He turned to his wife. “You heard our guest. Please present us with our choices.”

The duchess’s smile was small but satisfied. “Very well. I actually had James select three of Ms. LeBlanc’s films for us to choose from.”

Sophia blinked, then squinted at the options that flashed on the TV screen a few feet away. “My films?”

“Yes.” A hint of genuine joy sounded in the duchess’s otherwise cool voice. “There’s one called Vigilant. One called Star Killer. And one I believe, oh yes, it’s titled Casting Couch.”

The superiority in the duchess’s tone as she listed the last one told Sophia everything she needed to know. She’d picked three of the most sexually explicit roles in Sophia’s film list. So that was her game. She’d brought her here tonight to show the others what sort of skeletons Sophia had in her closet, or perhaps she’d done it to let Sophia know what she knew.

“Which one would you recommend, Sophia?” the duke asked, clearly not in on the game. “Or is that like asking a parent to choose their favourite child?”

Sophia kept her gaze and her voice level and directed toward the duchess. “I’m proud of every movie I’ve ever made for one reason or another, but I like to think I’ve grown considerably as an actress over the years. If you want to see my most representative work, I’d start with the newest.”

“Very well.” The duchess moved the cursor over to click on Vigilant and then paused. “Wait, shouldn’t that be the other way around? Shouldn’t we see where you started in order to appreciate your progression?”

Vic shifted on the other end of the couch as if she’d just figured out where this might be headed, but Sophia refused to turn to her for help. She wouldn’t be intimidated, and she wouldn’t be shamed, not by her own choices, and not by a woman who would use Sophia to hurt her own daughter. “You can watch them in whatever order you want, but I don’t think any of us have time to watch all three tonight, so whatever one you choose will be what you get.”

The duchess raised an eyebrow as if she heard the undertones of the comment.

“Didn’t you win some big award for Vigilant?” Vic asked, then undercut the casualness of her question by adding, “Besides, Mother, maybe Ms. LeBlanc doesn’t want to spend her only free time all day dissecting her own work.”

“Is that true?” the duchess asked. “I’d merely thought it would be enjoyable to watch a film with the star in our midst. We don’t often get actresses here. Politicians, state visits, royalty even, but never anyone of your unique class. I hope I didn’t make a faux pas in bringing up your body of work?”