Page 77 of A Dreamy Match Made in Heaven
Then again, why should they be thinking about Sophia and Thomas? If they were going to become betrothed, the evening ought to have been all about them anyway and it truly didn’t matter if anyone else minded.
Still, Sophia wanted to run away. And it appeared that Thomas wished for the same thing, although his face settled far sooner than her own did. She watched as he gave a sly glance to Officer Kingsley and Sophia wondered what might be behind it. Was there something she had not known?
Adrianna rushed over as soon as possible and grasped Sophia by the arm with a cheerful greeting.
“I am delighted to see you. You were so late, I wondered if something had happened to you. Is everything alright?” she asked.
“Oh, yes. Forgive me for being so delayed. The wheel broke off our carriage, if you can believe it. It was quite a disaster and it took the better part of an hour for it to be repaired and to get us here,” she said.
Sophia was glad for Adrianna’s form to focus on and engage in conversation with so there was no excuse to linger awkwardly while Thomas did so on the other side of the room. From the corner of her eye, she watched as he made his way over to Officer Kingsley and the two began to talk amongst themselves.
“Have I missed anything? Has your gentleman proposed?” Sophia asked in a quiet voice.
“Oh, no. Nothing like that. He may or he may not. I don’t know it for certain,” Adrianna replied.
“Oh,” Sophia said in disappointment. “I rather thought this whole evening was meant to be for that very purpose. That he would propose and then we would all celebrate.”
“Perhaps. But if not, there is nothing to worry about. I am confident that he shall propose soon enough. Now, there are plenty of our friends for you to engage with. Your dear friend Melody is here. And many others,” Adrianna remarked.
“Yes, I see that there are…many others,” Sophia replied.
“Oh, you shall have to forgive us for allowing him to come as well this evening. It is just that he is my darling’s dearest friend. I could hardly say no to him,” Adrianna said with a fake apology.
Sophia could tell that it had been orchestrated and that Adrianna had no real lament within her. This was all set up in order to get the two of them together in one space. How had she not seen it?
Adrianna gave her a guilty look and bit her lip in a delicate, feminine way that was becoming to her.
“Do you forgive me?” she asked.
Sophia sighed. “Of course I do. Although I cannot say whether or not Thomas will. His eyes bulged even larger than my own and I do not think he is overly thrilled to see me here,” she said.
“Do not make such a hasty judgment. He may be far more delighted than you realise. Honestly, I think you see him as a man who has no affections at all when in reality, he has a heart much like your own. He desires love and a future. He wants a romance with the perfect woman,” Adrianna said.
“Yes, and where is that woman? I saw her at the ball. Is she here this evening? I don’t think I could bear that. I am sorry, Adrianna, but I cannot be around both of them together,” Sophia said.
Adrianna shuffled her off further into the corner.
“Sophia,” she whispered. “The courtship between the two of them has ended. As it turns out, they did not love one another. Not for either side. They considered one another to be good friends but chose to leave it at that. There is no affection between them and there shall never be a union of matrimony.”
Sophia felt her cheeks grow hot. She was embarrassed by the idea that she had been so anxious about it, but was also overjoyed and wanted to figure out a way to hold her emotions together in light of this news.
She could hardly rejoice aloud, but it was difficult to stay silent about it. Whatever rejoicing was within her, Sophia had to keep it under the realms of propriety and the ways that would be acceptable to those around them.
And yet, when her eyes crossed the room and found Thomas, she saw that his eyes were finding her as well. And the small twitch at the corner of his mouth was a smile that left her swooning.
He was as handsome as ever. And once more, the two of them were both ready for a match.
Sophia would not allow it to be ruined this time. She would do her very best, make every effort to charm him and apologise and show that she was a better woman than he had ever seen from her before.
No matter how difficult things had been for them, she knew that a future remained and that they would finally be together.
“I think that I can see your joy returning. In such a way that I have never known it,” Adrianna remarked.
“Certainly. But I do not know if he feels exactly the same,” Sophia said, trying not to get her hopes too high. They had been crushed before. And although this optimism was a very nice thing, she wondered if she was being foolish by reading too much into his gaze.
“I think you know,” Adrianna laughed.
Sophia looked at her guiltily but still chose not to allow herself to surrender fully.
