It wasn’t that she hadn’t noticed the woman’s beauty. She’d have to be blind not to, but her affect had been forced, her appeal cool and detached in a business sort of way. The demeanour came from privilege and practice, and even Sophia could project similar bearing with the right makeup and lighting. As someone who had cultivated the look for herself, she generally had no trouble seeing through it in others, but for those transforming seconds, Vic shattered the façade and revealed something so perfectly genuine Sophia couldn’t even breathe deeply.

She had the presence of mind to realize this strong a reaction was very, very bad, but not enough of her wits about her to look away as Vic’s smile encompassed her once again.

“Emma is a dear friend,” she said almost apologetically, but not fully managing to appear chagrined. “If you’re friends of hers, I’d be remiss not to welcome you into my home.”

“So, we can resume our prep work?” Talia asked optimistically.

“Kindly refrain from moving anything else this evening,” Vic said quickly. “I give my word I’ll do whatever’s in my power to find a way to juggle your needs with those of the estate, but please understand this endeavour has become infinitely more complex than any of us originally planned for.”

Then she turned back to Sophia, those blue eyes darker. “Ms. LeBlanc, I hope you’ll understand those complications as well.”

Sophia snorted softly, trying to regain some of the detachment that had dominated her emotions moments ago, but she couldn’t bring herself to do anything further, because at her core she agreed very much with Victoria’s assessment of the situation. Everything suddenly felt more much complicated than it had moments earlier.

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

James followed the women out, but Victoria hadn’t left the living room by the time he returned. She stood at the floor-to-ceiling windows, still holding the hilt of her grandmother’s rapier loosely in her hand.

“Are you all right, Your Ladyship?”

She forced her standard business smile back into place as she turned to face him. “Yes. Thank you, James.”

He nodded toward the weapon. “Would you like me to return that to its proper place?”

“You probably should. I don’t think we’ll face any more intruders this evening.” She handed over the sword. “And even if we did, I’m sure it could be used as easily against me as for me.”

He didn’t even pretend he had more faith in her than she had in herself. “Perhaps when they return, your father should be present.”

She swallowed a heavy sigh. “I’ll make that suggestion when I speak with him this evening.”

“Shall I ring him for you now?”