“I trust he is well, given that he is now free of the threat of Lord Cragshade?”
“He is.”
A silence followed before Sophia spoke again. The strain in her voice was evidence enough that this discussion was as difficult and uncomfortable for her as it was for Ruth.
“Have you made plans for a wedding yet?”
Ruth nodded slowly. “In the summer, perhaps. I hope you will be in attendance. I know you plan to go to Shropshire still.”
“I do. I wish I could find it in me to come to your wedding, but everything seems so raw to me, too painful. I shall not go. I am sorry.”
“Sophia…”
“Perhaps when I too am married it will be easier. Until then, the distance may be what is best so we may restore our sisterly affections.”
“You will be, and soon. I know it. Perhaps Her Grace might find you a husband, she is so fond of you.”
Sophia grimaced. “I am not sure she still is. She has been rather distant. It seems now that I am no longer fighting for the affections of her son, I am not as of much interest to her.”
Ruth’s mouth dropped open. “But she asked you to come to Brighton with her.”
Her sister shrugged. “I believe she cares about me, but the trip – it seems she intended it to create distance between myself and Lord Rotham so he might find he misses me. When I told her I no longer wished to fight, and that I was resigned to this new reality, she became rather aloof with me.”
Sophia shrugged again and turned her face away. Ruth knew her sister too well. This had to hurt her deeply for she’d grown very fond of the lady. But Sophia was not one to confess to such matters. The opposite was true. A sudden flash in her eyes seemed to brighten her face.
“Perhaps it does not matter. Our dear aunt wrote to me and told me a handsome young Earl is living in Holcombe village, he stands to inherit the title of Marquess of Slough. She plans to introduce him to me.”
“Lord Slough’s son? I thought he was to wed Lady Elizabeth, the daughter of Lord Wolverton.”
Sophia slid to the edge of her seat and grinned. “He was. But I’ve heard she ran away with the son of a wine merchant. They went to Gretna Green and wed there. She is utterly disgraced and out of favor, thus the young Earl is free once more.”
She beamed, almost as if her pain over having fallen out of the Duchess' favor was forgotten. It was not, of course, something else was just of greater concern to her at this moment.
Her sister’s changeable nature bothered Ruth. This young girl was no longer the sister she once loved so dearly. It seemed the mere possibility of marrying a man of high standing in society was enough to instantly elevate her mood. Even though Lord Cragshade was now gone, and the Duchess was cross with her, their influence of Sophia remained.
I suppose up until now, she and I lived our lives in a bubble, away from the world. No outside influences were weighing upon us. We lived with our paths set out clearly before us. She was to be the wife of a high-ranking peer who may or may not love her, but who would certainly provide for her. And I was to be the spinster sister, left on the shelf forever destined to be her trusted companion until my final days.
Yes, these were their roles. Roles her sister was comfortable with. It had to be said, Ruth too had been resigned, comfortable even, with this arrangement. Until now. Ruth felt as though her life was upside down, she now had a future that did not involve being an old maid. She had the chance at happiness and a life full of joy.
Could her sister not be happy for her? Could she truly not forgive her for having fallen in love until she had a Marquess on her arm?
“I hope for you that it is not just tittle-tattle and that the young lord our aunt mentioned is as handsome and kind, and affectionate as Kenneth. So that you too may be happy.”
Sophia swallowed; the sincerity of Ruth’s words affected her for her visage changed. She scrunched up her nose, her lips twitched as if she wanted to cry again but she sat straight and shook her head.
“I am not myself, Ruthie. I do not know if I ever will be again. But know this, I love you and despite everything that happened…. I never meant you harm. I simply have such anger and disappointment. It is fueled by…”
“The Duchess. I know.” Ruth finished her sentence for her.
“I cannot help but hope she still cares for me. She treated me as if I was her daughter, surely that cannot all have been because of Lord Rotham.”
Ruth folded her hands in her lap. “I do not know that she is the kind of person you ought to look up to. Our aunt is by far the more maternal, the more…”
She got no further, for, in that very moment, rapid footsteps approached the music room, and within a moment, the Duchess stepped through the door. She glared from one to the other and stood in the middle of the room, her face a mask, hiding her intentions as so often.
Ruth rose to curtsy, dread spreading throughout her body, for her last encounter with the lady was still fresh in her mind.
The Duchess’ face was flushed and the veins in her neck throbbed violently. Ruth curtsied to her, joined by Sophia who got up quickly.
