Cold All the Way Through, But Warming

A Mutual Friend

Sophie was utterly miserable.

Oh, she had her son, if anything Adam was the only thing that was keeping her sane. He was such a darling little thing, and she never tired of sitting in a chair and reading him a story. He recognized some of the words, although the only word he knew for certain was "Mama". Zachary had been quite put out that his first word hadn't referred to him, but Sophie hardly cared.

He was her darling boy, and Zachary could do nothing about that.

He could do anything else though, and Sophie hated him for it. She hated him for keeping her inside, she hated him for leaving the paper in her sitting room every morning, always opened to the coverage of the Lusitania. He seemed to enjoy reading her every bit of nasty coverage, in fact he reveled in the Vanderbilt's loss.

The papers were the only way that Sophie could keep up with what was going on, and she knew she was woefully behind on the gossip. There were some things even gossip columns wouldn't print. So, she spent most of her days sighing over the papers, babying Adam, and hoping that Zachary didn't come to her bed that night.

It was a nice change when Zachary told her to wear something nice to dinner, for his parents would be visiting and they would have a guest.

Sophie took a good deal of time that day preparing, for she had to feed Adam early and get him settled before she could dress. It took more time than Zachary would have preferred, and the entire family was already in the parlor when she stumbled downstairs in her rich pink Worth gown with its ruffled train.

It was entirely inappropriate for a family dinner, as were the dark rubies she wore, but Zachary would have thrown a fit if she hadn't dressed as if she was going to the Kaiser's court.

It made things far easier if she just wore the dress and smiled simply as the guest bowed over her hand. He was a relatively handsome young man, brown haired with eyes to match. Henry wrinkled his nose at the uniform their guest, Lieutenant Roland Lethbridge, was wearing though. Instead of the usual dress blues, Roland was wearing a khaki uniform that wasn't as formal as Henry seemed to have expected.

Sophie wished she could have gotten away with that.

In this dress her corset was so tight that she had to slowly eat her dinner, which was less than what was on everyone else's plate. Zachary didn't like that she had gained weight after Ruth had started her eating again, so she ate smaller meals to try and lose it. The corset helped somewhat, although this tight it had a tendency to give her nausea if she ate to fast.

Listening to the dinner conversation helped distract her though, for it was actually somewhat interesting. Lieutenant Lethbridge had come up from Washington to discuss a possible contract to move equipment and supplies up to the Navy Yard near the city.

Henry was quite clearly angling for the contract, shaking his head after loudly yelling at a footman for not bringing the correct wine to go with the steaks. "My apologies, honestly, sometimes these servants drive me mad. I'll have him thrown out later."

Roland pursed his lips, "It's really no problem, I actually quite enjoy this wine."

"Still, I wouldn't want you to think that we're insulting you." Henry chuckled, making Samantha titter. "You're a most welcome guest."

"It seems that it's been that way in most of the city." Roland chuckled, "The yard here practically threw a party for me."

Sophie perked up at that, forgoing chasing her peas around her plate. "Oh, how lovely! I'm sure you must have had a good time."

"Indeed," Roland gave her a smile, "An old friend of mine from the Academy works there, it was wonderful to catch up with him."

"I hope you told him to come calling," Zachary raised an eyebrow, "We can offer them a better contract than the one they have."