Page 1 of Saved By the Highland Beast
CHAPTER1
The letter flutteredto the ground as Sophia Harrison gasped in shock, her bright green eyes filled with panic.
“What is it, my dear?” Libby Harrison rushed forward and gripped her daughter by the hands before eyeing the letter that lay at her feet. “It was him again?” She searched her face. “What has he said this time?”
Sophia nodded, the color had all but drained from her face. She could feel the bile in her stomach bubbling up high from the realization the letter had brought. “He was at the ball last night.”
“That’s impossible!” Libby dropped Sophia’s hands and came to sit by her side on the violet couch in the center of the family’s morning room. “We knew everyone at the ball last night, it couldn’t have been any of the gentlemen there.” She reached down and scooped up the letter, scanning the page for any kind of clue. Her eyes darted across the page as panic began to set in.
You looked stunning in your beautiful blue dress last night at the ball, my sweet Sophia. I couldn’t take my eyes off you as you danced.
“I could hardly take my eyes off your face when you laughed at one of Lady Rutherford’s jokes,” Libby read aloud as Sophia stood and walked across the room. “The gentle way you smile reminds me of a soft summer breeze. I can’t wait for the day when you, finally, are mine…” Her words trailed off as she suddenly stopped reading. “What do you think he means by that?”
Sophia’s wavy brown hair swayed as she paced, her hands nervously clasped over her stomach. Her eyes filled with tears as she began to panic, her breathing coming in short gasps. “It’s getting worse, Mama. He’s following me in person now.” She raked her delicate fingers through her hair as she cried. “What if he corners me alone one evening at a ball? What if no one will be around to help?”
Libby stood and left the letter on the couch as she walked over to her daughter and hugged her in a tight embrace. “I won’t let anyone lay a hand on you,” she whispered in Sophia’s ear.
The warm smell of flowers filled Sophia’s lungs as she took in the scent of her mother’s long hair, the chestnut brown streaked with waves of grey. Her comfort in life had always come from her mother. “I’m so scared, Mama. I don’t know what to do. I don’t feel safe here in London anymore.”
“I know, my lamb.” Libby gently pushed her daughter back and cupped her cheeks in both of her hands. “I think I have a plan. This matter has gone on for far too long now.”
Sophia gripped her mother’s hands and shut her eyes against the fear that was welling in her heart.
“I think we need to tell the viscount about this.”
“Mama, no.” Her eyes flew open as she stared at her mother in shock. “You know the viscount doesn’t like to be bothered.”
Libby’s grey-blue eyes filled with anger as she removed her hands and balled her fists at her sides. “The viscount inherited us along with the mansion when he came to take your father’s position. He will damn well do his part and protect us, whether he likes it or not. I’ll make him see reason if it’s the last thing that I do.”
Sophia took a deep breath as she regained her composure and dried her eyes. “I just don’t want to cause any more trouble than we already have, Mama. The viscount is good to us despite his lack of interest in our lives. He could have sent us away with a yearly stipend, but instead, he lets us stay here in our home.”
“And we won’t make any trouble, we are simply asking for help.” Libby’s voice softened again. She was known as one of the sweetest widows in London, except when it came to matters concerning her daughter. She could be a formidable firecracker when her daughter’s happiness and well-being were at stake. “I’ll come up with a plan where you can get away for a while. I’ll have to enlist the viscount’s help if the plan is to work.” She took her daughter’s hand and led her back over to the sofa.
Sophia’s father had died the previous year in a terrible accident, leaving them at the mercy of his cousin, who had become the new viscount, inheriting the title as well as the care of them both. He was a kind man and never treated them with any cruel intent. His only shortcoming was that he never wanted anything to do with them beyond their day-to-day living expenses.
“I’ve been thinking about this for a while,” Libby began. “We can send you away to Scotland, somehow, where you can lay low until this whole thing has blown over.” She gestured toward the letter beside her on the couch. “Perhaps this man will grow bored when he realizes you are nowhere to be seen.”
“But, Mama, we don’t know anyone in Scotland who will be willing to take me on for a few months.”
“No, but it isn’t uncommon for a lady to take on a post as a tutor with a wealthy family. You’re twenty-four now, the perfect age. Nobody would suspect a thing if anyone in our inner circle were to find out the truth,” Libby argued. “You could handle something like that, couldn’t you, my darling?” she asked with a tinge of concern in her voice.
Sophia’s heart beat a little faster as she considered her mother’s words. She’d never so much as been away from the house in all of her years. Her mother and father had always been there to watch over her. “It would certainly be a brand-new adventure,” she conceded when her mother gave her an anxious look. The thought of living on her own and earning her place in the world was frightening and exhilarating all at the same time.
She could be like one of the heroines she had read about in her books. Her mind raced with all the possibilities and adventures she could have.
“It’s decided, then. We will talk to the viscount this evening and tell him everything that has been going on. You still have all the letters, don’t you?”
“Yes, Mama. I kept them in a hot box on top of my wardrobe.”
“Good. Bring them with you to the study this evening after supper, and we can show them to the viscount. I don’t think he would believe us if we just told him of our plan. We need the physical evidence to back things up. He’s more than likely to think that we were making things up, chasing up ghosts like hysterical hens.” Libby paused and looked at her daughter with tears in her eyes. “I’ll miss you. Please be safe out there when we find you a place, because I know we will. You’re a treasure. Some family will scoop you up and take you in.”
“I love you, Mama.” Sophia leaned forward and threw her arms around her mother’s neck.
“I love you too, my sunshine child.” Libby used the name she’d been fond of since Sophia had been a baby. “My life will be slightly less bright when you are gone.”
* * *
The viscount sighed as he stared at the stack of papers that lay before him on the desk. His light brown hair was slicked to the side, and the moustache above his lip was neatly trimmed. His long-crooked nose had always reminded Sophia of a hook that had been bent. “How do we know that this… this stalker as you put it,” he asked, gesturing toward the papers with a sweeping motion of his hand, “is in fact a danger to Sophia? Perhaps this young man is simply expressing his affection in an adamant, albeit misguided way.”
