Page 1 of A Dreamy Match Made in Heaven
Chapter 1
Sophia Hastings wrenched her neck from one side to the other, hearing it crack in each direction. Her mother glanced up from her needlework to give her daughter a warning look, which Sophia promptly glanced away from and put her brown eyes back to the embroidery she was working on.
The clock ticked in the parlour and, along with Sophia’s neighbour and dearest friend, Adrianna Alcott, she tried to focus on the image of threads without crossing her eyes too hard.
“You mustn’t allow the Earl to see you making that expression,” Sophia’s mother, Lady Silsby laughed.
Adrianna instantly began to chuckle with her, at Sophia’s expense. But Sophia took it as usual with her light-hearted demeanour and laughed along with them, knowing that she must look entirely ridiculous as she was about her needlework.
“I shan’t, I promise. He shall see me only at my absolute best,” she teased them in reply, rudely blowing a burst of her auburn hair from where it had fallen in front of her face.
Sophia would not allow her large, saucer shaped, brown eyes to be seen in such a ridiculous light by her intended. She wished for the Earl of Bastion to only note her beauty and her wit, certainly not her failure as an embroiderer or the foolishness with which she still made an effort to learn the craft.
“Well, I should certainly hope so. He is a man of fine standing and he is not one that you should lose,” Lady Silsby replied with an eyebrow raised.
“Do not worry, Mother. It was the Earl that pursued me. I think there is nothing I can do that would steer him away now,” Sophia said, ignoring the stirring of guilt in her gut.
Soon an official engagement would be announced. She was certain of it. And despite the fact that there would be those…or certainly one, who would be saddened by it, there was little that Sophia could do to change any of it now.
The Earl had been interested in her and had taken great pains to express it. There was nothing more that she could have done but to accept and move forward.
He was an excellent match, to be sure. Wealthy, titled, the very sort that would elevate the status of her own family. And of course, he was a man of great repute. Anyone who managed to be associated with the Earl was seen as exemplary.
And he had set his eyes on Sophia Hastings. That was a pride that she made every effort to dwell in and to accept. She had been the choice of a great man, and somehow that was the most important thing any young woman could hope for.
“You are so fortunate to have managed to find a man like him. I should think that Mama and Papa would be overjoyed if I managed such a feat. You shall have to tell me how it was done,” Adrianna said with a bright, red-lipped smile on her pale face.
Her features reminded Sophia of a strawberry, with such natural colour in her cheeks and mouth set against an otherwise pale face. The freckles that dusted her nose were impossible to hide and the soft red of her hair showed her to be British through and through.
Adrianna’s mother and father had only recently come to the area. The Lord and Lady Danby had decided they needed a new estate out in the country, and it had put the two young women near one another.
Sophia had been glad for it. She had always found the country to be boring, and her mother and father had only recently been taking her into London again for the latest season. But now they had returned to their estate, where they typically remained. Her father was not a fan of the city and went only on business most of the time.
But it had been during the past season in which Sophia had met the Earl of Bastion and he had expressed a great interest in her. And although it had caused a number of changes to come about in her life, she had accepted them and chosen to make the best of them.
“I imagine that he shall come to the estate any day now and propose. Oh, or do you think he shall wait until the Mayweather Ball that is happening in two weeks? Are you going? We got our invitation yesterday,” Adrianna remarked.
“Oh yes, we shall certainly go. So long as I can convince Papa to take us into town for it,” Sophia laughed. “But I cannot say if or when the Earl shall propose. He has been courting me for quite some time now and I imagine that he shall have to propose very soon.”
“I am sure it shall be some grand gesture. Perhaps that is why it has taken so long. He is probably planning something great for you,” Adrianna dreamed. “Something out of a fairytale with pure white horses and a visit to one of the castles, even…”
Sophia laughed. “I cannot imagine he should do something as grand as all of that, but I would hardly be opposed if he did!”
“Well, whenever it comes, it shall not be today or tomorrow,” Lady Silsby inserted. “He is currently away on a trip to London. I believe he is set to return in two days.”
Sophia nodded, remembering that the Earl had a trip planned for the week. She wondered when she would see him again. He was such a handsome man that she hardly minded any opportunity to look upon him.
And his charm was tremendous. She was always amazed by his humour and wit. Of course, Sophia knew that she was overly romantic, as people frequently reminded her. But it did not change the fact that she enjoyed hearing every word from his lips.
“Well, I expect that whenever he returns, the time has finally come for him to make a proposal. The Earl knows that you are expecting it and that we have already arranged every matter with him regarding the marriage. So be patient, my dear,” Lady Silsby added.
“You’re right, Mama. I know that all shall come together soon enough. I simply cannot wait to make you and Father proud by marrying a man like the Earl,” Sophia declared.
For a moment all went quiet in the room, but Lady Silsby set down her own needlework and looked up at Sophia with a question in her eyes.
“Have you heard anything of late from Mr. and Mrs. Gregory?” she asked.
The twisting returned to Sophia’s gut. She had not anticipated this question from her mother and wished that she could pretend she had not heard it.
