Now Mavis listened as Sophie confessed her predicament and Captain Overtree’s astounding offer.
“Oh, my dear!” Mavis breathed, eyes round. “But what about Wesley? I know how you feel about him.”
Sophie nodded. “I love him. Body and soul. But...” She shook her head in regret. “What you must think of me. You did try to warn me, I know.”
“Never mind that now. We have all made mistakes. I would be the last to condemn you. In fact, I feel responsible. What sort of a chaperone have I been? Your father will be so disappointed in me.”
“It isn’t your fault.”
“Wesley is a very handsome man, and he paid you such marked attention. I can easily understand how you might be tempted. But I thought him a gentleman, so I was not as vigilant as I should have been.” Mavis clucked her tongue. “Still I never guessed he would leave you like this, to face this alone.”
“Don’t blame him too harshly,” Sophie defended. “I didn’t... exactly... tell him.”
Mavis cringed. “Oh, Sophie.”
“I hoped he was about to ask me to marry him, and I didn’t want him to feel forced. I told myself I would wait just a little longer, and then if he did not ask, I would find the courage to tell him. I thought he loved me. I still do, in my heart of hearts. He is the one I want. Not his brother. Not a stranger I don’t know. And what Ihaveheard about him does not bode well.”
“What do you mean?” Mavis’s brow furrowed.
“Wesley spoke of his foul temper, his disapproving and cold manner. His tendency to strike first and ask questions later.”
“That could be his military training—not necessarily his natural disposition. You... don’t think he would hurt you, do you?”
“I don’t think so, but what do I know? I have only just met him.”
“You are in an awful predicament, my dear. But what other choice do you have? Tell me you aren’t thinking of marrying Maurice.”
Sophie’s stomach soured at the thought. “Never.” Her father might think highly of the young man, but Sophie neither liked nor trusted him.
“Good. Then what will you do—wait for Wesley?”
“I don’t know. As his brother points out, unless Wesley reaches Italy and immediately takes the next ship back, I shall be well past the point of hiding my condition.”
“But... would that be the worst thing? If you really thought he would marry you as soon as he learned the truth?”
“I don’t know. His parents no doubt hope for a more advantageous match. But Ithinkhe would marry me if he knew.”
“Are you confident enough to risk your life on that? Your future and that of your child?”
Sophie thought again of Wesley’s blithe parting words. And his brother’s regretful conclusion that he would not be coming back, at least not for her. Captain Overtree would have no reason to mislead her, would he?
“I don’t know,” Sophie admitted.
“I’m glad you’re not considering the drastic course women sometimes take.” Mavis nibbled her lip, then tentatively continued, “I once... knew a woman—a former painter’s model, like me—who found herself in a similar predicament, and felt she had no other choice.”
Sophie had heard of the dangerous things desperate girls sometimes did to avoid losing their respectability, loved ones, marriage prospects, or livelihoods. She shuddered. “I could never do that. Not to an innocent babe.”And especially not to Wesley’s child, she added to herself.
Mrs. Thrupton nodded. “I have to say that relieves my mind.”
Sophie asked, “What happened to that woman—do you know?”
Mavis nodded, eyes distant in memory. “She went on to marry, her secret never becoming known. But years later, I . . . saw her, and she admitted she deeply regretted it. I tried to comfort her, reminding her she had done what she’d thought she had to. But they were hollow words.”
“Poor woman.” Sophie sadly shook her head and pressed a hand to her slim abdomen.
Mavis inhaled deeply and drew herself up. “I can’t tell you what to do, Sophie. You know enough of my history to know I married a man I didn’t love. Mr. Thrupton was not a bad man, but he didn’t love me either. I wouldn’t wish that sort of life for you, my dear. But plenty of people marry for reasons other than love. It’s not the worst fate. I survived, and so can you.”
Sophie thought of her father, who had enjoyed a loving relationship with her mother, while she lived. Sophie still didn’t understand why he had married Augusta O’Dell a few years ago, a widow with a cruel tongue and three small children. Had he thought he would grow to love her? Or had he believed any marriage would be better than loneliness?
