And never had she questioned it. All her life, she had been happy to tell herself that whoever her parents chose for her, she would be pleased with. It was not her role to question them or judge them. She was their daughter to do with as they wished.
But was that what she wanted? Now that she considered it closer, she wasn’t so sure that it was.
Why did she have to marry whoever her parents said? Why was her life theirs to control? Why did she not get to choose, or do as she wanted? Why could she not be free to make her own decisions?
“Miss Sophia…” The Duke spoke softly. “Do you have an answer for me?”
“I… I… I…”
The answer should have been no. She should have laughed and walked away. Her parents would be furious. Her friends would judge her. And she had no idea how she might explain any of this.
But in the back of her mind, niggling away, was the prospect of what this meant. For the first time in her life, she saw a path different to that which she had always walked. It was a path ofno rules, a path of freedom, a path where she could follow her dreams like never before.
It excited her. And when she found the Duke’s probing eyes, that excitement grew. She glanced at his lips, the thrill of the kiss shared rolled through her, and she realized that what she had felt from that kiss was not lust or armor. Rather, it was freedom.
I want to be free to make my own choice. To do as I please, to play music as I feel it, to live my own life like my parents had never allowed.
These thoughts filtered through her mind and before she could stop to consider their merits of if this was the stupidest thing she had ever done, she was speaking.
“Yes,” she said distantly.
“Excuse me?” he asked.
She snapped her head up and looked at him. Not with determination. Not with dismissal. But with passion. “Yes,” she said again. “I will marry you.”
“I thought so.” The Duke broke into a smile and then he took her hand. “And might I say, you will not regret it. I promise you that.”
“That is not up to you,” she said firmly, a fire now burning inside of her. “That is up to me.”
The Duke laughed. “Well put.”
There they stood. The Duke holding her hand. Sophia burning with a sense of excitement like she had never felt before. She wanted to sing. She wanted to dance. She wanted to scream as she had never been allowed. It was all so exciting… and dangerous.
“What now?” she asked him, thinking to pull her hand away but finding herself unable to. “What… what do we do?”
“I think we should return to the party,” the Duke said. “And tomorrow, I will pay you and your family a visit to tell them the good news. How does that sound?”
“My family…” She swallowed back the nerves, because she suddenly pictured her father and mother’s face and it terrified her.No, do not fear them. He is a duke after all, and they should be thrilled, if not a little confused.“Yes,” she said. “That sounds… that sound agreeable.”
He laughed. “I am so glad you think so.”
The Duke was the first to walk outside, insisted upon by Sophia because she did not want them to be seen together. This also gave her a few minutes to contemplate what she had done.
Most interestingly, now that she was alone and able to conceive of all that had happened, it was not fear of the unknown thatplagued her. It was not worry that consumed her. Nor was it panic that took her. Rather, Sophia felt excitement.
Her body was tingling with this excitement as she started back through the house, and before long she was smiling. She still could not believe it, and she still could not fathom what this might mean for her. The one thing she did know was that nothing in her life would be the same again.
It was when she walked outside that she noticed a change having taken place at the small gathering. Where moments earlier, the guests were sitting about and talking, they now stood around a small dance floor that had opened at the garden’s center.
It was a makeshift dance floor, done on the grass and between hedges. And the music came from a single violinist, so that while the dancing looked to be a classic waltz, the tune wasn’t quite right. But she smiled to see it and laughed as she approached.
“Sophia!” Lucy swept toward her. “Where have you been?”
“Just inside,” Sophia said happily. She could not believe how good she felt. Howfree. “Washing up. When did this happen?”
“Oh, this…” She blew through her lips. “It was Anna’s idea. She thought the party needed to be more lively.”
Sophia was nodding along but not paying her friend attention. That was saved for those dancing. Her smile was seen in her eyes, excitement flooding through her. Ordinarily, Sophia wouldnever dance at a function like this. Not without her parents there. Not with a partner who she was not being courted by. That simply wasn’t proper.
