Chapter 28

CHAPTER 28

“ M y Lady!” Gwen looked up from her dusting pan as she saw Sophia burst through the door and smiled. “Goodness, I haven’t seen you in forever!”

“Gwen!” Sophia ran towards her old friend, pulling her in a big hug. “Oh, how much I’ve missed you!” She broke the hug and looked around her. “And how much I’ve missed this old house…”

“But My Lady—I mean, Your Grace—” Sophia winced at the title. “We weren’t expecting you today, and certainly not so early. To what do we owe this unexpected visit? Should I inform your father?”

“No need, Gwen. And please don’t call me Your Grace. I can tolerate it from strangers but not from a friend.”

“Yes, Your Grace… Yes, My Lady,” the maid responded, with a bow.

“I’d love to stay and catch up on all the gossip, but I’m afraid this isn’t exactly a courtesy visit.” Sophia dusted off her riding pants and stood straight. “There’s a very important matter I need to discuss with my family.”

She had intended to take the carriage directly to her family home, only to realize that she had not brought the diary with her and she might need it to validate her story. As such, she had been forced to return to Heathcote Manor first, to fetch the diary, and while there, she had decided that Violetta would manage the journey quicker than any carriage.

It was just past dawn, and despite her lack of sleep, she was not in the least bit tired, fueled by the excitement of what she was about to reveal.

“Your entire family?” asked Gwen. “I’m afraid that won’t be possible. Your older brother and your mother are visiting a carpenter in Maltbury for a commission. I think they will be out for the entire day and are not expected to return until nightfall.”

Curses. I must have just missed them.

“How about Samuel? Or my uncle?”

“Samuel has not yet returned from a gathering he attended last night. Your uncle is upstairs, I believe.”

“Well… better to talk to some of them than none of them.” Sophia lowered her head and ruffled her long hair, knocking some of the windswept tangles out of it. “All right.”

She straightened back up and walked off, heading upstairs.

“Father. Uncle.” She followed each name with a quick curtsy as she entered the drawing room where the two men had settled at her behest, both of them rather bleary-eyed.

“Your mother will be devastated that she missed your visit,” her father said sadly, reaching for a cup of steaming hot, weak coffee that he had brought in from the breakfast room.

“Not at all, for I intend to return the day after tomorrow, accompanied by my husband.” Sophia beamed, overjoyed to see her father again and to have such good news to share. “You see, I have some information that the entire family needs to hear, but I shall tell it piecemeal if I must. Indeed, it’s probably better this way.”

Frederick sat back on the settee. “What information? Do you have something of merit we can use to hang those Pratt wretches once and for all? Do tell me you’ve been our spy this entire time?”

“It pertains to my marriage and its nature,” Sophia replied, a slight bite in her voice.

Maybe this wouldn’t be as easy as she had hoped.

Frederick nodded. “Has he finally shown his true face, that monster of a man? Pray tell, girl. Give us the ammunition we need to bring down this marriage and that family once and for all.” He turned to Charles. “Remember, my bet was high treason against the Crown. I can just tell I’m right.”

“Nothing of the sort!” Sophia raised a hand in a calming gesture, completely changing the mood. “That is not the case at all, Uncle. In fact, it is quite the opposite.”

The two men turned and focused their attention on her, curiosity evident on their faces.

With a nervous breath, Sophia took out the diary she had borrowed from Rosamund and started relaying the story. The truth, this time—the tragic tale of Eliza and Edmund. The ride there was long enough that she had enough time to practice how she’d present it to them.

After roughly ten minutes of storytelling, Sophia took a deep breath and held the diary to her chest. “And that is the entire story. Now, I understand that Eliza’s brother was still responsible, but there was no murder, no trickery—just a family’s stubborn control over a daughter. And the false rumors about Edmund were never spread among Society, as we were told. But they stayed within the family, purely as a means of manipulation.”

Silence fell, and silence was felt. The three of them were looking at each other with apprehension, no one knowing who was supposed to talk first.

Sophia decided to push a little bit.

“So? What are your thoughts on this, Father?”

Charles was deep in thought. “Sophia, my dear, are you sure about the story you just told us?”

“As sure as I see your eyes right now, Father.”

Silence stretched between them again.

“And are you sure it’s from a reputable source?”

“While Rosamund’s words were said with the utmost honesty… she is of an advanced age. But this diary clarifies everything.”

“ That is your proof?” asked Frederick in a gravelly voice, nodding to the bright blue leather journal. “May I see it?”

“Not right now, no. I would like to reveal it officially soon. Ideally tomorrow. And ideally to both families,” she replied, hugging it tighter to herself.

“It would certainly be controversial,” argued Charles.

“It is of my utmost belief, Father, that should the document be examined by an expert, its authenticity would be confirmed beyond doubt,” Sophia said. “I intend to take the diary to such an expert after this.”

Another pause.

Frederick shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Clever thinking, girl, keeping it on you. We can’t know if the Pratts share the same sentiment.”

Sophia looked at him with curiosity. “What do you mean, Uncle?”

“They might want to perpetuate the feud and hide the evidence. You can never trust a Pratt.”

Sophia sighed. “Uncle, I firmly believe you have misjudged them.” Both men looked at her now. “If there’s anyone who was hostile to the idea of this wedding, it was me. And I can tell you, after spending enough time with them… they are not the beasts we thought they were. They are actually lovely. Mostly.”

“What my niece is trying to say is?—”

Charles raised a hand and leaned between them. “That is a strong statement you made, Sophia. It is going to turn decades of conflict on its head. We don’t know how their side will receive this, especially knowing their penchant for being unreasonable.”

“Well, I still don’t know how our side will receive this. You have not said how you feel,” she said in earnest.

“If you ask me, as your father…” Charles took off his spectacles and sighed. “I am willing to do what is best for my daughter. And the best, in my opinion… is a life of peace,” he concluded with a smile.

Sophia smiled back. “Really?”

“Yes, dear. I trust you implicitly. I know you well enough to know that you wouldn’t do something like this if you weren’t absolutely certain,” Charles replied, and Sophia’s smile widened. “Why else did we agree to this marriage anyway? For peace. Well, it looks like you are the one who will set the record straight. And I couldn’t be prouder. If it was not appallingly early, I would have poured us all a measure of something and toasted to the future.”

Sophia made a mental note to give her father a long hug before she left.

“Thank you for your trust, Father.” She scratched her cheek a little bit, feeling a massive relief washing over her. “What about you, Uncle? I know you are the one with the biggest stake in this feud, but I hope you can see the merit in a resolution.”

“You are right, child. It is not the job of a bitter old man to speak about matters of the future,” Frederick said, stretching his arms across the back of the settee, one leg balanced on the knee of the other. “I can promise my utter silence in this matter when you eventually decide to reveal this truth of yours.”

Sophia ruminated on his words carefully and eventually decided that was the best she could get out of him. She had a mere five-and-twenty years of bad blood to wash off herself, and that had been difficult enough to shake. She couldn’t even imagine what kind of earthquake it would require to shake off forty-plus years of hatred.

“Thank you, Uncle,” she said eventually, giving a smile of courtesy.

“Your mother will be so excited to hear about all of this, Sophia,” said Charles, hugging her tenderly. “Your peace and happiness is something she has long wished for.”

“Please send her my regards and my love, Father, and assure her that I will be back the day after tomorrow.”

As they broke the hug, Sophia realized that her uncle hadn’t followed them to the porch.

“And please, make sure to ease Uncle Frederick’s worries about the matter. This really is the end of the feud. The true end—I feel it in my bones.”

“I’ll do my best, but we need to give him time, my dear.” Sophia nodded in response. “I know he’ll do his best.”

They exchanged a kiss on the cheek, and Sophia got back up on Violetta, showing off her practice and grace. She waved goodbye to her father and nudged the mare, starting her ride back to Heathcote Manor. A long ride, with plenty of time for thinking, and plenty of time to rehearse what to tell her dear husband.

We are so close…

Had someone told her a few months ago that she would be the one ending this feud once and for all, she would have laughed in their face. And yet, they were one family gathering away from ending it all. And not in a blaze of gunfire and foolish glory, but in peace.

Nothing could stand in her way now.

Hours later, the sway of Violetta’s athletic body pushed Sophia’s thoughts towards Thomas as she looked out over the pristine, rolling hills of the countryside, where flora and fauna flourished and displayed their spring beauty beneath the golden sunlight.

It had turned into a perfect day, but what else would one expect from a day of promised peace?

I can’t wait to get home to you, Thomas. To pick up where we left off.

The man she had thought would be the end of her, the one she had dreaded spending five minutes next to, much less a lifetime. She felt her cheeks flush and a smile tug at her lips. And out here, in the middle of the road with no one else around to spy on her, judge her, or make presumptions about her, she felt free.

She smiled and smiled wide.

I need to talk to him. I want to talk to him. No more waiting. No more misunderstandings and foolish exchanges of words. We are ? —

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud whistling coming from behind her. It seemed she wasn’t as alone as she had thought.