Peering over the banister at the top of his head, she heard him ask Travers if Sir Edward would see him. The servant disappeared while Gorange checked his cravat in the mirror, a satisfied smile on his face. Travers came back and conducted him into the library and shut the door. Sophie went back to her room and waited. A little later she was sent for. ‘Lord Gorange has asked to speak to you,’ her father told her, after she had frostily replied to his lordship’s greeting. ‘Do you wish to hear him?’ ‘No, Papa, I do not. I wish him to go away.’ Her father turned to the peer. ‘Then, I am afraid, my lord, you have my daughter’s answer.’ His lordship stared from one to the other. ‘Miss Cavenhurst’s reputation will be sullied by this refusal not to allow me even the courtesy of a hearing,’ he said pompously. ‘I think not. If any word of scandal reaches me, I shall be obliged to make known the vile wager you made and the tactics you have used to win it.
