Page 76 of Claiming His Lost Duchess
“How are you, poppet? I know what happened must have been quite frightening. I am sorry I wasn’t here to protect you,” Joan stated, gently stroking her hair.
She worried about Sophia greatly, wondering if she was likely to be haunted about these events.
But Sophia shook her head.
“I was not afraid of the men that took me, Mama! I knew Papa would come to find me. I only missed you both a lot,” she confessed softly.
Joan was surprised by her daughter’s words.
She had never realized just how much trust Sophia had for her father, but she understood why. He had taken such good care ofthem and had loved them immensely. From the start, Graham had worked to prove himself to be a reliable father and husband, and it was Joan who was so stuck in the past she could hardly consider the idea of trusting someone wholly.
“We missed you too, poppet. So much. Your father and I are so sorry this happened. We love you so much and it was so hard to be apart from you,” Joan expressed, reaching out to hold her daughter’s hands.
Bring a mother used to be so daunting. It still was, in many ways. But it had taken a while for Joan to notice that she had grown accustomed to the gentle comfort of Graham’s presence and the reassurance that he was willing to raise Sophia by her side, even though she had never really believed it.
Oh God, what a fool she had been.
“Mama?”
Joan blinked, refocusing her attention on her daughter.
“Yes, my love?”
“Do you love Papa?”
The question caught her off guard, but she should have known it was only a matter of time before her ever observant daughter would notice her dilemma and opt to do something about it.
Joan barely needed to think too much about what she had been asked before she exhaled her response.
“Yes. I do.”
Sophia gave her mother a rather unimpressed look that confused Joan at first, then she realized why her daughter looked that way.
“Maybe you should tell Papa that, then.”
Joan laughed, light and watery as tears filled her eyes, her heart feeling all sorts of conflicting, overwhelming emotions making her heart feel heavy.
“You are growing up too fast, Sophia. I can’t keep up,” she chuckled.
Sophia did not seem to understand what she said, so she leaned forward to press a kiss to her daughter’s forehead, whispering softly, “I will be sure to tell him soon. Just like I tell you every day.”
Sophia nodded, satisfied with her mother’s response.
“All right, Mama. Good night.”
Joan smiled softly at her daughter, reaching out to stroke her hair fondly.
“Good night, my love.”
Joan stayed with her for a while to watch her sleep, knowing that despite the brave front her daughter put up, she might be feeling scared of being left alone. During that time, she gave a lot of thought to the way things were between herself and her husband.
Graham was deserving of better. He deserved a woman whose past was not as tainted as hers, whose family would approve of him and love him unconditionally.
She was sad that she couldn’t give him any of those things, that she was the choice he wanted to live with — that he loved, and she wanted to feel worthy of such an honor.
She only hoped it was not too late to make amends with him.
With another glance at Sophia’s sleeping form, Joan stood and quietly left her daughter to sleep.
