Sophia gazed at herself in the mirror. Her appearance was more unkempt than usual asshe had seen no point in dressing herself up in her depressed state. She quickly fixed up her hair andsmoothed out the creases in her dress before heading out the door.
As she made her way down the stairs, Sophia to shocked to find Lady Barbara waiting there for her by the front door.
Is she lost?was the first thought that came to her mind.
“Duchess Sophia,” Barbara greeted her with a sly smile, “so glad that you could take the time to see me.”
“Lady Barbara,” Sophia acknowledged, and the memory of their last meeting began to play inside of her head.
Barbara had not given the impression that she appreciated Sophia very much with her snide remarks. In fact, she was one of the people that bad mouthed her the most about her scars. What onEarthcould she possibly have to say to Sophia now?
“It is such a pleasant day outside, is it not? I was hoping the two of us could take a walk outside.”
Sophia eyed her with suspicion.
“I am not sure what it is that you could possibly want to discuss with me, but why can we not have the conversation in the drawing room?” she asked.
“Oh, it has been a long journey to your estate, and I’ve spent the last two hours inside a carriage. Would it be so bad to get some fresh air?” Barbara replied in a sweet manner.
Sophia nodded hesitantly. As strange as her unlikely appearance was, Sophia felt curious to know what Barbara had to say.
“Very well.”
The two women made their way outside. A silence hung between them, and Sophia waited for Barbara to speak. They had walked over to the parameters of Kerling Estate when she finally decided to break her silence.
“Lady Sophia, I have to say that I was wrong about you.”
Sophia raised an eyebrow. Was she trying to extend some sort of truce between the two and apologise for the awful things she had said previously?
“In what way?” Sophia replied, curtly. She knew better than to let her guard down so easily.
“Well, for one thing, I thought that a woman like yourself would be more aware of her place in society. An outcast, fated to the life of a lonely spinster.” Barbara had finally dropped her sweet act.
“Pardon me?”
“Am I wrong? You are a cursed woman, and you should be behaving as such. But instead, your ambitions are far greater than they ought to be. You’ve managed to weasel your way into the Blackmoore family and take the title that rightfully belongs to me,” Barbara stormed.
“Belongs to you? What sort of nonsense are you uttering?” Sophia furrowed at her brow, offended at the manner in which she was being spoken to.
“Of course, you know nothing.” Barbara rolled her eyes. “I am not going to waste my time explaining it to you either, but consider this a warning to back off from the Duke. You will only curse him with your presence. In fact, you already have, judging from the state he is in.”
Sophia stopped in her tracks. Barbara was saying exactly what Sophia believed internally, but it still angered her to hear Barbara speak to her like that.
“You know nothing about me,” Sophia replied, furious. “I would advise you to keep your nose out of my private matters as you are speaking to a Duchess. Be careful about meddling into my marriage.”
“Marriage,” Barbara laughed mirthlessly, “We both know that the Duke only married you out of pity. Do you truly believe you belong in his life? A cursed woman like yourself has no place beside the Duke.”
“How dare you!”
Before Sophia could even register what was happening, Barbara raised her hand and slapped her across the face. Sophia trembled backwards, losing her balance.
“I cannot believe the audacity of a cursed woman like yourself answering back to me in such a manner,” Barbara charged towards Sophia, making her walk backward. “Your marriage is a sham. It is nothing but an unfortunate twist of events, and soon, it will cease to be a problem in my life.”
Barbara grabbed Sophia roughly by her shoulders and began navigating her towards the lake behind them.
“Unhand me,” Sophia tried to fight back, but she was weak from the last few days of not eating well. Barbara was larger than her in size and easily manipulated her.
“Oh, not so quick, dear Duchess. It is time to deal with you once and for all,” Barbara smirked, having now brought Sophia to the edge of the water. Sophia froze in fear. Water was her greatest fear, and she was terrified that she would drown if her foot slipped even by an inch.
