Chapter 26

Sophie felt like she had been punched in the face.

George's nasty words about his brother affected her so badly she could scream.

But of course she has to behave because there were gossips in the gardens who were trying to pretend like they had no idea what was going on. She had to try to keep her words inside, so she did not make more of a scene than what was already happening.

"Is this true?" she whispered to Gregory, needing something of an answer. She chose Gregory first because his answer did not have the ability to harm her in the same way that George's did. His words could absolutely crush her, and she was not ready for that.

She could not believe that George had not defended her in front of Gregory. He had not shown any care for her at all.

How could he act such a way, when she was so convinced that he was wanting a happy ever after with her, just as she did him? It was all so very confusing.

"Nothing George says is true," Gregory insisted, but his face suggested otherwise. He had guilt plastered across his expression. "I have real feelings for you, Lady Dashwood. All I want to do is get to know you better. All I want is to be your husband."

"And you would want that no matter who I was? It would not matter to you if I was a scullery maid? Or is this to do with the money?"

Gregory threw his hands in the air in frustration. "Do not believe a word that my brother tells you. Please, do not let him get in the middle of us because that is exactly what he wants. He is jealous. You can see that he is very jealous of us and of me. He will do anything to destroy me. He knows nothing about the family and our finances, because he has not been here. He has spent the last few years in Sweden, avoiding everything and everyone."

Sophie stepped back away from him, refusing to let his words sink in.

She already knew that Gregory was not an open and honest person, she did not believe anything he said about George. At least, she had not until this very moment. Now she was a little shell-shocked and she did not know what to believe. If George did not think he was worthy of her hand in marriage, then why had he spent so much time with her? Why had he led her to believe that everything was going well?

She did not know if she could trust either of these men in this moment.

"I have done everything that I can to rescue you from Gregory," George bit back through gritted teeth. "I did not want you to get duped by my brother, which is why I have been wooing you, Lady Dashwood. I will do anything to protect you."

And there they were.

Those words she did not want to hear.

They absolutely stripped the air right out of her lungs.

They felt so cruel she wanted to throw up here and now. It hardly mattered that they had an audience. She was gutted.

"Did you ever intend to marry me?" she gasped, needing to know if Gregory's accusation was right. Because her head was spinning at the moment, and she was not sure what to think. Without all the information, she could not make any choice either way.

George said nothing. Nothing at all.

He clamped his lips together in a way that answered all of Sophie's questions. Although truth be told, she would much rather actually hear the words from him. She wanted him to tell her his intentions, she needed to hear it so she could fully believe him.

So she could find a way to overcome all of this. This was not what she expected to face tonight, but then when the Harrington's were involved, she needed to start preparing herself for anything because it was always a nightmare.

"You are both so childish," she spat out as she backed away from them both. She did not know which one of them to look at. She did not know who she hated more, who had hurt her more…

No, that was not quite true.

She hated George the most because he had harmed her the most.

"I cannot believe you have mixed me up in your world, in your games. You are fighting like little boys, despite your age." A thick lump of emotion lodged in the base of her throat, making it hard for her to get any words out. "I am a real person, a woman with feelings and emotions. I cannot believe you would toy with me like this all for selfish reasons. It is baffling. You deserve one another as brothers because you are both self-centered men who only care for yourselves. Do not tell me that you have feelings for me, either of you, because you cannot love anyone other than yourselves."

Her mind was spinning out of control. She could barely even hear the words that were coming out of her mouth, but they were still coming.

"George, I do not know how you could do this. I love you, I have fallen in love with you, and I think you know that. I saw a life for us, and it was a beautiful life. Yet you have ruined it, I do not think I can ever trust anything you say again."

Sophie spun on her heels and stalked away from both men. She pushed her way through the crowds, not caring who was looking at her any longer, who could see the tears pouring down her cheeks. All she needed to do was get away from this whole party and everyone in it. She could not stand to be anywhere near the Harrington brothers either. How had they so quickly become the worst people in the whole world? How had she been so foolish to fall for their nonsense?

She did not know if she would ever be able to trust her own judgement again.

"Sophie, what has happened?" her mother demanded as she stormed passed her. "You are upset…"

But Sophie did not halt. She could not stop. She needed to get to the carriage and get home.

But her mother followed her. "Sophie, you must stop. I need to know what has happened…"

Her mother climbed into the carriage with her, giving up her evening as well, and looked at her daughter with sympathy in her eyes. Sophie could not stop herself from weeping for long enough to get any words out. Thankfully her mother did not push her. She simply held her while they traversed over the cobbled London streets all the way back to her grandparents' home. Sophie sobbed into her mother's chest as all her hopes and dreams vanished.

She should not have been so foolish, she should not have trusted anyone with her heart. But George had also convinced all of her family that he was a good person, and her parents were not easily fooled by anyone. Her grandparents had warmed up to him as well…

And it was all for nothing.

He had really committed to this role, and that hurt the most. Why would he be so cruel? It did not seem like it was just to keep her away from Gregory. He did not need to go that far. Kissing her, spending the night with her, it was all too much.

"I will never get married," she muttered sadly to her mother as soon as the carriage pulled up outside of their home. "I will never trust a man again."

Her mother did not ask questions, but her face fell understandingly. "I see. Things did not turn out the way that you hoped."

She could only shake her head.

Sophie did not want to be with anyone else once they stepped inside the home. She could hear her grandparents in the parlor, sharing a drink and talking, but that only made her even sadder. There was a part of her that thought she was going to find the same sort of love with George as they had. She thought he was the man that she was going to love forever, to grow old together, to have a family with…

And it was all a lie.

He was nothing more than a fraud.

So she took of up the stairs and headed straight for her bed chambers, throwing herself onto the bed, allowing her tears to consume her, with the fight rolling through her mind all over again.

"Nothing George says is true. I have real feelings for you, Lady Dashwood. All I want to do is get to know you better. All I want is to be your husband."

"I have done everything that I can to rescue you from Gregory. I did not want you to get duped by my brother, which is why I have been wooing you, Lady Dashwood. I will do anything to protect you."

"I do not know why you are hanging around like a bad smell when you clearly have no intention of marrying Lady Dashwood."

It was all so ugly, so horrible, so nasty.

How had she never seen that side of those men before? It just proved that it was easy for anyone to hide away their true nature, to pretend that they were someone else. She had never really experienced that in Sweden, Sophie had been comfortable with taking everyone there at face value.

Clearly that was not something she could do here in London.

In that moment, all Sophie wanted to do was get back on a boat, to go back to Sweden because it really did seem like she had a much more comfortable life there.

Thankfully, her adorable little dog seemed to sense exactly what she needed, and he leapt on the bed to cuddle her. But Sophie was in the head space that nothing was going to really cheer her up through this.