Chapter 18

“Asabotage plot?” Jacob laughed loudly as the Duke recalled the story of meeting Barbara the previous night. “My, that would an entertaining thing to witness, but I believe that you are giving Lady Barbara more credit than she deserves.”

The Duke shook his head. The two of them had come to the stables for an early morning horse ride. Behind them, the stable keeper prepared their horses.

“Before yesterday, I only assumed that she was going to be disappointed, but you should have heard the resolve in her voice last night.” The Duke shook his head. “She sounded like she was out for blood. In fact, she even hinted the possibility of divorce.”

“Oh, dear Lord, the Lady must really have been in love with you for her to consider all this,” Jacob remarked.

“In love?” Duncan repeated. “Do not be so silly. We both know that it has nothing to do with love. Her affection for me is only due to my status.”

“And what about Duchess Sophia?” Jacob asked. “Do you believe that she only likes you for similar reasons?”

“Oh, I am not sure if she likes me at all,” Duncan admitted. “It is quite strange, but I cannot figure her out. Either she is a master at keeping her feelings for me a secret, or she feels nothing for me.”

“How come you are still in this position? You two are married now. Should you not know this already?” Jacob asked, surprised.

Duncan shrugged his shoulders.

“I told you, our marriage is not a very traditional one. We exist together more as friends.”

“Does that mean you have not taken her to bed yet?” Jacob asked.

“I have not,” Duncan admitted.

Jacob burst out laughing and patted his brother on the back.

“My dear brother, that is quite the unique marriage you have indeed. I hope that you are planning on changing that soon.”

Duncan shook his head. “I would need to be sure of what she feels before pursuing anything.”

“Is that an admission of your own feelings towards her?”

His brother’s questions were pointed, and Duncan no longer felt the urge to hide his feelings.

“You can take it as one.”

“I knew it all along!” Jacob pumped his fist in the air. “It was bound to happen with the way that the two of you interact with each other. It is heart-warming to see.”

“Are you privy to any information from her side?” Duncan asked.

The two had mounted their horses now and were taking a ride on the estate grounds.

“I am sure that you would be most interested in knowing,” Jacob teased, “but she has not admitted anything to me. I can only gauge by how the two of you interact. Have you confessed your feelings to her?”

The Duke shook his head.

“I have only recently become aware of them myself…”

Jacob laughed, “At least you do have the security of her being your wife. No one can steal her away from you.”

“Not for a lack of trying,” Duncan reminded him.

“Oh, you should not worry about Barbara. She is all talk and no action,” Jacob reassured him. “She cannot do anything to ruin your marriage.”

Duncan wanted to believe his brother, but a part of him was not convinced. He knew that he was going to have to keep his eyes peeled.

Sophia woke up to a surprise. One of the maid’s knocked on her door and delivered a small package to her room.

“This arrived for you this morning, Your Grace,” the maid told her.

“Oh, but I was not expecting anything,” Sophia said, her curiosity piquing immediately as she took the package from the maid’s hands.

Sophia brought the box inside her room and quickly grabbed the note attached to it.

My dear Sophia,

I hope you are doing well. I have been thinking of you constantly — not a moment goes by when I do not think about you. In your absence, I have discovered some soothing herbs. I believe they can help with your nightmares as they are meant to soothe.

You should brew them into a tea and drink it a few times a day. It will surely bring about some positive changes.Yours sincerely,

Aunt Rose

P.S: Do not be concerned about how different my handwriting appears. It seems that old age has finally caught up to me, and I can no longer write my own letter due to my bad eyesight. The new maid, Martha, has helped me dictate this to you.

Sophia was filled with joy as she read and re-read the letter over and over.

“Oh, how thoughtful,” Sophia muttered to herself as she opened the package. It contained a bag full of loose-leaf tea. She brought it to her nostrils, and the smell was strong. Almost pungent.

“Oh my gosh.” Sophia quickly removed it away from her face. “It is definitely not faint.”

Sophia did not want to wait to brew it. She summoned her lady’s maid immediately.

“Clara, you must help me make this special tea that Aunt Rose has sent for me,” Sophia told her excitedly, handing her the bag of loose-leaf tea.

“Your Grace?” Clara’s tone was surprised. “That is strange. In all my years with her, I have not known her to be much of a tea drinker.”

Sophia shook her head.“It is clear that she is seeking new hobbies now that I am no longer there with her. Besides, she has claimed that it will help…” Sophia paused, “get me a more restful sleep.”

Clara’s expression changed as she realized what Sophia was talking about. The two of them had never discussed her nightmares in detail, but they were not a secret. Everyone in her old house knew that she got them as she would wake up screaming when she was younger.

“Do you really believe so?” It was Clara’s turn to take a whiff of the tea, and she had a similar reaction to Sophia. “My dear, it has quite the scent.”

“It might be an indication that it is a strong tea and therefore better for what it is supposed to do,” Sophia said optimistically.

If something as simple as drinking tea was going to cure her from her nightmares, then Sophia was surely going to try it. The nightmares had plagued her for many years now, and perhaps it was finally time that a solution was found — especially now that she lived in a different place entirely.

“Shall I brew a cup for you?” Clara asked.

“Yes,” Sophia agreed. “I would share with you as well, but I am not sure if it is such a good idea. It is clearly a specialized herb, and I do not have too much of it.”

“Oh, there is nothing to worry about,” Clara assured her. “You should think of it as your medicine and drink it yourself. You should not be thinking of sharing it.”

“Good,” Sophia decided, “then you must make the tea in secret and deliver it to me straight to my room. If anyone else sees it, they might ask questions, and I am not ready to talk about it just yet.”

“Yes, Madam, I will be very discreet.”

“Perfect.”

As Sophia waited for Clara to return, she found herself getting giddy. Why had Aunt Rose not found a solution like this before? It would have saved her many restless nights.

When Clara finally returned, Sophia carefully took the cup of tea from her hands.

“Go on, then,” Clara encouraged her, keeping a watchful eye on her at all times. “Take a sip.”

Sophia sipped the fragrant brew and immediately felt enveloped in a strong sense of comfort.

“Oh, this is indeed very nice,” she commented. “The taste is very strong, but the effect is very…”

“Relaxing?” Clara asked.

“Yes!”

“I hope that this works for you, Madam,” Clara replied.

Sophia, now more excited than ever, finished the cup of tea quickly. She was eager to find out if it would actually work.

But alas, she had just woken up, and she could only test the tea’s efficacy at nighttime.

It still felt like a small win for Sophia. If she was going to live through the curse for the rest of her life, at least she now had something to make it a little bit better.

By the time Sophia had finished the cup of tea, she felt a little lightheaded but in a positive way. She decided to give the news to Clara, who had gone outside now.

But as Sophia went looking for her down the hall, she ran into Jacob.

“You seem to be in a hurry, Your Grace,” he inquired, looking at her up and down. “Where to?”

“Oh, I am just looking for Clara,” she explained.

“Does that mean you do not have any plans for the day?” Jacob asked.

“Not at the moment,” Sophia replied.

“Well, that is quite ideal because today it is a perfectly sunny day outside, and I was planning on having a small picnic outside at noon. Would you like to join me?” he asked.

“Oh, of course, I would love to come,” Sophia replied. She did not want to appear rude by turning him down, and she could use some company herself.

“Splendid,” Jacob grinned. “I will see you outside in an hour then in the gardens. You can bring Clara with you if you wish.”

Sophia nodded and returned to her chambers. Her plans had now been diverted, and she had to get ready.

Would the Duke be there? she asked herself as she combed her hair into an elegant knot.

Did she even want him to be there?

Sophia had remained firm on her promise to herself and had managed to limit contact with him. Of course, she could not avoid him entirely, like when the two of them had to attend the ball together.

But outside of any expected social engagements, Sophia did a good job at dodging his company. Unfortunately for her, that meant she had a severe dearth of people to spend time with. She had already spent too much time with Clara, and so the picnic with Jacob felt like a welcome change.

When the time for the picnic finally arrived, she met with Jacob and Clara in the garden. Clara had brought a basket full of sandwiches that she had prepared in a hurry.

It was the perfect setting, the sun was shining on them, and Sophia leaned back against the grass, basking in the warm sunlight.

Her mood was already uplifted by the newfound solution to her nightmares that she had just received. It was shaping up to be a good day.

“So, Madam, how does it feel to be the Duchess of Blackmoore?” Jacob asked her in his usual playful tone as Clara poured them some milk tea. “Now that you have had some days to adjust into your new role, I would love to know what your thoughts are.”

“It is an adjustment as was expected,” Sophia admitted earnestly. “But it has been good so far. Of course, I worry about keeping Duchess Anna happy. So far, I believe I have done an all right job.”

Jacob laughed in response.

“Why must you worry about keeping my mother happy? It is clear that you have already captured the attention of her son which matters more in the long run,” he replied.

Sophia blushed at his comment. “She is the Dowager, and her opinion is important. I am just trying to be a good daughter-in-law.”

“Fair enough,” Jacob shrugged. “I cannot know what the pressures of having in-laws are like, so I refrain from commenting further. I am sure that it helps that you are in such a bubble of love with my brother…”

Sophia’s cheeks were burning now. Deep inside, she had developed feelings for the Duke. His kindness, his regard for everyone around him, the way that he looked…

But she could never admit that out loud.

“I do not know what you are referring to,” she replied, trying to keep her voice neutral. “There is no bubble of love between us.”

“Is there not?” Jacob questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, of course, I respect the Duke greatly and believe him to be a great man.”

Jacob cut her off mid-sentence.

“Lady Sophia, you do realize that the Duke is your husband? You do not need to speak about him in such a formal manner. In fact, you do not need to deny your feelings about him,” he explained.

Sophia felt that she had just dug herself in a hole. If she insisted that she felt nothing for the Duke, it would give the impression that she thought of herself higher than him. However, if she said the opposite, it would undo her progress of keeping the Duke away from the curse.

The best course of action, it seemed, was just being honest.

“Is it not that I wish to deny my feelings for him. It is just that situation is very…” she gulped. “Well, I suppose you can guess yourself why I would have my reservations about making our relationship closer.”

“I cannot fathom any reason,” Jacob replied. “A lot of men suffer a reputation of being a rake, and the ghost of their past often carries into their marriage, but this is not true for my brother. He could not be more opposite. This is why I cannot see why you would hesitate.”

Sophia shook her head, “The reason has nothing to do with him…”

“Then?” Jacob asked her.

Sophia could not believe that Jacob was being so oblivious. How could he not think of the curse? Surely it was the first thing that most people thought of when they saw her.

“If you really want me to spell it out for you,” Sophia sighed, “I worry that if I get too close to the Duke, I will transfer my curse onto him. This is why I believe that it is best for the both of us to keep our distance.”

Jacob was rendered speechless for a moment. He blinked at her and then began to shake his head dramatically.

“Oh, Madam, that is one of the most absurd things I have ever heard. It is one thing for the ton to make comments like that, but another entirely for you to be saying this yourself,” he said, worry laced in his tone.

“I am afraid that they might just have a point,” she admitted. “Besides, I would never really be able to forgive myself if anything happens to the Duke because of me.”

“But… the two of you are married?” Jacob pointed out. “It does not feel very realistic to keep such a distance between the two of you.”

“I agree,” Sophia noted, “but it is what needs to be done.”

“I do not agree with you there,” Jacob protested. “Lady Sophia, there’s no curse. Such things are mere superstitions. You’re not bound by these made-up concepts.”

“Then I suppose we can agree to disagree,” Sophia replied, not wanting to argue further.

In all honesty, even Sophia had begun to change her mind about the curse. Before her marriage, she was convinced that any man associated with her would burst into flames if she was as much as in close proximity to him. But Duncan and she had even shared a kiss, and nothing bad had happened.

So far.

Was the intensity of her curse exaggerated, even in her head? Or did it not exist to begin with?

It was something that Sophia has begun to question for the first time, but that led to a more important question. If it was not the fear of the curse that was keeping her away from the Duke, then what was it?

Could it be that she had gotten feelings of her own and confronting them head on seemed like too much of a daunting prospect? Perhaps so, but she was not prepared to admit that to anyone yet, including her own self.

Jacob shook his head. “This is not the right reasoning…”

“You cannot tell him this,” Sophia requested. “I know that he does not believe in the curse either. He will only raise further objections if you tell him.”

“But I am on his side in this situation!”

“You might be,” Sophia noted, “but you are also a new friend for me. I urge you to keep this information to yourself if you value my friendship.”

Jacob sighed, “Fine, only because I take my friendships seriously. But I sincerely hope that you change your mind about this absurd limitation that you have imposed upon yourself soon. What do you think will happen?”

“I would rather not say,” Sophia avoided answering the question.

“You just admitted that we are friends, are we not?” Jacob countered. “I believe that calls for a more honest answer.”

“Must you make me think about things that I am trying my best not to?” Sophia protested, a small frown forming on her lips.

“It would not be me if I did not make those around me ponder deeply inside themselves,” Jacob chuckled. “I am not only a joker, you see.”

“Very well, then. If you really must know then…” Sophia sucked in a deep breath. “I myself am unaware of what the curse implies. For my family, it was that they lost their lives in a carriage accident. You know this. I do not even want to imagine what it would mean for the Duke.”

“That is rather dramatic, is it not?” Jacob raised an eyebrow. “Besides, I am certain that the odds of something awful like that happening again are slim, bordering on none.”

“Why even take the risk?”

“Because what awaits you on the other side is well worth it?” Jacob replied. “If there is anything in this world that is worth risking everything for, it is love. The rewards are greater than what you can even imagine.”

Sophia considered his words carefully but ultimately decided to end the conversation there.

“We will see what the future holds,” Sophia replied.

Inside, she did not feel optimistic at all. Keeping herself away from the Duke was only going to be harder as the days went by.