Page 55 of A Wicked Viscount's Stormy Affair
“Sophie, what has happened?” her mother demanded as she stormed passed her. “You are upset…”
But Sophie did not halt. She could not stop. She needed to get to the carriage and get home.
But her mother followed her. “Sophie, you must stop. I need to know what has happened…”
Her mother climbed into the carriage with her, giving up her evening as well, and looked at her daughter with sympathy in her eyes. Sophie could not stop herself from weeping for long enough to get any words out. Thankfully her mother did not push her. She simply held her while they traversed over the cobbled London streets all the way back to her grandparents’ home. Sophie sobbed into her mother’s chest as all her hopes and dreams vanished.
She should not have been so foolish, she should not have trusted anyone with her heart. But George had also convinced all of her family that he was a good person, and her parents were not easily fooled by anyone. Her grandparents had warmed up to him as well…
And it was all for nothing.
He had really committed to this role, and that hurt the most. Why would he be so cruel? It did not seem like it wasjustto keep her away from Gregory. He did not need to go that far. Kissing her, spending the night with her, it was all too much.
“I will never get married,” she muttered sadly to her mother as soon as the carriage pulled up outside of their home. “I will never trust a man again.”
Her mother did not ask questions, but her face fell understandingly. “I see. Things did not turn out the way that you hoped.”
She could only shake her head.
Sophie did not want to be with anyone else once they stepped inside the home. She could hear her grandparents in the parlor, sharing a drink and talking, but that only made her even sadder. There was a part of her that thought she was going to find the same sort of love with George as they had. She thought he was the man that she was going to love forever, to grow old together, to have a family with…
And it was all a lie.
He was nothing more than a fraud.
So she took of up the stairs and headed straight for her bed chambers, throwing herself onto the bed, allowing her tears to consume her, with the fight rolling through her mind all over again.
“Nothing George says is true. I have real feelings for you, Lady Dashwood. All I want to do is get to know you better. All I want is to be your husband.”
“I have done everything that I can to rescue you from Gregory. I did not want you to get duped by my brother, which is why I have been wooing you, Lady Dashwood. I will do anything to protect you.”
“I do not know why you are hanging around like a bad smell when you clearly have no intention of marrying Lady Dashwood.”
It was all so ugly, so horrible, so nasty.
How had she never seen that side of those men before? It just proved that it was easy for anyone to hide away their true nature, to pretend that they were someone else. She had never really experienced that in Sweden, Sophie had been comfortable with taking everyone there at face value.
Clearly that was not something she could do here in London.
In that moment, all Sophie wanted to do was get back on a boat, to go back to Sweden because it really did seem like she had a much more comfortable life there.
Thankfully, her adorable little dog seemed to sense exactly what she needed, and he leapt on the bed to cuddle her. But Sophie was in the head space that nothing was going to really cheer her up through this.
Chapter 27
As he watched her walk away, guilt absolutely flooded George.
He did not mean for any of that to happen. All he wanted to do was stop Gregory from kissing Sophie or proposing to her. He wanted her to know the truth, but not like that. Never like that. The hurt that crossed her face as she confessed the depth of her true feelings for him was something he would never be able to forget.
He had been frozen to the spot, stuck in this horrible moment for what felt like far too long. Frozen in silence.
But now other people had started to gossip and move around once more, because there was clearly nothing else going on with the brothers, George snapped into action once more.
“I am leaving,” he muttered under his breath. “I am not doing this anymore.”
All he really wanted was to be left alone, but unfortunately Gregory did not seem to sense that. He followed George all the way outside the building, even walking towards the carriage with him. In his determination to be by himself, George turned on his heels, deciding to skip the carriage. Perhaps the walk home would give him time to clear his head, but Gregory continued to not get the hint. He carried on following him.
“Stop,” Gregory begged. “You cannot just leave like this. We have to talk about it…”
