Different scenarios of her drowning the water and losing her family.
“What is this?” he asked himself and then realized that they sounded like how she described her nightmares.
Had Sophia been keeping track of her nightmares in this diary? His heart wrenched as he read through the descriptions. It must have been awful to be at the receiving end of them.
He noticed that the last entry that she had made was a happy one. It included him, and a smile formed on his face.
As he checked the date, he realized that it corresponded exactly with when they had their kiss and began to grow closer to each other.
She had stopped having nightmares as a result of their love. The thought warmed his heart thoroughly, and he set the notebook down again.
Now his need to reunite with Sophia grew almost double. He had to see her again.
“Duncan, my dear child!” The door to his room swung open to reveal his mother, who ran over to him and wrapped him tightly in her embrace. “I am so happy to see you standing on your feet. Your mother yearned to see you like this again.”
She kissed the top of his head as though he was a child again. When she had finally calmed down, the two of them sat down on the sofa.
“Mother, I appreciate your concern for me greatly, but I feel fine now,” Duncan tried to assure her.
“Oh, I know your nature is to not cause inconvenience to anyone, but this time, you had a brush with death. Someone attempted to poison you.” Her voice cracked as she said the words.
“I have been informed by Jacob,” Duncan noted. “Is it true that the poison was in the tea that Sophia’s aunt had sent for her?”
His mother nodded.
“Yes. We only found out when we found a letter alongside the package, addressing Sophia. But it is clear to us now that it was not Rose that sent that package. The police are investigating who it could be,” the Dowager replied.
“A letter?” Duncan raised his eyebrow. “Is it possible for you to show it to me?”
“Oh, I am not sure if it is still in our possession. Perhaps Jacob would know better.”
The Dowager summoned her youngest son into the room.
“Do you have the letter in your possession?” Duncan asked Jacob as soon as he entered the room.
“Firstly, a hello would be nice,” Jacob replied. “It is good to see you standing up on your feet.”
“Hello, Jacob,” Duncan replied sarcastically. “Would you happen to have the letter that was sent to Sophia by her aunt in your possession?”
“Yes, I took it to the constable’s station the other day, but they returned it to me since it did not give them any real information other than the sender’s name,” Jacob noted.
“May I have a look at it? It is possible that having a fresh set of eyes view it would give us a perspective that we have not considered thus far.”
“Of course,” Jacob reached into the pocket of his coat and handed over the folded piece of paper to his brother.
The color drained from the Duke’s face as he skimmed through the letter.
“What is the matter?” Jacob asked, noticing the change in his brother’s expression. When he didn’t answer, still too shocked by whatever he had read, Jacob put a hand on his shoulder.
“The poison…” The Duke let out a labored breath. “It was not an elaborate ploy to end my life; it was targeted at Sophia.”
“How on earth did you deduce that just by reading that letter?” Jacob questioned, bewildered by his brother’s claims.
Duncan gulped, feeling a knot form in his stomach.
“Sophia has been suffering from recurring nightmares ever since the accident with her family. The tea was meant to be a cure for her nightmares. Whoever sent the package intended to poison her, not me.”
“Then how is it possible that she did not suffer any symptoms of the poisoning?” Jacob asked.
