by Amaya Evans
R. W
He did not write when he would return or even a “take care” nothing ... no kind words. Sonia knew he was upset, but she was angry, too, and his feelings were not more important than hers. Although no matter what happened or how upset he was, his departure, in that hasty way with that impersonal letter, took away her appetite. She ate some coffee and toast. After that, she went on her morning walk.
When Sonia returned from her walk in the garden, the butler approached her.
“Lady Wilmington you have a visitor.”
“Who is it, Claude?” It was strange because Sonia didn’t know anyone there.
“It is Mr. Leopold Connell, Lord Wilmington’s cousin.”
Sonia kept thinking, what could Robert’s cousin want with her? But she didn’t want to look rude.
“Tell him I’ll be right down. Take him to the green room and take care of him while I meet him in a little while.”
“Very good, milady.”
Sonia went upstairs to freshen up. Although, she did not change her dress. The dress she was wearing was fine for a day visit and she thought it flattered her figure. She remembered meeting Robert’s cousin. She thought he was a strange quiet man. He never treated her badly like her father-in-law had done. She did not talk much with him except when he congratulated her in a respectful manner. Although in the end when he left he wished her good luck with an indecipherable expression.
Sonia went downstairs and into the room where the man was waiting for her. He was looking at a painting of Robert’s mother that was hanging on one of the walls.
“Good morning, Mr. Connell.”
“Thank you.”
Sonia approached him and he took her hand to kiss it.
“I imagine you are wondering the reason for my visit.”
She nodded. “The truth is, yes. Please sit.”
“Thank you.”
“Would you like tea and cookies?”
“Yes, thank you.”
Sonia rang the bell to request tea service and continued talking with him.
“The truth is that I have come from my aunt’s country estate and it’s quite close to here. I said to myself why do I not visit my cousin that I have not seen for a while? But I find that he is not here and that he will be absent for several days.”
“It’s true. I’m sorry. Surely he would have liked to see you.”
“I do not doubt it. We have always been good friends.”
“I’m not equally pleasant company, but since you have come to visit us, I hope to attend you well.”
“Oh, do not say that,” he said embarrassed. “Your company is very precious to me.”
Sonia spent a pleasant afternoon talking to Leopold and time flew by. She invited him to eat, and he accepted enchanted.
“Then will you accompany me for supper?”
“Of course, I see no problem in leaving a little later.”
“Or maybe ... you can leave tomorrow,” Sonia said smiling.
“I could not...”
“Of course you can. In fact, I insist that you stay a few days. My husband will be gone for several days and I get bored terribly.”
“If you insist I cannot refuse.”
“Well, then we won’t speak of it anymore,” Sonia said enthusiastically.
*****
A week later Sonia had formed a friendship with Leopold and had told him in confidence that she was very unhappy there. That her husband was a strange, serious man who did not make her happy and that he had changed a lot since their marriage. At no time did she tell him the circumstances in which they got married, but she tried to win him over to help her get out of there.
One of those days, they were both sitting in the garden and Leopold looked at her seriously
“Sonia, you told me that your life here is not good even though I can see that you have everything.”
“Sometimes having everything is not enough.”
“I understand,” Leopold said thoughtfully. “You are an extraordinary woman and I would have liked to have met you before Robert did. I do not know how he can behave so cold and distant with someone like you. If you are so unhappy and it is in my hands to resolve it, I will help you.”
Sonia pretended not to understand. “What do you mean exactly?”
“Well ... I think that if it does not seem very far-fetched. We could escape to a very nice place that I know. There you can rebuild your life without having to answer to anyone.”
“Are you serious?”
“Completely, I could even help you until you have made your own life, and that nobody knows who you are. Robert does not deserve you. I am sure that if you stay he will treat you worse and worse and could even hurt you.
“Why would you do something like that for me?”
“Because I cannot stand the injustice and less for a woman like you. I want you to know that I have come to take appreciate you in so few days of knowing each other.”
Sonia thought maybe he was right and that Robert could hit her if she didn’t do what he wanted. In the time she had lived with him Sonia noticed that Robert lost his temper frequently when things did not go the way he wanted.
“Thank you, Leopold. I assure you that I will never forget this. I will go with you.”
*****
Robert arrived in town and after spending several days taking care of some business. He headed to a huge house in Mayfair. A footman opened the door and almost immediately the butler appeared.
“Good evening, milord.”
“Good afternoon. I have come to see Mrs. Hearst.”
“I will immediately announce you, milord. Please follow me.”
Robert followed him to a room where a fire was lit and a woman embroidered quietly in front of the fireplace.
She looked up when the butler announced Robert.
“Good afternoon, Robert.”
He gave her a small nod and approached her.
“Mrs. Hearst.”
“Please, Frances. We are family now and there is no reason to be so formal.”
“Frances. As I promised. I am here.”
“I appreciate it, Robert. I’m worried about my daughter.”
“I know,” his tone was serious, “but let me ask you something. How did you get off the boat? When you were already a day out to sea?”
“I told my husband that I needed to stay with my daughter and that nothing and nobody would stop me. I had no idea what was happening, but a mother’s instinct is not wrong and Sonia was anxious, upset by something. In the evening, I told my husband that if he knew anything it was better to tell me or no matter if he hit me I would make a scandal on that ship that surely all of American society and those who did not belong to it would find out. He usually doesn’t care about gossip but nowadays it is a big fear for him. It was then that he told me of the deal that you and Sonia made and that she believed she would be free. I cried thinking about my poor daughter and how she would feel when she realized the truth. It was something cruel and insensitive to do on the part of the three of you. Edward should not have lent himself to this. He is her brother, and he swore to me that he would find a man who really loved her.”
“I am so sorry, Frances. I am aware of how low I fell when I proposed it to Edward and the tangle I made of this whole mess.
“Please take a seat. What we’re going to talk about will take time,” Frances said, still annoyed, “but let me continue the story. When I found out everything I was very angry and told him everything I had felt against my husband a long time ago. I’ve let him get away with a lot of things for a long time largely because of the happiness of my children, but having done that to his daughter is inexcusable even though he was only thinking about her well-being. I told him to take me to the first port that we arrived at and from there to help me return to London. It was not easy, but here I am.”
“And I congratulate you,” Robert said with admiration.
Frances didn’t want to be flattered. She wanted h
im to tell her about her daughter.
“Robert, just tell me. How’s my daughter?”
“She’s fine. She’s in good health but she looks sad.”
“It’s understandable. If you tricked her into thinking she was your friend and that you shared her desire to be free and then you showed her this reality. I do not doubt that she is having a bad time.”
Robert was paralyzed. Where was the quiet, weak-looking woman who nodded to everything her husband said? The woman in front of him was completely different.
“With all due respect. I know that what we did was not good, but I also acted thinking about her, believe it or not. If I had said no, your daughter who is quite stubborn and willful, would not have hesitated for a second to make that proposal to someone else and believe me that all men are not equal. Some lack scruples and could have taken advantage of her or even destroyed her reputation.”
Frances seemed to think for a moment. “You’re right and I appreciate it, but I wanted much more in a man for my daughter than a ruined marquess who does not love her and who has saved himself thanks to her dowry. Do you think Sonia does not deserve a man who loves her?”
“Of course she deserves someone like that. Why do you think that I came here? I could have deceived your daughter. Made her think that I only needed the dowry and that I would give her a good life even if we were not a loving couple, but I fell into my own trap. I fell in love like a fool with her and the more I knew her, the more I liked the woman I discovered.” He looked at Frances desperately. “I need you to help me. I want to love her. I want her to love me. I want to give her everything she deserves, but she is afraid of love, of having a marriage with children.” Robert shook his head. “I do not know where she got that terrible idea about men. For her, they are all the same; hateful creatures that only think about their own benefit.”
Frances raised an eyebrow and looked at him carefully. “You did not help to improve her belief in that.”
Robert, who did not know what it was to blush, felt his face burn. I know and I do not know how to apologize for that anymore.
Frances sighed. “Let's have tea.” Frances sent for a tea service and began to tell Robert the reason why Sonia had these misconceptions.
CHAPTER 12
Leopold sat in his room having a drink and congratulated himself. He never thought that it would be so easy. His beloved cousin’s wife had fallen straight into his trap. The poor fool believed that he was an honorable man who cared about her misery and wanted to see her well, living a good life, away from her husband the ogre. He felt some exhilaration knowing that his plan to help Sonia escape would make his imbecile cousin suffer. All his life Robert had hated him, always humiliated him, belittled him while they were young, and then ridiculed him when they were men, by pursuing the woman that Leopold wanted for himself. In the end, she had decided on Robert. The damned bastard had seduced her and damaged her reputation. Leopold simply did not want to know anything else about her. Although now he wanted to see Robert dead, and he almost did when Robert went to war. Leopold thought that he would never see Robert again. That he would die on the battlefront but with his bad luck the wretch arrived in London as a decorated hero and in the process, he took the admiration of all the women becoming the envy of the men. For a moment Leopold could almost taste the dukedom since his uncle had no other male relative, and the title would undoubtedly go to him when the old man died. But now Robert had just married a beautiful woman who also possessed great wealth.
It was time for him to suffer and the first thing Leopold would do was to harm his wife and ruin her reputation as Robert had done with the woman Leopold was courting. Then he would simply disappear. His dear cousin would go crazy because Leopold knew that Robert loved Sonia and the pain of losing her would be terrible.
*****
Frances had spent a while talking to her Son-in-Law.
“She is a good girl. You just need to get to know her better. Her biggest fear is that a man will do what her father did to me. I was always an adornment in the house. He didn’t let me do anything. I could not have friendships and everything that I liked I had to sacrifice to please my husband. Then when we distanced ourselves, instead of fixing things, he looked for a lover and that broke my heart. It hurt so much and now we are just two strangers living in the same house for the sake of our children.”
Robert understood at that moment Sonia’s distrust and wished he could talk to her to assure her that the same thing would never happen to them because he loved her.
“Now you know everything that happened. My daughter is just a dreamy girl who wants to fall in love, but she knows no other example of a relationship than that of her parents.”
“I am sorry that you have suffered so much by your husband’s side. My mother and father did not have a good relationship. She was a frail woman and could not stand his escapades to see his lover and his gambling. I was nine years old when she died and I only remember how used up she was at the end of her days. My father was unmoved. He went to see her a couple of times and in the end, it was only the doctor and me, at the time of her death. I never forgave my father for his indifference and from that day on I promised myself that I would never be like him.”
“You have also suffered Robert. You deserve a good life and happiness. Go home and try to win over my daughter. I know her well and she has a good heart. If you show her your feelings, she will give in and give your marriage a chance.”
He took the woman’s hand and kissed it. “Thank you.”
She patted him on the cheek. “Don’t thank me yet. Go talk to her first.”
*****
Robert arrived a day later at his house. He had tried to arrive earlier, but it hadn’t been possible. Once home he looked for his wife everywhere. The maid told him that she had not seen her and that no matter how hard they had looked for her, no one could find her.
“When did this happen?”
“Yesterday afternoon, my lord. The butler sent an urgent note to London for you. We didn’t know what else to do. The only thing we have found is a letter that is addressed to you and we put it in the study. Robert went running to see the letter. It was Sonia’s handwriting and when he opened it something fell out. He bent down to take it and realized it was Sonia’s wedding ring. What have you done, my love? He thought. He began to read the note with apprehension.
Robert, please do not look for me. I think we have already said enough things, and that has sufficed to let us realize that it will not work. Your actions towards me say it all.
We are different. We do not want the same things for the future. I could never be a good wife, nor that sweet and willing woman you want to have in your life, no matter how you keep her locked in a golden cage. A life like that would kill me slowly.
The opportunity to have my freedom was presented without even looking for it and I take it as a divine sign. Leopold will help me. He is a good man, and he understands me.
Let me be happy that’s all I’m asking. You can say that I’m dead if you want to and try a marriage with a woman who wants to live the way you want.
Thanks for understanding,
S.
Robert wanted to scream with anger and despair. She had left with the worst man in the world. He was sure that Leopold would give Sonia a worse fate because all that Leopold wanted was to hurt him and he knew that in hurting her he would succeed. How could he have been such an idiot not to tell her what he felt for her when things could still be fixed? Why didn’t he stay a little longer with her? Tried to earn her trust? She could even be dead now because of that bastard.
He looked at the butler
“When did my cousin arrive at the house?”
“Almost a week ago, sir.”
“And why the hell did nobody tell me?”
“Sir, it’s your cousin, and the marchioness let him in and gave orders to prepare a room for him. We did not see the danger in that. However, I sent you a letter several days ago, but I
had no answer.”
Robert remembered telling his valet that he did not want to be shown the correspondence that day because he was busy. That he would look at it that night, and then he forgot about it. It must have been the day when the letter arrived.
“Tell the groom to prepare a horse and I want four men to accompany me to look for her. We will leave right away.”
The butler bowed his head and went out to carry out the order. Robert looked in a cabinet, a locked box, opened it and pulled out a gun. He would kill the son of a bitch for taking his wife.
*****
Robert suspected that his cousin had seduced Sonia. He remembered her kisses, caresses, the nights of passion and knew in his heart that she felt something for him and that the only reason for her running away was Leopold. He used fear to increase her desire to leave. Leopold had always been a lying, envious rat who wanted what Robert had, but the time had come for him to pay for his misdeeds.
“Lord Wilmington.” One of the men who accompanied him approached him. “It seems that they passed through here, but no one knows which direction they took. A man says they went north, but a boy says that when they fixed one of the horseshoes, he heard the coachman say that they were going to stay in a nearby inn.”
“Let’s go then.” Robert rode his horse faster. He hoped to find them soon. He was afraid of what that crazy man could do to Sonia. Especially if he tried something, and she rejected him.
Meanwhile, Sonia was stuck in a carriage on its way to an unknown destination and Leopold didn’t want to tell her where they were going. He had also begun to drink, which made his way of looking at her impertinent and shameless. God help me. Sonia mentally prayed to heaven. What if I’m in danger because of this imprudent act? She was startled when the carriage stopped unexpectedly. She looked out the window and saw that they had just arrived at an inn.
“My dear, I think we have to get down here,” Leopold said half drunk.
