“Is it, Your Ladyship?” He didn’t turn his head, but his eyes flicked sideways to where Sophia stood in his periphery.

Her cheeks warmed. “Yes. Thank you, James.”

He hesitated a second before nodding sharply.

And then he walked away, shoulders stiff and back straight, but without another glance in her direction. Vic stood rooted to the spot until he turned the corner. Then she burst out laughing.

“Vic?”

She turned toward Sophia but could barely see her through the tears forming there.

“Are you okay?”

She tried to nod, but her head fell to her chest as her shoulders shook with giggles so strong they nearly strangled her.

“This is funny?”

“Yes,” she finally managed between gasps of laughter. “I know, I know it shouldn’t be, but oh, poor James, he’s quite scandalised right now.”

Sophia finally cracked a smile. “He did an admirable job of hiding it.”

“No.” She shook her head forcefully. “You just don’t know him very well.”

“I’m not sorry about that, honestly. Does he always speak to you that way?”

“What way?”

“Like you’re . . . you’re, I don’t even know.”

“A disappointment? Beneath him? An utter dead end to a once mighty lineage?”

“Yes.”

“Then yes, yes he does.”

“Why do you allow it? Doesn’t he work for you?”

“He works for my father, technically, but honestly he’s much more closely aligned with my mother. He’s never aligned with me even in the moments when he reports to me.”

“Okay, fine, and trust me, I can’t believe I’m about to try to make a noblewoman snobbier, but he does report to you right now?”

“I suppose.”

“And he just spoke to you like you were a distasteful nuisance?”

She cupped Sophia’s face in her hands. “Can I say how much I adore how confusing you find this?”

Sophia rolled her eyes.

“That sort of disdain is a simple fact of my life. We’ve already covered that my title may cease to exist, and many people want that for good reasons around class and power. Others want my home taken from me because they see it as a way for them to make money. Then there’s another set of people who want it taken from me because they find me unworthy of holding it.”

“Because you’re a woman, or because you’re a lesbian?”