Page 69 of A Dreamy Match Made in Heaven
“Truly?” he asked.
“Certainly. Why would you even question it?” she asked in reply.
“Well, as things did not go how the two of you had planned, I assumed that something had come about which led you to dislike him,” Officer Kingsley said with a shrug of his shoulder.
Sophia was miserable at this assumption. How could anyone believe that she found Thomas to be disagreeable? He was such an incredible man. If people believed that the union between them had broken due to her dissatisfaction, they might think ill of him.
“Not in the slightest. He is a very good man. In every way. Our union ended because of another who got in the way, and he and I each believed the other to have become indifferent as a result,” Sophia explained with passion.
“Forgive me, perhaps I was unaware that the two of you both felt this way. I know that he believes you fell out of love with him for a time. But he has since admitted his own stubbornness,” Officer Kingsley said.
“Oh, it was my stubbornness that ruined it all. He was so good and kind to me. I could have spent my life hoping for a man like him and never found one. And I think that I never shall again,” Sophia declared.
She wondered if she had said too much, but as she saw the compassion in their eyes, Sophia knew that she had been just fine to entrust them. Adrianna had always been trustworthy and Officer Kingsley had been rather easy to speak to and get along with. She felt that he had already become a friend as well.
In her mind, he was as much a friend to her as he was to Thomas. So surely there was nothing wrong in confessing that she had made a grave mistake and that Thomas was still someone that she deeply admired and cared for.
“So you regret what happened between the two of you?” Adrianna asked, her paramour giving her a look to urge the question.
“Certainly I do. I regret that it is now far too late to go back. I have ruined any chance that may have existed between us. Even the opportunity that we were given by Miss Wainwright, I have lost. I destroyed it with my ridiculous grudge. The bitterness that I held against him prevented me from seeing what an opportunity I had,” she admitted.
Sophia looked away, but she sensed from the corner of her eye a glance that passed between Officer Kingsley and Adrianna. Yes, perhaps she had been a fool to share all of this, but she had done so nevertheless and this was how it was.
“Do you not think there is anything that can be done to reclaim another chance? What if there was another way for the two of you to be brought back together?” Adrianna asked.
“No. It is too late,” Sophia sighed.
“But why?” Adrianna pushed.
Sophia looked at Officer Kingsley, knowing that he would be aware of the other woman that Thomas was courting.
“As you know, he has found another. I can hardly stand in the way of such happiness. No matter how deeply I care for him, I am not to be with him. He has found another, a woman who will truly make him happy.
“And I can only wish him all the best with her. I can only wish that he would feel the joy that we once had together,” Sophia lamented, trying to remain positive for his sake.
“You are a very good woman to have such high hopes for him even when it wounds you,” Officer Kingsley said. “I can understand why he speaks so fondly about you.”
“Oh, I imagine that he often speaks badly about me. But perhaps he has been gentleman enough not to spread those thoughts. After all, it would reflect poorly on him as well if he told the world what a miserable woman I was, how I ruined our every chance,” she said.
“No, he has said nothing of the sort. Once he realised that he had misunderstood your intentions all that time ago, I think he felt rather sad that there ever existed such a misunderstanding between you two,” he replied.
“Oh well. It is too late for anything to change now,” she said.
This time she saw the look that passed between the two friends, one of planning and scheming. It was a look that she had grown used to.
But the rest of the time was spent enjoying the sun that had grown warmer and before long, it was time for Sophia and Officer Kingsley to each depart Adrianna’s home.
When Sophia arrived at her estate, she went back to life as it had been before. She practiced her piano, read a few chapters in the book she was enjoying, and tried to learn some new words in Latin just to prove that she could learn a language as well as any man was able.
But in the back of her mind, all she could think about was the fact that Thomas continued to speak well of her. He continued to be kind when she was the least deserving of it.
Chapter 26
Thomas was enjoying being at his mother and father’s estate and away from the inn for a while. Although he knew that he could come and stay here any time he wished, there was a fierce independence that he had been trying to maintain.
He was already dependent upon his father for work’ he wanted to be able to enjoy working towards his own home without the help of others.
But when Officer Kingsley arrived, he suddenly wished that he already had his own estate where he could have everything well in hand and arranged for his friend. As it was, he had to ask for the tea to be brought and request things that he typically would not have had to.
