“Dear, please wait for me outside. This disagreeable visit won’t last much longer,” Robert told Sonia as she left the room.
Once they were alone Robert’s father began to yell. It was impossible not to hear him from outside the room although Sonia tried. But once she heard her name followed by the words American bitch Sonia was curious and entered a connecting room. She tried to hear what they were saying. Robert’s father yelled that that was the deal. That he would put up with Robert marrying a savage from the colonies and mixing his lineage with the American in exchange that she give her fortune to solve their financial ruin.
“I can not believe that woman is so stupid that she has not realized that she is really married and I do not understand why you have not told her. She should jump for joy to know that she is married to a future duke.”
Sonia heard them and couldn’t believe that it was all a lie. He had deceived her from the beginning. Robert never felt anything at all for her. She had been thinking for a few days that perhaps things would be different if she stayed with him. Instead of separating and going far away like she had originally planned. She had to give him credit. Robert really knew how to fake his feelings for her. What worried her the most out of their conversation was the part where his father mentioned that their marriage was real. If that was true then Robert was more cunning than she had thought and he took advantage of her desire for freedom to trap her. She didn’t want to think about it because if it was true her dowry belonged to him now and she wouldn’t be able to go anywhere. Furious she ran to her room to think and decide what to do next. Sonia didn’t have much luck because as soon as Robert’s father left he went in search of her and she couldn't contain her anger.
“Here you are.” Robert smiled. “I thought you had escaped.”
“I have no reason to escape.” Sonia looked at him with distrust. “Or do I?”
Robert noticed the change in her demeanor. “Has something happened?”
“I heard your father speak ill of me.”
“Dear, you know he is a difficult person.”
“That’s not what bothers me, Robert.” She looked at him defiantly. “When are we going to sit down and talk about things? We agreed that we would do so once my father left.”
“Sonia, please! Your father just boarded the boat. Can’t you wait until tomorrow?”
“I could. If I knew that you hadn’t been lying to me the entire time. Was the priest who married us false?”
Robert stood as still as a statue. “Of course, he was,” Robert stuttered.
“Don’t tell me any more lies Robert,” Sonia shouted. “I believed in you. You told me that we would do this so that in the end each one of us would be free to go our own way and now I find out that isn’t true.” Sonia paced through the room. “God! I was so stupid.”
Robert saw that she was devastated and walked closer. “I know that I have no excuse, dear. I was desperate to pay off my father’s debts and start a new life. At first, I saw you as the solution to my problems but deep down you impressed me. As time passed, I found I was more attracted to you and I like your demeanor. So different from the other women that I talked to.”
“I don’t want to hear you. You’re despicable! I just want to leave here. I want my part of the dowry and I want to move far away without a man to complicate my life.”
Robert tried not to explode in anger. He knew that she was confused and angry but he was not going to allow such behavior in his house and in front of the staff. Her screams must have already been heard throughout the house.
“I’m sorry but I cannot allow that?”
“You’re going to force me to stay with you?”
“Don’t be immature.” He took her by the arms. “At this point, you may be expecting a child.”
“If this is so, I will leave with my child and take care of it alone. I don’t care what people say. Annul the marriage.”
“Dammit!” Robert lost his patience. “I’m not going to ask for an annulment. You will stay in this house and fulfill your duty as my wife and if you do not like it, then you’ll stay locked in your room.” He left the room and locked it so she could not leave. Robert knew how impulsive she was. He was sure she would try to escape.
Sonia began to scream. “You have no right to lock me up.”
“When you behave like my wife and you calm down to talk quietly, I’ll let you out of there.”
“Open the door! I hate you.” Sonia boiled with rage. Her screams were clearly heard through the door.
Robert did not answer and Sonia could hear Robert’s footsteps walking away from the room. When he went downstairs, he ordered that no one was to open the door and specifically ordered Charlotte not to try to help her or he would fire her.
Sonia paced from one side of the room to the other. Robert was a detestable being. How could he do that to her? She would never be a wife to him.
Someone knocked on the door softly.
“Charlotte?”
“Yes, milady.”
“Thank God, Charlotte get me out of here.”
The girl spoke to her through the door. “I can’t milady, Lord Wilmington told me that if I help you, he will fire me. He has strictly forbidden anyone to open the door.”
“You prefer to follow his orders instead of mine?”
“No, milady, don’t think that way. You know that I don’t know anyone
