Free The Reluctant Bride (Regency Undone) by Claire Firth

minutes later she came to a halt outside the house and slid from her saddle, brushing her eyes angrily.  She would not let her husband see how much he had the power to upset her.
    ‘Sophia!’  He had come to a halt beside her and dismounted quickly.  ‘Wait!’
    But she was already running towards the house seeking the sanctity of her room.  For a long moment Ralph watched her, then swinging sharply away he remounted his horse.
     
    ***
     
    Inside the house, wanting only to retreat to the privacy of her rooms, Sophia was brought to an abrupt halt.
    ‘Lady Pennington is in the morning room, my Lady,’ Beaumont advised her, ‘she seemed a little … distraught that you were not here, so I took the liberty of informing her that I thought you would not be long and asking her if she would care to take some refreshment.’
    ‘Oh, thank you, Beaumont.’ 
    Isi!  She could not believe it.  It had been ages since she had seen her friend.  Straightening her hair and composing herself, she changed direction immediately and headed for the morning room.  How fortuitous .  Just when she so desperately needed someone to talk to.
    She opened the door and found Isabelle sitting on the window seat, staring blankly out of the window.
      ‘Isi?  Oh it is so good to see you, ’ Sophia declared, rushing over to embrace her.  ‘It has been so long .’ 
    She drew back and observed her friend’s thin frame and drawn features in shock.  ‘Are you quite all right, Isi?  Forgive me, but you do not look …’
    For a long moment Lady Pennington’s fingers clung tightly to Sophia’s hands, before with a shaky laugh she detached herself.
    ‘Of course I am all right.  I am sorry to intrude Sophia, but I … needed to escape for a while.  I hope you don’t mind?’
    ‘ Of course I don’t .  How can you even ask?  Have we not been like sisters for all of our lives?  But what is the matter?  What is so wrong that you feel the need to escape?’
    Isabelle shook her head.  ‘It is nothing, nothing.  Ah Sophia, it is so good to see you.  I … I miss our friendship so very much.’
    Sophia’s expression was wounded.  ‘As do I.  But it has not been my choice that our friendship should wane.  We have invited you on several occasions to dine but … I do not understand … why have you become such a recluse?’
    ‘Oh Sophia, if only you knew how difficult my life has become.  Although maybe you are married now, you have some idea?  Are men not the most awful of creatures?  My husband is a harsh, cruel man – he … he does not like me to keep in touch with my old life.  He expects now that we are married, that I adopt his life, his friends.’
    She shuddered.  ‘It is awful,’ she whispered.
    ‘But Isi, it surely cannot be that bad?’
    ‘It is worse than anything you can imagine,’ her friend said bleakly.  Her haunted eyes met Sophia’s.  ‘Now that you are married, you must surely have discovered how debauched, how brutal men are in the privacy of their bedroom suites?’
    Sophia flushed remembering her encounter with Ralph only that morning.  Inexplicably, she found herself needing to defend her husband. 
    ‘It has really not been that bad for me,’ she said hesitantly.  ‘In fact …’ her colour deepened, ‘I would almost go so far as to say I have quite enjoyed being intimate with my husband.’
    Isabelle looked stunned.  ‘Enjoyed it?  How can you enjoy being abused so?  Being made to do things that make your skin crawl?’  She rubbed her arm distractedly; then winced as if it hurt her.
    ‘What is the matter?’ Sophia asked quickly, and flinched as her friend pulled up her sleeve to reveal an arm that was one big bruise from her wrist up to her shoulder.  ‘Has your husband done that to you?’ she asked in horrified tones.
    Isabelle pulled her sleeve down quickly as if regretting her moment of weakness.  ‘It is nothing,’ she dismissed.  ‘I am sorry.  I do not wish