Devil's Cub Part II

Dominic is not interested in marriage, and is pursuing a girl from a merchant family, who is not averse to becoming his mistress if she cannot be his wife. Sophia Challoner is silly and pretty, and has an older sister, Mary, who is more correct and genteel in her behavour. The girls father was from a gentry family who married a merchant's daughter. Mary was sent to school by her grandfather, but although she finds her mother and sister trying, she has chosen to live with them. Justin tells Dominic that flirting with a bourgeois girl like Sophia is looking for trouble, he should stick to professional courtesans or women of his own class. Dominic gets involved in a dispute with a man at a gaming club who accuses him of cheating and they duel. Dominic has killed in duels before but Justin has warned him that he cant continue to do this sort of thing. He injures the man, Quarles seriously, and Justin tells him that he will have to go away to France, because of the scandal. Dominic agrees to go, and tells Sophia that he will take her to France with him and she can serve as his mistress and hostess to his friends in his house in Paris. Sophia is willing to go, but Mary is horrified, fearing that even if Sophia intends to try and force Dominic into marriage, he wont take any notice of her wishes. She accidentally receives a note that Vidal sends to her sister and he tells her to come and meet him and he will carry her away. Mary knows that her mother is a foolish woman who thinks that she can push Vidal into a marriage with a lower class girl, and she decides to go instead of Sophia, to save her sister.