Life was unfair and Sophia knew no one would have known it better than she right now. She grabbed a shawl and left the house from the front door without any direction as to where it was she was going, she just needed to breathe.

  Her eyes were blurry and hazy and she could barely see the ground she was walking on but she continued with her head facing towards the ground. Not too far from where her house was she came across a desolate ground that she had seen many times taking a nearby route from her house to the local marketplace. Wanting to be entirely alone, she went into the ground. A few scattered trees stood tall here and there on parched ground that had not been tended to in a very long time; it had not rained heavily this year.

  Sophia found a small quiet spot near a thin running creek and wrapped her arms around herself, the cold hitting her harsher than before. The tears had stopped now, only sadness had come.

  So, this is it. This is my grand future, the one I dreamt of building as a child, it comes down to nothing. I thought it would make him proud, having a daughter like me, but instead all he sees is shame and an impossible daughter.

  As she thought of these things, almost back to tears, a man nearby had noticed her standing there. He could not see her clearly from where he was standing as the distance between them was great. He could see a silhouette of someone he knew and without a second thought he rushed towards her.

  “What are you doing here?!” the man said with a hint of anger in his voice.

  Sophia turned around shocked and confused to see a man questioning her presence.

  “Excuse me?” she managed to ask, still baffled by who he was.

  As she turned around, the man saw her face clearly and immediately the anger was gone and he stared at her wide-eyed, quickly snapping himself out of the trance he felt he was in and apologized.

  “I am sorry. I… I thought you were someone else… someone I knew,” he said, still admiring her beautiful face.

  “You startled me! I thought you were going to kidnap me or something!” Sophia said, still having not noticed his handsome face.

  “Kidnap you? Before I announce it out loud? I am sure that is the first thing not to do when kidnapping somebody!” he said laughing, amused by her.

  “I guess so,” Sophia said as she realized the hilariousness and laughed too.

  He stopped laughing to admire hers, smiling at the way she laughed wholeheartedly and pure. There was something about her that would not make her easy to forget and he was aware of that.

  Sophia realized he was looking at her and stopped laughing and straightened up, feeling nervous and trying to hide her shyness after having noticed how incredibly good-looking he was.

  “Well, I have to go, my family will be wondering where I went off to,” she said, clearing her throat and not actually wanting to go home.

  “Right, right. I am sorry again, I didn’t mean to startle you,” he replied, remembering how they had met.

  “That is alright,” she answered him, wanting to stay a little bit longer.

  “Have a pleasant day,” he said, tipping his hat and awkwardly walking in the opposite direction.

  She hesitantly walked back home, her mind now distracted by the strange man’s face.

  Something about his eyes… I do not know if he saw something in mine too… Sophia! Snap out of it! You are never going to meet him again; you do not even know his name!

  She climbed the porch steps back to the house ready to face her parents again, her father would be waiting to talk more on the matter and for preparations to start as soon as possible, this had to be done before anymore interferences could present themselves.

  Indeed, her father was sitting in the drawing room waiting for her to come back. Her mother sat next to him, her legs crossed quite content with her husband handling everything and not her.

  “How was your walk, Sophia?” asked her father as she stepped into the drawing room.

  Sophia remained quiet, she couldn’t mention the strange man she had met and she felt that she didn’t quite need to either.

  “Now, if you sit, we can talk about this a little more,” he instructed her, gesturing with his hand to the seat in front of him.

  Sophia sat quietly, not wanting to argue as she was tired and felt light-headed.

  “The man’s name is Elliot Clerk, and he is a wonderful man, whose father I’ve known for many, many years. He works as an article clerk and he’s a good man who would keep you happy,” her father said.

  Sophia didn’t say a word.

  “I’ve invited him to come over tomorrow, so that you two may meet and get to know each other a little better. You never know how many things you may have in common. You have the right to know each other and so he’ll stay for dinner,” he said, in more of an order than a choice.

  Sophia looked at him blankly.

  “Is that all, then?” she asked, as she got up to leave.

  “Yes. For now,” her father replied, not expecting her to behave in this manner. He had thought a tantrum or outburst would follow, some sort of reaction for opposing it, but nothing occurred.

  She got up and left without a word and cried herself to sleep, knowing there was nothing she could do, not any more.

  Chapter Five

  The next day, Sophia, feeling glum, stayed in her room, opting out of having breakfast and beginning a hunger strike that didn’t really last very long as Mary, out of sympathy, sneaked food in for her shortly after breakfast.

  At afternoon, despite her long and sincere prayers, there was a knock on the door, and soon after Mary came into Sophia’s room to inform her of who had just arrived.

  “Sophia! He’s here!” Mary said as she rushed into the room.

  “I know, I heard the door open and Father with his enthusiastic and overjoyed voice greeting him,” Sophia said, still dressed in her sleepwear.

  “You know you are going to have to come downstairs, right?” Mary asked her curiously after realizing she was still not dressed.

  “I know, but….” Sophia began saying when she drifted off into silence, lost in thought.

  “What is it?” Mary asked curiously, seeing her sister’s facial expression change.

  “I’ve got it! Mary? You know how women have to be oh-so polite and graceful when these men show up wanting to marry them? Usually completely fake and putting on this great façade? Well I am not going to do that! I am going to tell him how it is, there is no near hypocrisy coming from me! Not if I can help it!” Sophia said with a sudden burst of energy.

  “What?” Mary asked, still confused.

  “Oh you’ll see! Now go, go! I need to get dressed. Out, Mary!” Sophia said pushing her out of her room hurriedly.

  Sophia rushed to her cupboard and picked out a dress neither too fancy nor too casual and slipped it on and pinned her hair. I need to be subtle, otherwise Father will be angered thinking that I was set out to do this. I need to make it look natural.

  She waited in her room, for her father or mother to call and in a little while, she heard her father coming upstairs.

  “Sophia?” he knocked politely on her door.

  “Yes, come in,” she answered him, neutrally.

  “We need you downstairs, oh … you are dressed,” her father said, surprised that she was ready.

  “Yes, isn’t that what you do when people arrive to your house?” Sophia responded with a hint of bitterness.

  “Rightly so, now come on down and please, be on your best behavior,” her father said, leaving the door open and leaving, expecting her to follow behind him.

  She went downstairs, lifting her dress slightly above the floor so she would not trip. As she entered the living room, she saw a young man sitting uneasy on one of the settees. He straightened up when he saw her and gave her a polite smile before he darted his eyes off her, hoping not to be too rude or eager.

  “Ah, glad you have joined us Sophia!” her father said as though they hadn’t met in ages.

  “This is Elliot. He’s here to meet you. Why do not you have a seat right here?” her father suggested; sitting across from him.

  Sophia sat where she was asked to and analyzed the man who sat before her. He had dark brown hair and brown eyes, he was younger than she liked but she couldn’t say he was bad-looking. He fit a gentleman’s look well and he clearly knew how to dress.

  “Hello, it is nice to meet you Sophia. I am Elliot,” Elliot started the conversation as Sophia sat idle and was quiet.

  “Yes I know, my father just told me,” Sophia said, pointing out the absurdity of him having told her again.

  “Oh right! I am sorry. It is just, you are very beautiful and I am not one to get so nervous usually,” he said awkwardly.

  This is why I do not like little boys, Sophia thought to herself, unimpressed by the absence of masculinity and confidence that she very much admired.

  “Well, I will leave you two alone to get to know each other. I am glad you are staying for dinner Elliot. You are going to love the roasts my wife makes!” Sophia’s father joked, getting up to leave. Elliot laughed out of politeness, it was very obvious to Sophia.

  They were left alone and there was silence in the room.

  “So tell me about your interests and hobbies,” Elliot asked, trying to initiate conversation once again.

  “I have many…,” Sophia answered him “…some of which you may even oppose or dislike,” she added with an ulterior motive.

  “Some I’d dislike? Please do explain? I do not think I’d mind anything civilized and in the limitations of a decent, noble minded woman,” Elliot asked, highly amused by her statement and not taking her very seriously.

  “Define what you mean by the limitations of a noble minded woman? Are you trying to imply that I may not be? If I believe in something that women have not done so much before?” Sophia asked with an eyebrow raised.

  “In that case, it really does depend what you are on about. I cannot say anything more without you telling me what it is you are talking about,” Elliot said in a firmer tone now.

  “I want be a physician, like my father. I want a partner, a husband that would support me in this dream of mine,” Sophia said out loud, boldly.

  “A physician? Why so? Why would you want to leave the comfort of your house to be a physician?” asked Elliot unable to comprehend what she was saying.

  “Why does my father do it? I want to help people, to do something productive in life rather than just tending to house chores. I want to aid sick people and nurse them to health with all my ability,” Sophia explained without going into details, judging by his face that he already disapproved.

  “I would not like that; I would not want to come home to no wife or dinner. I like things the old-fashioned way, men go to work and earn money to support their family and women stay happy in their houses, raising kids and taking care of things at home,” he said, stating strictly what he did approve of.

  Sophia studied his face, it had gone from a soft kind-natured man to a rough stern man, although she knew this was probably most likely, for people to be so different from the inside, it was still astonishing to see it happening right before her very eyes.

  “I am sorry, but that is what I want and what I need, you have the right to your own opinion but this is mine,” Sophia told him bluntly.

  “Very well then, there is no need for me to waste my time with a woman who does not value our traditional culture. I will be leaving, thank you,” Elliot said getting up and dismissing himself, without a moment to lose.

  “Very well, then,” Sophia replied, expressionless.

  “Goodbye, Sophia,” he said at last, before he walked out the door and grabbed his coat from the coat rack and left.

  Now the actual storm will come.

  Chapter Six

  There was yelling and arguing and more yelling, accusations being thrown back and forth, everybody hot-headed; the storm had come.

  “How dare you?! How dare you shame us like this? You purposely said things that made him want to go away! Sophia did you not think of your parents?! Of our respect? I cannot face my friend anymore! What am I going to say to him?” Sophia’s father was yelling, loud enough for the whole house to ring with his voice.

  “I didn’t do it on purpose. We were talking, sharing our views and opinions and they didn’t match. That was all. You should believe me, but you will not!” Sophia defended herself.

  “No Sophia! That is it! I will not have any of it! Go to your room until I know how to fix the situation. Why couldn’t you be like other girls?” her father sent her to her room, consumed by rage.

  Sophia didn’t respond to him; he’d only get angrier.

  How things have changed in just a matter of days? What hell has come upon me? How can something so noble for men be such a disaster for women? Will it always be like this or will I eventually give up? One of us has to. I thought Mother was the issue, but alas, it is much more shameful to know that my father, despite his profession and education is no different than my mother; that is where the shame lies.

  Life was not going to be easy for her from here on now, this she was aware of knowing that now she didn’t have her father’s support either. Before it used to be just her mother she had to deal with, now her father would need handling, too.

  She spent the next few days in her room, idly looking at the walls and thinking long and hard about what life had come to. Mary visited her often trying to cheer her up and doing her best to support her sister as best as she could. She spent her time reading romance novels and painting, trying to divert her mind and adding some color to her dull and gloomy life.

  One day, she wanted to visit the local market to get a set of new paints in hopes that the change of environment would help brighten her mood. Ever since the incident, the house seemed more of a cage than a home; her parents didn’t talk to her, her sister was always way too worried, she stayed in her room waiting for things to get better even though knowing they may never be the same again.

  The market wasn’t too far from where she lived, and she would go often with her mother to get food and essentials, sometimes sneaking off from her mother to get lost in the crowd for a while. The walk was always refreshing for Sophia, although she longed to go alone without her mother at her side, especially now that they were barely speaking.

  “Mother, will you come to the market with me today? I must get some new paints,” Sophia asked her mother as she walked into the kitchen.

  “I should be happy to,” her mother replied, getting up to straighten and pin up her hair, happy that Sophia was taking an interest in something outside of her bedroom walls.

  Crisp air filled her lungs as she took what felt like her first breaths in days. Walking there, it was nice to see new faces, and not just the miserable ones of her parents and the walls.

  Everybody has a story; maybe some worse than mine. Who knows what that woman living without her husband, who lives across the streets is going through? Or that old man at the end of the road who does not like visitors? Or the couple that have had no children for many years now? My problems are definitely smaller than theirs, maybe I should consider Elliot, for how long can I actually live like this? How long can I be this alone?

  Lost and tangled in these thoughts, she went through the busy streets with her mother that were crowding just before the market area, the many women, men and children hurrying to buy things. What a bad time to come! We should have come here earlier!

  She became separated from her mother, quite happy about it as she wanted to explore a little on her own.

  Trying to get through the crowd of people, she bumped into somebody, dropping the things they were carrying all over the ground.

  “Oh! I am so sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was going! Are you alright?” Sophia asked instantaneously, without seeing who it really was and proceeding to pick the books that had scattered and fallen on the floor.

  “No that is alright, I am fine…” said a familiar voice, pausing to have recognized Sophia.

  Sophia looked up to see who the man was and she too, recognized him immediately.

  “You?” Sophia said to the man she had encountered once before in the ground near her house.

  “Yes, fancy meeting you here, woman whose name I still do not know,” he said smiling at the sight of her.

  “I do not know your name either, man whose name I still do not know either,” she replied back, smartly.

  “True. This must be fate, running into you again like this,” he suggested, still smiling.

  “Or maybe it is a very little town and everyone comes to this market to purchase their goods?” she rationalized his statement.

  “I like you!” he said, laughing and highly amused by her humor.

  Sophia blushed a little, trying very hard to hide it from him.

  He noticed and admired her even more.

  “My name is Duke Seth Colborne, and it is a pleasure to meet you, once again by chance,” he said extending his hand out for her’s.

  “Duke?! You must be joking!” Sophia said laughing, thinking he was not serious.

  “What is so funny? Oh you do not think I could be a Duke do you?” he asked smiling, liking the sound of her laughter.

  “You? No! Not at all!” she continued laughing.

  “Does my handsome face not say Duke all over it?” he asked playfully.

  “Surely you have mistaken yourself for one!” she said, trying to control her laughter.

  “But I jest you not, fair maiden for I am a Duke, whether you believe it or not!” he said in an assuring tone, kindly.

  Sophia stopped laughing and saw that he was clearly not jesting. He really is a Duke!

  “You are not jesting, are you?” Sophia asked him, suspiciously.

  “No I am afraid, I am not,” he said smiling.

  “I am not going to apologize, even if you are a Duke,” she said, even though she was impressed by him.

  “I would never ask you to, what I will ask from you is your name. What name could justify the beautiful woman before me, please do tell?” he asked charmingly.

 

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