?”
    Without hesitation, Sophy shook her head, her voice warm and earnest. “Oh, no. No. I couldn’t do that. I don’t think you would be interested in what I have planned.”
    The moment she had spoken she realized that she had made a foolish admission that might lead him to suppose that something less innocent than concocting a new wardrobe was on the agenda.
    But he only shrugged and remarked, “Of course. No interference in your projects, no comments even, isn’t that what we agreed?” Seth spoke smoothly, covering his anger. His hands clung to the wineglass as to a lifeline. Not where he’d like them to be—around his wife’s neck.
    “It’s not that!” Sophy’s heart was pounding, but her face showed nothing of her inward agitation as she quickly retrieved her error. “This is simply a private arrangement between ... friends.”
    Pieter suddenly threw back his head and laughed. “It is good to know marriage has not changed you, Cousin.” Turning to Seth, he declared, “Sophy is incorrigible. I see you have your hands full already, Cousin Seth.”
    Any other time Sophy would have been furious with Pieter. Now, she took a firm hold on her temper. She knew her cousin was being deliberately provocative. He could never resist an opportunity to stir up a promising dispute. Her little chin went up and her eyes flashed.
    “Pieter, you will mind your business. As for you, Seth, there is no need to storm and bluster at the dinner table. It is neither the time nor the place to discuss my private affairs.”
    “You are right, Sophy. It is discourteous to our guests. We will discuss your ‘private affairs’ later.”
    Uncle Heinrich pounced on this break in the conversation with alacrity “An infusion of funds from war bonds to industry will get profits leaping again, Seth. Don’t you agree?”
    “I hope there will not be too many points on which we do not agree, sir. Would you like some more dessert, Bernard?”
    “Capital. I don’t mind if I do.”
    Sophy allowed herself to breathe a great sigh of relief.
     
    “Your coffee, sir.”
    The valet entered the room bearing a small silver tray on which rested a white china cup and saucer.
    Seth gratefully accepted the proffered cup and sipped the steaming, deep brown liquid. After all the wine he had drunk at dinner, he was inordinately thirsty.
    He lounged in a tufted leather wing chair, the cup loosely held in one hand. With the other he absently rubbed his injured leg. A glass of fine Madeira stood on the table beside him.
    “Anything more, sir?”
    “That will be all. Thank you, Ned.”
    As Seth dismissed his valet, his mind raced over the day’s events, the frustration and the dilemma of Sophy, his wife. His