“I’m just telling the truth. Everybody knows it.” She stood up from her chair and walked quickly to the door. “I’m going to talk to your father, my dear, but will give the servants the order to bring you some pastries with a little more tea.” She smiled and walked to Sonia. “My dear Miss Hearst, consider this your home.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” Sonia slightly bowed her head.
When the woman left, Sonia could not help but smile. “Your mother is right. Everyone says she’s a harpy but they only do it behind her back. I am glad that Rowyna has her own home. She deserves to be happy. She is a kind and beautiful young woman.”
“That’s true,” Claire agreed. “I don’t know what it is about England, but it’s taking the best young ladies from New York. There are many young women traveling there for their presentations into society.”
“Don’t even mention it. My father wants me to do the same and I cannot stand the idea.”
“Oh God, Sonia!” Claire cried, surprised to hear the news. “How can that be?” Claire could not believe what she had just heard.
“A couple of days ago, father communicated his intentions to send me to England with Edward. Incidentally, Edward is tasked with helping me find a husband with a title.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. It is terrible to leave everything I know to go to a place where I have nothing in common.”
“It’s terrible. I won’t say it’s not, but dear, you can see the good side and in that way make your stay there more bearable.”
“I don’t know...”
“You don’t know who you will meet. There are many Americans living in England. You can make good friends with them.”
“And what of the man my father will sell me to?”
Claire rolled her eyes. “Sonia, don’t think about him that way.”
“That’s how I see it, because there and everywhere men only have wives for adornment and to raise children. They think it’s normal to have a mistress and even keep them in huge houses in the countryside or in the city right in front of the eyes of their wives. Wives who have no choice but to play the fool and all in exchange for a house, a title, and a new wardrobe.”
Claire walked around the room and caressed one of her books. “I don’t know what I would do if my mother forced me to be with someone I don’t love.”
“Fortunately, that’s not going to be a problem for you. You are in love with Felton Bar and he feels the same for you. You only have to wait for him to receive permission and he will come to ask for your hand.”
“I can’t wait for that to happen,” Claire said excitedly, “I can already imagine myself as Felton’s wife.”
“From what I’ve heard you’re very close to being the wife of Colonel Felton Bar.” Sonia smiled.”
“Sonia, I’ll be honest.” Claire sat down beside her. “I don’t care about his rank. My family is impressed by his military career, but I am in love with the man.”
Sonia chuckled. “I believe you, but you’re not going to deny that the uniform is very impressive.” The two of them laughed, and that alleviated the tension Sonia felt in her heart a little.
After spending a pleasant evening with her good friend, Sonia arrived home and heard noises in the sitting room. She went to see if it was her mother and found her mother speaking with her brother. He tried to reassure their mother because of her concern for the trip.
“Mother, don’t fret anymore. I’m not going to let a man who does not love my sister marry her. Besides, my father has arranged an enormous dowry for whoever marries her. There will be no man of the nobility or outside of it. Who won’t be interested in a betrothal with my sister.”
“I only ask God that Sonia find a good man from among those who are interested in her.”
“She will, but she needs to begin to mature and stop being so capricious.”
Sonia from behind the door wanted to say a few things to her brother. She was not capricious, but in her family, they didn’t understand that she didn’t want to marry.
“No man will want to put up with a willful and stubborn wife who only wants to get her own way and is disobedient.”
“If there is a man for her, he’ll know how to win her heart and make her follow his ideas without having to impose them,” Frances said.
“I’m not so sure about that, but I’ll do my best to get her married in England. It is what is expected of any respectable lady from the upper class.”
Frances stood up. “I think it’s best that I go and continue with my sewing. We have very different ideas son. Maybe when you find true love, you’ll realize that it is not about imposing or obeying. It’s about having someone so deep inside your heart that you won’t have the need for orders and will lower your guard. You will only want to do things for her because you’ll want to make her happy.” She approached him and caressed his face. “I love you very much, my son.”
Edward looked uncomfortable but didn’t pull away. Gestures of affection were not his thing. “I love you too, Mother,” he said dryly and watched her go.
CHAPTER 2
Two weeks later, Sonia and her brother Edward were traveling on a huge ship to England. The first days were hard. She vomited everything that she ate and barely left her room. She rarely went up to enjoy the good weather and when it was bad weather, she just wanted to die.
“I’m not made for life at sea. That’s for sure,” she told her maid.
“Miss, if you like I can put some cold water compresses on.”
“That won’t help,” Sonia said, holding onto the contents of her stomach
