She wasn't often one to linger over such things and learnt a long time ago to suppress many of those wishes and desires she may have. It was her duty as mistress – the sole responsibility of her estate as the prominent reason for her self-inflicted self-denial. But still . . . however she tried to suppress her growing feelings, a part of her couldn't help but indulge in those sentiments. She dressed wearily, tired due to lack of sleep. She snapped at her maid, but later after breakfast apologised to her. It wasn't Sophie's fault that she was fighting her feelings. She dreaded turning into one of those matriarchal women who treated her servants no better than slaves. She had felt attraction to men before, but the spark of admiration had been there from the moment she saw him. Almost before she met him. The expectation of meeting the man she had heard so much about had been immense. She admired his work as an engineer, but the man himself proved to be every bit as attractive as the work he did.
