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 him 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
