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Sophia muttered her answer in resentment. “Useful direction, I suppose.”
Lily’s face lit up, her customary enthusiasm restored. “Perfect! Now you should go home and ask him about the note.”
When she returned home from visiting her unsympathetic cousin, Sophia found Richard dispatching letters with his quill in hand. Smoothing her skirts with fluttering hands, she approached the desk and waited for him to complete the letter he was writing. Once he was done, his head came up, and he flinched in surprise.
“How long have you been standing there?”
“Just a few moments. You appear to be tired.”
“I have had little sleep since we married. I must find the source of this threat. With your safety, and Ethan’s, at risk, this cannot continue.”
“Yes, that is why I am here. This morning you admitted that this is a campaign, and I asked you if there was anything else I needed to know.”
“I remember.”
“Why did you not tell me about the note?”
“Which note?”
“I do not know which note! That is the point! You did not tell me about the note I overheard you discussing with Perry the day we went to see the pelicans in St. James’s Park with Ethan.”
Richard’s face was blank for a moment, then his hand went to his pocket. “That note. I would have told you about it this morning, but so much happened in the past few days it slipped my mind. It was not intentional, I assure you!”
“It was intentional not to inform me of it when you received it!”
Richard lowered his gaze. “I apologize for that. Halmesbury warned me it was not well done of me.”
“So you spoke with Halmesbury about the note—and Perry—but you did not see fit to inform me of it?”
“I wanted to spare you the worry.”
“Is that the full story?”
Richard’s cheeks turned a ruddy shade. “And I am ashamed I have caused this situation … and the contents of the note.”
“Let me see the note, then.”
Richard patted at his pockets. “I do not have it on me. I must have left it in my clothes, so Shaw will have it somewhere. Perhaps it is in my dressing table in my chambers.”
Sophia huffed in irritation. The walk up to their chambers was interminable in this gigantic house, and she was too impatient to make the journey. “Well, tell me about it, then. Where did it come from?”
“Shaw found it in my coat after we returned from the Lawson musicale. Someone snuck it into my pocket when I was collecting refreshments.”
Sophia blanched, her legs trembling as she reached for a seat and sank down. That night had been so special to her, yet he had kept a secret, hiding the truth from her. The realization cast a shadow over the memories of their time together after the musicale. Her voice was quiet but filled with hurt as she asked, “You … shared … my bed that night, all while knowing about the note?”
Richard’s consternation was mollifying. “No! I did not know about it then. Shaw gave it to me the following morning.”
Sophia drew a deep, fortifying breath in her relief. “What did it say?”
“It threatened to harm someone I love.”
“Me?”
“Or Ethan. The caricature of all my supposed children confirmed the scoundrel was aware of him, too.”
Sophia felt empathy for her husband’s plight. Since the day of their wedding, he had been grappling with one upheaval after another while knowing there was a hidden enemy planning the next disaster.
Richard cleared his throat, causing Sophia to tense. It appeared another downturn was to be announced, from the expression of discomfort on his face. “Which is why I have reached a decision to send you and Ethan to Saunton Park until this danger has passed.”
