Sophia walks down the streets of Lakewood serenely. She is dreading her destination but she urges on. Her sister was sent to the St. Joseph's Convent with the hopes that she will reconcile with the Lord and stop her promiscuous behavior. By the time Sophia arrived after her walk with Adam, her sister was gone. She decides to cut through the forest and arrives to the convent, the huge building looking down at her intimidatingly.
She always thought St. Joseph's was such a gloomy place and the Nuns were ironically rude. Once she arrives and speaks with one of the Sisters, she waits for her in an empty room where she sat at the bench that seemed it was all the furniture it needed. She finds herself thinking about Adam as she looks down at the plain unappealing bench. She is brought back to that day they spent alone for the last time. She closes her eyes gently longing for his touch.
A nun appears opening the door as Lucia makes her way inside. She is wearing the kind of dress the novice nuns wear, except for the habit. Sophia can't help but realize how ordinary her sister looks.
"What do you want?" Lucia sneers.
"I just wanted to see how you were."
Lucia rolls her eyes. "I am fine, you may leave now."
Sophia feels hurt but she tries to ignore it. "Lucia, please..."
"What? You expect me to treat you well after you went out of your way to betray me?"
"Lucia, I did not..."
"Granted, I did the same to you but I had no idea you were capable of doing it. And when I told my father about your escapades, he didn't believe a word I said. You truly have our father eating out of the palm of your hand."
"Lucia," Sophia says firmly. "I did not say a thing to my father. I tried, but he wouldn't listen to me."
Lucia laughs in disbelief. "If you didn't, then who did? Apart from you and I, Adam..." she pauses, her face expressionless as she comes to the realization. "Adam?"
Sophia nods. "He spoke with our father the day you left."
Lucia seems weak for the first time, and Sophia can't help but feel pity for her. "Alright. Then he is truly fond of you, isn't he?" Sophia doesn't reply. Lucia sits beside her and sighs. "Your wedding is fast approaching, isn't it?"
"It's this Saturday."
Lucia nods. "I don't think I have ever congratulated you." She looks her way and gives her a smile. "I should give you some advice since I have been married before."
"Alright," Sophia replies unsure if she wants to hear it.
Lucia straightens. "The night you get married, he is going to want to consummate the marriage."
Sophia shifts in her seat uncomfortably.
Lucia continues, "I am telling you as your big sister and I think you should really know this before you go down that path completely blind. If he wants to consummate, he will do it. It doesn't matter if you are ready or not, he will do it. He will force you if you refuse."
"Lucia I'd prefer if..."
"Listen Sophie, I care about you that is why I am warning you. Men are beasts. When they have this urge, they can't stop themselves. They get their impulses and you are no one to refuse them. You can't refuse to fulfill your duty as a wife. It's going to hurt but you can't scream or yell, it will be worse if you do, so it would best if you don't fight it."
Sophia can't stand the conversation much longer. "Lucia, stop."
Lucia giggles. "After your wedding night, come and tell me how it went. Tell me if I was wrong."
Sophia stands furiously and without a good bye and with angry tears forming in her eyes, she leaves the convent.
Ò Ò Ò
Sophia didn't know what to think of her sister's remarks. She had never heard such awful things. Sophia walks rapidly through the woods trying to clear her mind. If Lucia was right, she doubted Adam was that type of man, not after he had confessed his love to her. But this conversation made Sophia think of the inevitable event that follows a wedding, a thought she had managed to ignore, until now. Consummating the marriage is going to be her duty as a wife, but she is not ready. Sophia doesn't know what the act entails, other than procreating, is there something else she should know? Is there some kind of routine that she has to follow? She slows her pace to a maximum, not wanting to arrive home just yet. Talking to her mother about the subject was out of the question, it is considered inappropriate to even say the words out loud, which made her scared of the act more than anything else in the world.
Sophia walks past the "Welcome To Lakewood" sign, but before she can continue, she has to rest. Even the thoughts of the wedding night makes her tremble in fear. She finds the abandoned bench that no one in town seems to find appealing. She sits feeling the strange sensation in her feet going up her legs resenting the long walk. The sun is as bright as it can be making her squint as she looks at the scene around her. She notices a pair of women, walking down the street looking back at her and turning rapidly back around as they whispered in each other's ears. She know what they were talking about. Lucia being sent to the Nunnery was scandalous, especially after they witnessed her father beating Adam the day before. The whole town connected the dots. But Sophia could not care less. Everything was in the past, it was time to move forward, even though the rest of the world enjoyed dwelling in the past for way too long.
In the distance, Daniel Smith exits the only tavern in town with his head hanging low trying to make up his mind about what to do with his wife. She was back from her New York with a baby in her arms. The problem was, the baby was older than he was supposed to be. He looked more like a healthy two month old boy rather than the less than one month he should be. Daniel knew it wasn't his.
He walks past a few vendors when he hears a strange cry, like a bird in pain. He looks up trying to figure out what could be making that sound, only to find Sophia sitting on a bench. She was significantly far but he knew it was her.
Sophia, not wanting to be too late for the last fitting of her wedding gown, stands and continues with her walk. But she only takes a few steps before she sees Daniel walking hurriedly towards her. She has an urge to run away before he could reach her, to hide from him. But she can't bring herself to do it.
"May we have a talk Miss Willis?" asks Daniel once he reaches her.
Sophia should refuse, she should excuse herself and never look back. Instead she nods mutely. Neither of them move. Daniel is mesmerized by her beauty and Sophia is slowly feeling the pain of his treason return. Daniel looks around him and is satisfied to find the streets nearly empty except for the vendors that are far enough to not hear a word of their conversation.
"Sophia, there's still some time for you to reconsider."
"I don't need to reconsider anything," she replies firmly.
"Yes you do. I know you don't want to marry him and I know he won't be able to make you happy like I can. Please, think about what you're doing."
"Daniel, you are married and with child."
He takes a step towards her and is so near that he can smell her sweet perfume. "I know, but the marriage was arranged just like yours, you understand, don't you?"
"A marriage is a marriage. We can't go on like it's nothing, it's a sacred pact."
"Of course we can. I know you love me, regardless of what you said, I know you still do. Why must we sacrifice this for man-made laws?"
Sophia feel her throat in knots but she reminds herself to keep strong. "I'm sorry. Return to your wife and son, and let me be."
He refuses to believe those words. He looks around him and seeing there's a quite big tree beside them, he quickly pulls Sophia behind it and before she can protest, he holds her face and covers her lips with his.
Sophia wants to pull away but she suddenly feels weak as he kisses her. She missed those kisses so much that she could just surrender and forget about the wedding and his marriage. But she is not about to do something she was going to regret again. She pushes him off with as much strength she could gather.
"Why are you doing this?" she begs.
"Because I want you. Why do you insist on wasting away the only chance we have on being happy?"
Sophia can hear he's hurt but she doesn't let that take control of her actions. "We never had a chance of happiness because you were already married." She touches her head as it's starting to hurt. "Why didn't you just ignore me like everyone else did at the ball?"
"Because it was impossible. I wasn't blind like everyone else was." He reaches for her face again but she pulls away in time.
"Daniel please let us move on. There's nothing we can do now. You have a child to care for and I'm getting married in two days, we made wonderful memories together and that is how we should leave it. Don't make this harder than it already is."
Daniel nods thoughtfully. "I'm not going to give up on you, you know that? I am not going to let you be unhappy with Adam, not after what he did to Lucia."
"Mr. Lancaster did not hurt Lucia. He is a gentleman who treats me well."
"But he slept with her! You still want to marry him? Let me make you happy, I won't hurt you, I will love you like you've never been loved."
"Why do you keep refusing to move on? Let me make my own life just like you did yours. Please Daniel, don't hurt me anymore."
He looks taken aback. He wasn't hurting her, he wanted to make her happy. As she stands in front of him looking so beautiful, he decides to take matters into his own hands. What was he thinking? He knows she is too sensitive to do anything, she is incapable to cancel the wedding.
"Alright," he starts. "Forgive me. I shouldn't have insisted."
As Sophia watches him walking back out towards the streets, she lets out a sharp breath allowing her body to relax. This was difficult but she is glad it was done.