"What the hell was that for?!" Blake yowled, clutching his cheek and nursing it in his hands. His face was a rich burgundy red.

"Yes, Sophia, what on earth is going on here? Why did you slap the Marquess of Alton?" Colette hollered. Mere moments after she entered the room, she saw Sophia smack Blake across the cheek like her hand was a whiplash and was now staring at the pair with an appalled expression clouding her bright, blue eyes.

"That was completely uncalled for! I did nothing except help her when she was in distress!" Blake hissed, glaring daggers at Sophia.

"It was not. You are here to wreak havoc on our lives once again and I will not endorse it. Not under my care." Sophia screamed, returning his glare with one of equal iciness.

"That is not why I am here!"

"Of course, it is!"

"It is. I promise on my honor I am here to make amends." Lord Alton growled as he drew his eyebrows together in rage.

"That is a fallacy if I've heard one. And honor? Ha. It is a sin to swear on things that do not exist." Sophia cried as she cemented her hand into a fist to resist herself from punching this arrogant, lying man again.

"Would you please stop squabbling like children!" Collette cried, raising her voice to be heard above them

Sophia and Blake turned towards Colette stunned into silence at her outburst.

"Sophia what he says is true. He is here to make amends." Colette pursed her lips. "You have to listen to what he says."

Sophia scoffed. "Colette. Don't you believe a word this man tells you. It all lies. Make amends? Ha! Even the dead are rattling in their graves with laughter." Sophia made a move to step down the last couple stairs and Lord Alton smartly moved away to let her pass. Sophia stood in front of him with her chin tilted up, willing his gaze to meet hers.

Lord Alton hissed under his breath, running his gaunt fingers through his hair. "I am speaking the truth. Years ago, when our...affair happened, I tried to fix it. I convinced my father that if I married this girl, he would find a husband for you."

Sophia blinked at him. "What?"

Alton shook his head downwards, hiding his sardonic smile. "It's true. That's why weeks after you were banished from society, I got married to the Duke of Malbro's daughter. Within a few years, she died of pneumonia, before we had any children. I did not love her, but I grew to appreciate her and her loss cut me deep. But it is my duty to remarry for the sole purpose of heirs so I posted myself as a prospective suitor this season."

Sophia's bottom lip trembled. Her throat was clogged with emotion and she could barely choke her next few words out. "I don't believe you."

Lord Alton tilted his head delicately at her, his voice soft and gentle. His green eyes were clam sea waters. "Believe what you wish my lady, but it is true. I tried to save you in the way I could after I abandoned you. But I should have known my father. He pretended to keep up his end of the bargain and led me to believe he had found you a suitor. It pushed me to even move up the wedding date. By the time I found out it was all a ploy, it was too late. I was married. I couldn't risk divorcing her and causing shame to another girl."

Sophia closed her eyes and felt her eye lashes caress her cheek. She took a deep breath in an out to clear her mind. "Suppose I believe you. Why would you come court my sister?"

Sophia saw Lord Alton and Colette exchange a glance and then her sister put her fingertips to her head as if she was calming a headache.

"Because that was the way he could make amends to us without dredging up the past." It was Colette who answered. "If he married you everything would once again be dredged up from the past. He would be an outcast as well by association with you, shunned officially out of society. The pardon that Aunt Dahlia levied on you, allowing you to stay in London instead of exiling you to the countryside, will not be acceptable for him. Both of you will be sent away and I would be left with no one to steer my debutant period and Jeanne will be left alone with no one to take care of her. We discussed it at length and marrying me is the best route, Sophia."

Lord Alton stepped next to Colette, backing her up. "By marrying your sister, I can pay back all the loss and pain you have suffered throughout these years, my lady Sophia. I can make amends to the Brightons but also accredit you with respectability. Of course, nothing can make up for my mistake years ago, but this will at least make the public fonder of you. I can even help Jeanne find a bride one day."

"Any lord can do that for us. Colette is quite a catch despite her background. Surely there are other suitors already paying you visits, offering us more than this?" Sophia directed at Colette, adamantly refusing to meet Lord Alton's eyes.

Colette averted her eyes and gulped. "There are several who said they'd come to call but Sophia...they aren't. I may be the catch of the season and I can see men that are besotted and would love my hand but aside from a few notes and flowers, no suitors are forthcoming. Our name, your indiscretion, our father's gambling habits and debts-all of it had made the people wary of us. The mother vultures of the ton hoping to pawn their son off refuse to do so with me. Even Alessandra's influence wasn't enough to convince the ton. They are adamant that I wall fall prey to the same clutches of these vices. They will not risk their son turning into a disgrace."

Sophia gritted her teeth and turned her back to the pair. "In essence, Lord Alton is our only hope of you finding a suitor."

"Yes, sister. That seems to be the current predicament."

Sophia laughed, shaking her ringlets. She finally turned to Lord Alton. "Of course, you want to marry my sister so you can ease the burden on you heart. So you can feel a little less guilty at heart. You are proving that, once again, you are a coward, Lord Alton. You aren't doing the right thing-you are doing the thing that will protect you." Sophia managed to inject as much spite as she could into her tone and got her desired impact. Lord Alton flinched.

"I will not decline that that is part of my reason why I wish to marry your sister, but I truly do want to make amends. I don't know how else I possibly can."

Every word he said was packed with enough force and conviction to make anyone believe it. Yet...

"How do I know you do not simply want to ravish my sister and be done with it all? How can I possibly trust you with her after all you've done to me?" Sophia quietly whispered.

"Because I already made that mistake once with you. I do not intend on repeating it," the Marquess murmured and then grinned devilishly. "Besides, if I do, my mother will have my head, for ruining another noble woman, a courtship, and a potential marriage. She can be quite... vengeful when she wants to. That isn't the whole reason. I truly am devoted to your sister and the cause. I will not embarrass in her any manner. In fact, to show I will not step down from this marriage, I will transfer enough money to settle many of your father's debts this very night. And soon, I will announce my official courtship to your sister. I swear on my honor as a gentleman this will be carried out."

"I happen to remember that the swear on your honor wasn't upheld at all when you made it to me," Sophia replied, a small smile tugging at the corner of lips unwontedly. She had meant this statement seriously, but something in it was vaguely humorous and full of jest.

Blake smiled in embarrassment and a trifle bit of joy at her witty humor, "I am sorry for that. I always will be. But I mean it this time."

He seemed genuine and as much as she wanted to not believe him, kick him out of her life, she couldn't. She could wait, see if other suitors lined up to ask for Colette's hands. But if none showed, Colette too would be unmarried. Getting her aunt Dahlia to let Alessandra chaperone Colette for one season was a task that even the bravest of Greeks would have likely denied but approaching her for a second? It would never happen. This was her one and only season and Sophia couldn't risk leaving it to chance. She would not let her sister suffer the same fate as she did, go through the same emptiness and loneliness. Maybe her sister could find solace in this man.

Preparing herself for the long journey ahead, Sophia sighed deeply and gestured towards the drawing room, her final verdict drawn.

"Very well then. Shall we proceed to go to the gardens for some tea? It's a lovely time to have a picnic."

Did Sophia make the right choice or the wrong one? Should she have let the Marquess stay or go? Comment below and vote if you like this story :))))

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