So Far Away: Everything Will Change Book Two

Tears welled in Lady Sophia’s eyes. She pushed a loosened tress of Elizabeth’s hair aside and brushed a kiss atop her head. “I recall many nights of holding you in my arms to comfort you and feeling so helpless in the wake of your anguish. All that time, I never knew, I never supposed that your agony was owing to His Grace’s own doing.” She wiped a tear from her cheek. “I do not know that I will ever forgive him for what he did. I know I shall never forgive myself for my own complicity—however unwittingly.”

“Pray do not blame yourself,” Elizabeth cried. “You are completely innocent in all this. You could have no way of knowing the truth behind His Grace’s wrongdoings.”

“I believed what I wanted to believe. Having lost my husband and my precious little Bethany, the thought of facing yet another day became increasingly unbearable. Before I met you, I had no desire to carry on. Oh, Elizabeth, you changed all that. You came into my life at a time when I needed you most. I fell in love with you the moment I first laid eyes on you. You filled my life with joy and a new purpose.” Again, she kissed Elizabeth atop her head. “You, my dear, mean the world to me.”