Epilogue
ONE MONTH LATER…
“Mother, Father, I am so glad that you made it.” Sophia greeted her parents in the foyer as they stepped through the front door. She stood with Gabriel, holding hands, beaming in a way that she knew would annoy them.
“Yes, well, we were glad to come,” her mother said, sounding not at all as if she was glad to have come.
“Your Grace.” Her father walked forward and extended his hand for the Gabriel to take. Gabriel did just that. “Thank you for inviting us into your home.”
“Happy to do it,” Gabriel said with a smirk. “Just as we are so happy that you were free today. It would not be the same without you.”
“For our daughter…” Her father struggled to maintain composure. “Anything. Have the other guests arrived?” He looked around the empty foyer.
“They have,” Sophia explained. “They are upstairs now, patiently waiting. You two are the last.”
“We are right on time,” her mother protested.
“A few minutes late,” Sophia shrugged. “But it is no bother.”
Her mother’s eyes widened with annoyance. She hated being late, just as she loathed being told that she was. And while she likely knew that she was on time, as said, politeness demanded that she not argue.
Is it so wrong that I am taking such pleasure in this? In my defense, I feel as if my parents deserve the mockery. It’s about time they find themselves on the right end of it.
“Shall we…” Sophia took Gabriel’s hand again and he made sure to kiss the back of it. Both her parents balked at the gesture, as they were never much for public displays of affection.
Next, Sophia walked ahead with Gabriel, leading her parents through the manor, up the stairs, and toward the music room where the other guests were already waiting. There were ten all together, and they were happy to stand about and share in drinks and light chatter as they waited for their hosts.
“There they are.” Alexander Sommerton moved through the crowd. “I was about to send a search party.”
“Forgive my parents,” Sophia eased him. “They were running a little behind, but they are here now.”
Again, she saw her mother’s lips purse with frustration. No doubt she wanted nothing more than to defend herself, but she would never do that. Not in front of so many as that would risk creating a scene.
Sophia caught sight of her husband grinning and she winked playfully.
“Gabriel, if you would…” Sophia gestured to the busy room.
“Ah, yes.” He clapped his hands together. “I’ll take care of this lot, and you seat your parents.” He moved into the room and began to whisper into ears, directing the guests to the seats which were placed around the pianoforte at the room’s center.
“Mother, Father…” Sophia turned to face her parents. “Your seats are this way, at the very front.”
“Thank you,” her mother said politely.
“Lead the way,” her father added.
She led them through the small crowd to the seats at the very front.
They were positioned just to the right of the pianoforte, placed so that Sophia would be able to see them as she played.
Her father was sure to pull the seat out for his wife before taking his own, and it was just as her father sat down that the other guests began to do the same.
“What will you be playing today, dear?” Sophia’s mother asked.
Sophia could hardly contain her smile. “Oh… I don’t want to spoil the surprise.”
Her mother’s eyes narrowed. “Is it a secret?”
“It might be,” Sophia said coyly. “Enough of that.” She took her mother’s and her father’s hands, holding them tight as she looked down at them both. “Thank you again for coming today, both of you. I know that this past month…” She sighed. “Tensions have been a little fraught.”
“In the past now,” her father assured her simply. “What matters is that you and His Grace are happy…” He trailed off and raised an eyebrow.
“We are,” Sophia said. “So happy.”
“Good,” her father said. “Then there is nothing to worry about.”
She beamed at them both.
As much as Sophia enjoyed teasing and testing her parents’ patience, she was thrilled that they were here today.
This past month had been rather awkward, and it was only in the last week or so that her mother and father were finally willing to accept that this marriage was real and nothing was going to change that.
Indeed, the perception throughout the ton was much the same.
Gabriel’s little stunt in the park had been spoken about much this last month.
Initially, many thought that it was just that, a stunt.
Not real. Done to prove some silly point or to make a joke that few were privy to.
But since then, Sophia and Gabriel had been sure to attend various parties and be seen in public together often.
And every time that they did, they proved beyond question the truth of their marriage.
They were in love. Their marriage was real. And it was time that it was accepted by all. Which, by now, it very much was.
“Are you ready?” Gabriel appeared beside her, touching her on the small of her back as he spoke into her ear.
A prickle of nerves rippled up Sophia’s spine. She suppressed it and took a deep breath. “As ready as I will ever be.”
“You’re going to do amazingly,” he assured her.
“Oh, I know that,” she winked.
Sophia walked to the pianoforte and took her seat. As she did, Gabriel moved to the front of the small crowd to gather their attention.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank you all for joining us today. The event in question is nothing too outlandish or even exciting. Just a chance to spend time with friends and family…” He made sure to look directly at Sophia’s parents.
“And, of course, to show off my wife to you all.” Laughter rippled across the crowd.
“She has been so eager to play for you and while I rather like the idea of being her sole muse and reason for playing…” He looked at her and smiled.
“It is time that she shared her talents.”
“Thank you.” Sophia was turned to face the small crowd, all of whom watched her closely. “I wish to dedicate this piece to my parents, my mother especially, as she was who taught me. Without her, I would not be the woman who I am today, and I cannot begin to express how much that means to me.”
Her mother smiled politely.
“If there is nothing else…” Sophia exhaled and turned around to face the pianoforte. She lifted the cover to expose the keys. She rested her fingers on the ivory. She took a deep breath to calm herself. And then, with nothing else for it, she started to play…
Today was for Sophia’s parents.
Where they finally accepted her marriage to Gabriel, she knew that they were yet to accept that she was not the same girl that she had once been. Sophia had changed so much this past month, and she was sick of her parents refusing to see it.
So, when she thought of inviting them to supper, Gabriel had suggested a musical performance instead. It would be, as he said, undeniable proof of who she now was. Whether they liked it or not.
The song that Sophia chose to play was one that she often performed for her mother.
And when she started playing it, she did so as her mother would expect.
She played the notes perfectly, she kept her back straight, her poise perfect, and put on a performance that she knew her parents would be proud of.
Out the side of her eyes, she noted her mother’s tight smile and a nod of approval.
Slowly, Sophia started to transform the piece into one of her own making.
She closed her eyes and relaxed, allowed her posture to slump, and let her fingers glide across the keys as if on instinct.
The pace quickened, the notes she struck were not typical, and the song soon became a thing of her own creation.
Sophia could feel the music inside of her as if they were one. It did not matter if she played the correct notes. It did not matter if once or twice she hit the wrong key. She laughed when she did, even switching the song midway through, combining it with another piece entirely.
She saw her mother gasp. She saw her father take her mother’s hand and hold it as if in support. She saw them both look upon her with utmost shock and horror. And she saw her husband beam the whole while.
The small crowd were clearly enjoying themselves; they moved their shoulders to the music, a few people clapped, all smiled and gushed. Only her parents refused to accept what they were listening to, and that was perfectly fine.
This is not about them, it is about me. It is about finally doing as I want, how I want it. It is about being free…
She was free. Never before had she felt it more, and never before had it been heard so clearly in her music.
Sophia played with her heart, not her head, and the music soared across the room as if announcing to the world who she now was.
It was not her best performance, but it was her most real and most raw by far.
When she finished, she turned and smiled at the room.
The guests clapped and cheered. Gabriel beamed.
Her parents gawked. And Sophia exhaled with relief, a sense of freedom radiating from her persons; the knowledge that her decisions were the right ones.
This was her new life. This was her new way of being.
And this was why she knew that she had made the right choice with Gabriel.
She was happy. She was in love. And most of all, she was free like she had never been before.
The End?