Page 23 of My Devoted Viscount (Brazen Bluestockings #2)

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Mr. Huntley was indeed making his way toward them, with Lord Fairfax at his side. Like Sophia, they had elected to leave their hats in the house, and the wind tousled their hair.

“Good afternoon, ladies!” Mr. Huntley called.

Fairfax reached up as if to tip the hat he was not currently wearing, then abruptly dropped his hand and nodded to them instead.

When they were within speaking distance, the men exchanged polite greetings with each of them, including Sophia, as if they had not just spent over two hours in each other’s company.

Sophia fought the urge to clench her teeth.

She had not yet even had a chance to discuss the contraband in the cave and the danger it represented to Mildred.

She did not know if Theo was aware of this recent development, and now they couldn’t very well discuss it with the men present.

Even if Fairfax had the power to make her stomach flutter and his voice tended to wash over her like a soothing caress.

She realized she had lost track of the conversation again when she heard Huntley saying their farewell.

“We did not mean to intrude on your tête-à-tête,” Fairfax added. “We have been reminiscing today, and realized it has been years since we explored the tunnel together.” He gestured at the cave.

Sophia’s breath caught in her chest. She stared at Mildred, trying not to let her panic show on her face.

“What a lovely idea!” Theo exclaimed. “I have been meaning to go into the tunnel to see if this fossil is visible on the other side. Did you by chance bring torches?”

Before Sophia could strangle her friend, Mildred caught her eye and gave her a subtle nod and encouraging smile. Everything would be all right. “Ooh, what a lovely idea,” Mildred said. “May we join you?”

How? How could everything possibly be all right?

“We did indeed bring torches.” Fairfax furrowed his brow in puzzlement. “You want to leave the beach on this beautiful, sunny day to venture into a dark cave?”

Mildred tucked her arm through Mr. Huntley’s and looked up to gaze adoringly at him. “I am sure we will be safe with you. And I confess to some curiosity as to what is in the tunnel beyond the sunlight.”

Sophia admired afresh the girl’s acting ability. If things became desperate, Mildred could probably support herself from gambling or treading the boards.

They paused at the entrance of the cave long enough to light the two torches the men had brought. Fairfax led the way with the first torch, Sophia on his heels. Then came Mr. Huntley with the second torch, now holding hands with Mildred, and Theo right behind them.

Should she take Fairfax’s arm again, and distract him from going into the cave where Mildred had been sleeping? Should she allow him to discover the cavern full of contraband? What had Mildred been trying to tell her with that nod and smile?

As though he had been heading straight for it, Fairfax’s steps led them directly to the cave where only a few hours ago Mildred had her blanket and valise.

They were not there.

Instead, there was only the scrap of blanket on the outcropping, just as it had been when Sophia first saw it.

“Hullo, old friends,” Fairfax said, so softly Sophia barely heard him, as he pushed the blanket aside and picked up the two toy soldiers.

Huntley raised his torch higher and stepped close. “How did you know those were here?” He took the soldier with the rifle from Fairfax’s hand and examined it from all angles.

“I had forgotten about them until recently. I must have left them here when I was ten or eleven. My first few visits to Aunt Gert, I played in here for hours at a time if the weather was too stormy to play on the beach.” He took the soldier back from Huntley and tucked both of them in his coat pocket, leaving the blanket behind.

Sophia took the chance to look around the cavern.

She would never have guessed that until this morning somebody had been living in here for over a week.

Making sure she had Mildred’s attention, Sophia gave her a subtle nod of approval.

What had she done with her things? Probably hid them among the rocks by the bluff.

Mr. Huntley stepped back out into the tunnel. “Let us see what else is down here.” He and Mildred took the lead, followed by Theo.

Fairfax offered Sophia his arm. She accepted it with mixed emotions.

She enjoyed the contact, reveling in the feel of his fine woolen coat and the firm muscles of his arm beneath, yet worried she might give something away by her trembling.

Perhaps he would simply attribute it to nerves from being in a cave.

They peeked into one cavern after another, even those where rocks had tumbled down and partially blocked the entrance, seeing nothing of note.

Sophia’s nerves stretched taut as finally they approached the cavern with the contraband.

She struggled to keep her breathing even and not clench her hand on Fairfax’s arm.

“What in blazes?” Mr. Huntley held his torch high as he stared at the crates, casks, and sacks of goods.

Mildred gasped and held her hand to her mouth, her eyes suitably wide in shock. Theo raised her eyebrows and also let out a gasp.

“What the hell is all this?” Fairfax demanded, too shocked at the sight to apologize for swearing in front of women or perhaps even notice he had done so. He stalked down the narrow aisles, needing to turn sideways here and there to fit, reading the labels.

“Oh my,” Sophia quietly said, more out of awe in watching and listening to Fairfax than pretending shock at the contents of the cave.

“Is this not part of the household stores for Mrs. Digby? I think we’re close to the house by now.” Mildred batted her lashes as she looked at Fairfax.

“It most certainly is not.” He held the torch aloft with one hand, the other fisted and propped on his hip. Instead of echoing off the walls as they had in the empty caves, their voices were swallowed up, disappearing into the space that now felt impossibly small and full.

“Do you remember when Aunt Gertrude would tell us stories about how smugglers used to use these caves?” Mr. Huntley said. “I thought she was simply entertaining boys with tales by the fire on a cold winter’s night, but perhaps she was telling us the truth all along.”

“Actual smugglers?” Theo managed a squeak and looked genuinely startled, but surely Mildred had earlier told her what they would find in this cave.

“When do you think they might come back?” The slight edge of fear Sophia allowed in her voice was no affectation or artifice.

“No telling.” Fairfax shifted his gaze from glaring at the goods to the three ladies.

“We’re getting the hell out of here. Right now.

” He grabbed Sophia’s hand in a firm grip and towed her out to the tunnel, barely sparing a glance over his shoulder to see that the other three followed, and did not let go of her even when they emerged into the sunlight on the beach.

Neither of them was wearing gloves. His hand was warm, his grip firm but not painfully so, and Sophia felt no inclination to disentangle her fingers from his. Mr. Huntley and Mildred stepped out, arm in arm. Theo gave them all a quick glance and ducked her chin to hide her smile.

Both men doused their torches in the sand and leaned them against the wall just inside the tunnel.

“What now? Do we send for the magistrate?” Free of the torch, Mr. Huntley patted Mildred’s hand where it rested on his forearm.

“I need to think.” Fairfax plowed his fingers through his long, black hair.

Sophia felt the urge to do the same. To his hair, not hers.

“Should we tell Aunt Gertrude?”

Fairfax inhaled a deep breath and let it out through his mouth, letting his cheeks puff. “I’m not sure. She seemed to enjoy herself in Sidmouth, but something feels off with her today.”

“This morning we were writing about April of 1775, when Captain Digby was garrisoned near Boston,” Sophia quietly volunteered.

Fairfax glanced down at her, frowning in puzzlement. Then his expression cleared and his eyes widened. “Oh, hell.”

Three “hells” in the space of under an hour, when she couldn’t recall him uttering the word before at all? Fairfax must indeed be concerned. And if he was concerned, Sophia’s anxiety ratcheted up even further.

“What happened near Boston that spring?” Mildred’s innocent look glanced between Sophia and Fairfax.

Fairfax pursed his lips, as though debating how much to say. “One of the first battles in the war with the colonies. Uncle Digby suffered a minor injury, but the officer beside him took a musket ball to the chest.”

Theo and Mildred both gasped. Mr. Huntley put his arm around Mildred’s shoulders, giving her a gentle squeeze when Mildred’s face turned green and she looked to be in danger of casting up her accounts.

Sophia had felt the same reaction as Mildred when Mrs. Digby read her journal entry this morning.

She’d kept her head down, staring intently at her writing so as not to reveal her shock.

Afterward she distracted herself from the horrors of war with her anxiety over the smuggled goods and the danger this new development presented to Mildred.

“May I suggest we move away from the tunnel entrance?” Sophia pointed toward Theo’s work area. “We can continue our conversation over there.”

Fairfax held onto her hand until he took out a handkerchief to dust off a rock for her to sit on, then he perched on another rock nearby. Mr. Huntley did the same for Mildred. Theo pursed her lips to hide a smile as she took a seat on her small stool, her basket of work tools at her feet.

Sophia felt torn between appreciating Fairfax’s gesture, and missing the comforting strength of his hand holding hers.

Fairfax gestured at the basket of tools. “Miss Burrell, do you come down here often?”

Theo nodded. “I’ve been working on excavating this fossil almost every day that it hasn’t been raining, since I came home after the Academy closed.”