Page 78 of A Dreamy Match Made in Heaven
“Alright everyone, I do believe that dinner is ready,” Adrianna then announced, leading the way to the dining room.
Sophia was glad to see and speak with Melody where she sat between her and Adrianna. Thomas was just across from another young woman at the end, and there were a few others at the table as well. Sophia did not know all of them and she was polite as they were introduced one by one.
The dinner was brought out and enjoyed by everyone as the conversation roared around the table. There was a great deal of feasting and merriment.
But Sophia was taken aback, and her optimism eroded all over again, when she realised that one of the young women present was none other than Lady Cranford. The very woman that Thomas had been courting.
She eyed the beautiful young lady and saw the way that Thomas laughed with her now and then. For all that Adrianna had just told her, she could no longer bring herself to believe that the two of them were really broken in their engagement. It simply did not make sense.
Her eyes tried to pry away, but she found that they continued to return to the two of them. It was disheartening, but Sophia tried to put it to rest.
Whatever hope she had had only moments before, she lay aside.
There would be nothing for her and Thomas. All over again, she would have to accept that.
Throughout the dinner, she and Thomas made eye contact many times and Sophia knew that she was pining for him. It was an unattractive trait and she ought to have felt foolish, but he was a man that she had cared about for such a long time that it seemed an impossibility that she might ever move on.
He had done just that. He had moved on. Thomas was continuing to joke and laugh with Lady Cranford, continuing to enjoy her company.
Everything had changed and she didn’t understand how she was meant to take it all in. But whatever it was that she was supposed to do, Sophia felt utterly frozen.
She would just have to find a way to accept that her heart would never be whole.
Chapter 29
Dinner had come to a close and Thomas could not stop looking at Sophia. He knew that she was looking to him as well but he wondered why she had gone from a look of hope to one of pure misery in such a short time. Had he done yet another thing to wound her? Why were things always going awry between the two of them?
As the whole group exited the dining room, Lady Alcott nodded to him with urgency.
Thomas knew that this was his chance. If he was going to have his time with Sophia, it was now. If they were going to be together and discuss everything between them, he had to make it happen in that moment.
Bearing that in mind, Thomas took a deep breath and trudged forward, making his way to her as quickly as he could.
“May we speak?” he asked her softly.
Immediately her eyes softened in return and she nodded, the faint hint of a smile playing at her lips.
Thomas led Sophia away from the others, accepting a happy nod from Lady Cranford as he went. He had noted how she had interacted well with a cousin of Lady Alcott, the Viscount Horace Collins of Dunford, and the two seemed charmed by one another.
But with the urging of all those around him, Thomas was glad to make his way to the balcony, alone, with Sophia.
“We ought not to be ought here without a chaperone,” she said swiftly.
“I think all shall be well,” he replied.
“Your match may not feel the same. Congratulations, by the way. I am glad that you have found someone,” she said, attempting to hide an underlying bitterness that he easily detected.
Thomas laughed and Sophia looked at him with coldness. He knew that she imagined he was laughing at her, but in actuality, he couldn’t help himself.
“My dear Sophia, there is only one woman that I have ever loved. One woman to whom I am able to give my heart. And I think we both know that that woman is you,” Thomas said with conviction, taking her hand in his own.
Sophia appeared stunned and in a great deal of wonder, as though she thought she should pull away from him. Her confusion was evident, but Thomas was not going to let go until she was willing to hear him out. He knew her stubbornness by now. He knew that she would not make this easy on him.
“Will you listen to me? Please? For just a moment?” he asked.
Sophia appeared hesitant, but she relented.
“You must know, first of all, that Lady Cranford is here because I wished for her to come, knowing that there would be other young men in attendance. But she and I are no longer courting. And it turns out that neither of us wished to court to begin with,” he said, getting that out of the way.
