Prologue

This was her new beginning. It started with the wind in her hair, her arms flung around the most handsome man she had ever met, and the world whizzing by as their horse brought them closer to her next chapter.

Her cheek pressed against Jack's warm back, Sophia watched the sunset's hazy orange and deep pink slowly fade to the violet of dreams.

She was running off with the man she loved and they would live happily ever after. Forever. She pictured her days tending to the vegetable garden and her nights snuggled next to Jack.

He would hold her. He would kiss her. They wouldn't have to hide in a secluded part of the manor to sneak kisses.

Now she understood why the fairy tales were all about finding love. It was just as magical as the stories made it out to be. If this is what it felt like to find her prince, even though Jack was only a footman, then Sophia could understand why the sacrifice was worth it. She would eat the poisoned apple. She would bargain with a fairy. She would sleep for a hundred years if it meant that Jack would be waiting for her when she woke.

That was all her mother had said she wanted for Sophia. True love. Mama and Papa were lucky enough to be a love match.

Yesterday, Mama's cold fingers, pale and slender, had tightened around hers. “Sophia, darling, you must make me a promise.”

Sophia had picked up her mother's hand and held it, threading her fingers between Mama's. While her mother gathered up her promise, the quiet of the room built upon the air, pressing with the weight of an important, life-changing moment.

“Sophia, I want you to promise me that you will not marry until you are sure the man you are marrying will see you like I do. You have an innate need to help others and I do not want to see that diminished. You must promise me that you will only marry if it is true love.”

Mama's hand began to shake and from under the covers, it felt like her entire body trembled. Sophia stretched out on the bed to lie by her mother, clutching her hand between them. This promise was a little beyond what she expected her mother to ask. The enormity of it settled into her thoughts while she tried to extract the words that would bind her promise to this moment.

“Mama, I promise I will only marry if it is true love.”

“That promise is almost as beautiful as you.” Mama's other hand had reached over to stroke Sophia's forehead, following the flow of her hair behind her ear. With the gentle gesture, Sophia relaxed, resting her head on the pillow beside Mama's.

Her mother whispered, “The birds will chirp again, tomorrow. I promise.”

That was what her mother always said right before bed. Now Sophia would say it to Jack every night and eventually to her own children.

It was what had made Sophia determined to finally go through with Jack's plan to run away. Her father, the Earl of Winland, would never let Sophia marry a footman. He didn't see Jack the same way Sophia did.

If she wanted to commit herself to true love, it meant she would have to make a big move. She would have to do something fantastical, something worthy of a love story, to earn her happiness.

So she agreed to run away with Jack. She pocketed the exorbitant amount of pin money her father allowed her and arranged her secret escape. She would marry her true love and then return to show her mother that she had kept her promise.

Hooves pounded on the road behind them and Sophia, clinging to Jack's back, tried to turn her head around to see.

Three riders were coming up fast. Could her father have found her already?

Sophia had timed her departure perfectly. She should have had at least another hour before anyone realized she was missing.

The rider closed in and Sophia could see the estate manager's unmistakable, bulbous nose. She cried out, “Jack! They found us. We must run!”

Jack twisted to look behind them. “The horse cannot. It has been carrying both of us and will not be able to outrun them.”

“We must try! Father will stop us!”

“Oh, well. Then I guess we will have to face him.”

“No!”

Jack pulled on the reins and turned the horse around to face the three riders.

Panic rose and Sophia clutched tighter to Jack. Desperate for him to listen, she pleaded, “We must keep going. If they stop us, we will never be wed.”

“It is impossible, Sophia.”

His voice was so casual, almost careless. Something in his tone made it feel as if the world was shifting. The colors of the sunset, a few minutes ago so spectacular, now faded, as if the entire world was coming into a new, darker night.

She couldn't let her imagination get the best of her. Of course, Jack loved her.

She said, “I will speak to my father. Now that we have made it this far, he must see how much I love you.”

Jack said nothing as he helped her down from the horse, his face blank. It would be encouraging if he could smile or nod at her, but perhaps he was too apprehensive. She clasped her hands in front of her, trying to steady her trembling as she faced the riders.

Behind the estate manager, Sophia could now clearly see her father's tall form. He held himself, even on a horse, with military precision and from atop his black destrier, he appeared to be ready for battle.

Sophia straightened, squaring her shoulders and holding her head high, ignoring the shaking of her limbs.

The three horses surrounded her, her father's warhorse snorting and stamping.

Lord Winland held his hand down to her. “Come. Now.”

She held her ground. “I will not.”

“If you go through with this, you will never see a ha'penny of my support.”

Sophia's life didn't revolve around money. “I would trade every single one of those pennies for the sake of true love.”

Her father scoffed. Then his face twisted and for the briefest moment, Sophia thought he would cry. The sudden change in his features twisted at her.

This wasn't some stranger, this was her father who loved her. Why couldn't he see how important Jack was to her?

“Father, please.”

His mouth wobbled and he looked away from her a moment. When he looked back, his face was stony, once again ready for battle. “No.” He looked past her to Jack and took out a pouch, jingling it in his hand. “I have five hundred pounds right here for you to leave and never return.”

Sophia's gaze swiveled between Jack and her father. “That is ridiculous! Of course we-”

Strong and smooth, Jack's voice interrupted her. “Deal.”

“No!” Sophia screamed, watching the pouch sail over her head and right into Jack's nimble hands.

She said it again as if she could suspend reality with a single word. “No.”

Jack tossed the pouch in his hand, testing the weight of the coins inside. By the time the pouch landed back in his hand, reality crashed into Sophia, cold and cruel.

She cried, reaching for him. “Jack. Jack, don't do this. I love you.”

His face still unreadable, showing not a hint of the encouragement and passion from the previous weeks, he turned from her and mounted the horse, deftly tucking the pouch into his coat pocket.

Over her head, making a command from his horse, her father said, “Leave the country. Don't ever come back. You will never receive another penny from me, but I have plenty of contacts around the world who know exactly what to do with a man like you.”

Without a word or a glance at Sophia, Jack turned the horse and galloped away.

Sophia rode back with her father. In the terrible silence, her guilt mounted inside of her until it felt suffocating. Or maybe that feeling was simply the sobs racketing her body, the horrendous tide of heartbreak tearing apart her soul.

Over the pound of the hooves, her father said, “I was looking for you and couldn't find you.”

She sobbed. “I am sorry, Papa.”

He said, “I was looking for you because your mother asked for you.”

Sophia's face scrunched and a new round of grief swelled up her neck, twisting up everything that Sophia was. “I will g-go to her.”

Behind her, her father's chest shook and he made a sound like a stifled cry. “Your mother passed while you were away.”