“Perhaps my lack of concern for you led to the misunder-standing. I hold you in no more contempt than I would any other inconvenient house guest, and I assure you, there have been many of them over the years,” the duchess continued airily. “They’ve always left on their own. I’ve no reason to believe you won’t do the same. Then we’ll all breathe a sigh of relief before moving on without ever thinking of you again.”

She had to admit, the duchess was good at the whole ice-queen routine. In fact, if Sophia had been a dispassionate observer, she would probably believe the woman held no stake in this discussion at all. It would certainly make Sophia’s life easier if that were true, but unfortunately this wasn’t just about her life. She could still see the sad resolve in Vic’s eyes as she left to face the press head-on this morning. Vic hadn’t wanted to choose between Sophia and her birthright. She shouldn’t have had to. She wouldn’t have had to if not for the woman talking down to Sophia now.

“I imagine it’s easy to overestimate your influence when you don’t know your place on the larger stage of events. You have money, a modicum of fame, a certain amount of power in your small circle. I can admire, at least in theory, that you made it all yourself, but you’ll also undoubtedly squander it all yourself, which again matters little to me because it’s your concern.” She paused for the ice in her voice to register fully as she said, “My daughter, however, is very much my concern.”

“Oh, I see.” Sophia smiled.

“I doubt you do.”

“You’re worried I’ll lessen the influence you have over her.”

The duchess laughed again, and disturbingly enough, the sound seemed genuine this time. “The fact that you think so shows how little you understand.”

“Enlighten me.”

“Impossible. Your worldview is so small it cannot conceive of something outside your own control, but trust me, Victoria can. Her life has never been her own, and it never will be. I thought she’d learned those lessons, but apparently she’s forgotten them for the moment.”

“So you decided to remind her?”

A little muscle in the duchess’s jaw twitched. “I tried to do so privately, and I’ll admit I was surprised by her reaction.”

“You underestimate her strength.”

“You and I have a different understanding of strength.” The duchess eyed her more closely, then wrinkled her nose. “You must have some skills I don’t even want to imagine in order to get your hooks in deeply enough for her to overlook your distasteful past and continued poor judgement.”

Sophia’s face flamed, not at the mention of her past, but at the implication that the only connection between her and Vic must be blind lust.