As what she said worked its way into his brain, Sophia deliberated the response that she expected – and the one she wanted. Of course they couldn’t get into any of their business here. But this encounter threw into sharp relief how little they knew of each other, and how little they’ve discussed (it changes things, doesn’t it? When one’s affair spills outside the privacy of four walls). Sophia hoped he might be at least somewhat honest with her, skilled social orator that he was, but wasn’t about to hold her breath for it.

Sophia returned a humorless smile to his joke, the first clear indication that he’ll have to do better than that. Though even once his so-called explanation arrived, Soph could not say she was terribly impressed. “Did it occur to you to simply leave the way you were headed?” she pointed out. Perhaps then, she may have found a way to follow. “I was surprised as well. And your grand gesture certainly did me no favors,” the last she uttered under her breath, like an afterthought. It did not occur to her that this might be the first indication to Oz that she may feel consequences from this as well.

Though Soph finally lost sight of her sister, the guilt already took seed and grew. It was highly unusual for her to feel remorse over decisions of the heart, but this business about keeping appearances for the ton was far more complicated. It left Sophia frustrated and tense, feelings she didn’t know what to do with in this context, ill-equipped as she was to be in a situation where she could not simply act on her impulse. Suffocating. That’s what society feels like.

“I abhor feeling used,” she finally admitted, a graceful smile gone and now replaced with a polite, impassive veneer. It was hard for Sophia to decide if she felt hurt or not, though she knew she didn’t like this at all. “Like a prop, to be wielded for ad lib stunts.”

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