Once the O.S.S. knew that a strike was inevitable, he was asked to stay and see if the strike would last long and if the owners could find peace among its workers.
It didn't look likely to happen and so now all the O.S.S. wished to do was save lives. By marrying Sopherina, Warren would get a chance to get to know the sort of man her father was and perhaps find a way that would benefit everyone. Of all the owners of industry in town, Mr. North was the kindest and most compassionate, and Warren thought him the one to fix the issue. If he could lean on the other owners, all would return to right.
But getting close to Mr. North without revealing who he truly was meant playing the role of a coal miner and getting the daughter to notice him. It hadn't been hard to gain Sopherina's notice and once he'd shown himself to be educated, it hadn't been hard to keep her interest. He'd flirted with her as he would have done with any woman but Sopherina's innocence and kind nature had amazed him. Most of the time, Warren had been lost, wondering if she understood the game they were playing, the game of charm that men and women in Society played until he finally understood that for her, there was no game. There was only honesty and her honesty broke him, tore down his need to preserve himself, and touched his heart in a way that still left him wondering how he'd ever been lucky enough to meet someone like her.
When she'd said yes to his proposal, it had been he who'd been glad, not Lester Paddon, and it had been he, Sir Warren Leverton, the second son of the Earl of Chasewood, who'd kissed her. He'd tried to pull back once he'd had her in his hired coach and during the entire trip to Gretna Green but when he'd spoke his vows to love her forever, Les was nowhere to be seen. It was Warren who loved her, and Warren planned to keep her.
So, while she wrote, he busied himself with trying to figure out a way to tell her the truth. He knew that until the city calmed, he would have to continue to lie about who he was but once everything was settled, he would be honest with her.
She looked up at him and shyly ducked away. She tucked a hair behind her ear and wrapped its end around her finger. She'd done that periodically during her letter. He knew her to be writing her father when he saw the tension in her brow. She wanted him to understand why she'd run away, and Warren had given her space to think and speak from her heart. He himself needed to write but that would have to wait until he was in private.
He watched her eyes flicker over to him again. Her lower lip caught between her teeth.
"What?" he asked.
"You're staring at me."
He loved her Welsh accent, the way the 'a' in 'staring' was dragged and the 'r' rolled just so. He’d had to change his own accent as well, adapting something that was improper but implacable in Britain. She had a sloped nose with a round point and wide eyes that were the color of warm bread, a light brown. Her lashes were also very long. One could see them from yards away against her pale skin.
"You're doing it again," she whispered.
He smiled. "A man can't stare at his wife?"
She lifted a brow. "Are you having second thoughts?"
Warren stood and crossed the room, fully aware of his nudity as her eyes flickered away from him, causing him to chuckle. He knelt by her and took her hand, the one that held the simple gold band he’d given her with the claim that it had been his mother’s. He placed a kiss on the back of it and rubbed his cheek against the softness there. She was soft inside and out, her heart the sweetest one he'd ever held. "I love you, Sopherina, and no matter what happens, no matter where I go, I want you with me."
She held his gaze but said nothing.
He narrowed his eyes. "Tell me what thought just went through your head."
She shook her head.
He caught her chin. "Never be afraid to say anything to me, my love. I want to hear anything and everything you have to say." She was so shy. So delicate. He felt like a cad for taking her, for coming into her life under false pretenses. If only he could go back, he would have come to her as Sir Warren Leverton and courted her properly. There would have been no need for her to run away with him. Her father would have approved of the match.
So much of Warren's life was a lie. His family didn't even know what he truly did. Even now, they thought him sailing the seas on an endless holiday. They didn't know that he was a member of an organization of spies that had a long history in Europe.
Sopherina licked her lips. "What if my father cuts me off? Would you still want me then?" As his only child, many believed Sopherina to inherit her father's company and all his wealth.
Warren was tempted to tell her that they didn't even have to go back to Merthyr Tydfil. He had everything he needed right here in the inn's top room in Gretna Green, but he had to complete his assignment.
He kissed her hand again. "I don't care about your wealth. All I care about is you."
She smiled. "Well, you'll have to stop working in the coal mines once we are married. My father could get you a better position in the company, I'm sure of it. You are educated. I don't see why you couldn't be more useful somewhere else."
He smiled, stood, and kissed her mouth again. "No, I'll stay with the men." He moved to put on his breeches and pulled the bell.
He turned to her when his reply was met with silence. She'd returned to her letter, but her hands rested on her lap. "Speak, Sopherina."
She lifted her chin to him. "I don't understand. Why would you want to work in the coal mines? It pays nothing."
He couldn't explain that he needed to be close to the men who were forming the strike and see if the more violent ones could be contained. "If you believe we are paid so little, then tell your father to pay the workers more."
Her expression closed, and she straightened. "I have."
That surprised him. "You have? And what did he say?"
"There's not enough money to lift everyone's wages." She frowned. "Perhaps he can lift yours."
Warren shook his head. "No. Everyone or no one. I won't take more money just because I'm your husband." Already, he gave his wages to the families who were worse off, giving the funds to the baker to make sure that extra food was delivered to those who suffered.
A knock sounded on the door, and Warren opened it to find a maid. "We'd like dinner brought to the room."
The maid ran off, and he closed the door behind him.
"Les, how are you affording all of this?"
He moved to sit across from her at the table. "I saved up money from the village I lived in before coming to Merthyr Tydfil. I didn't know I'd find work so quickly. So, don't worry."
She folded her letter and looked down at her hands. "So, you'll work in the mines and you'll not take more money. Will you at least be living with us, Daddy and me?" She looked at him again.
Warren frowned. He needed to be close to the men, but he lived in the worst part of town, and he could never ask Sopherina to live with him. "It's better that I live close to the mines."