Sophia and Arthur took the opportunity of a break to walk to the nearest park. Mostly, they walked in silence, with only an occasional comment about the weather or a building they had passed.

But Sophia was far too lost in her thoughts to pay much attention to her surroundings. The brisk walk and chill in the air had shocked her mind into full wakefulness and now it was swirling with erratic thoughts- some sentimental and saccharine, some dark and existential, some trivial and distracting.

Such was Sophia's mind. It was like the surge of a current in a river, one couldn't control it or stem it, they could merely let it pass.

'You have your head in the clouds'. That's what Sophia's mother used to say whenever she became like this.

No. Now was not the time to think about her mother.

When they arrived at the park, it was almost warm. Sophia removed the shawl that had been wrapped tightly around her in the theatre and sat on the grass. She watched the sunbeams dancing through the branches of the tree above her as it cast speckled light across the manicured lawn.

Arthur sat quietly beside her and crossed his legs. He picked a long blade of grass and examined it, an intense look of concentration crossing his face. Then he began looking upwards, like Sophia, presumably at the birds or some other animal, while absentmindedly wrapping the blade of grass around his fingers.

The park was unusually busy, considering the time of day (it was early afternoon and the workers had surely not begun returning home), filled with people taking advantage of the sunny weather. Lovers were sitting hand in hand on benches; elegantly dressed women were admiring the flowers; nursemaids were walking with children in tow. Sophia and Arthur had clearly walked to a reputable and wealthy neighbourhood.

Across the park, one woman (it was hard to tell if she was a mother or a maid at this distance) had allowed her children to play among the trees, much to the indignation of the other respectable members of the public.

Sophia watched as the woman eventually reprimanded her children for being too loud and ushered them out of the park under the lens of many hostile glares.

They sat this way for a while until finally Sophia broke the silence and said, "did you have a pleasant evening yesterday?"

Arthur smiled knowingly at her, "pleasant enough."

"Did anything of note happen?"

"I don't know what you're talking about", said Arthur, feigning innocence.

Sophia laughed lightly and shook her head, "I see."

A moment of silence.

"You were right, Tom is wonderful," said Arthur finally.

"How long will it take you to realise that I'm always right?"

They both laughed at this.

"When will you be seeing him next?" Sophia continued.

Arthur's jaw tensed in the silence that followed. The mood had suddenly shifted in a way that a casual observer would never be able to explain.

After a few moments, he said, "We leave London in a few days."

"That leaves plenty of time."

"Sophia..."

"Or you could write to him."

"Just forget it."

Sophia sighed but decided to admit defeat. She and Arthur had very different attitudes to love and there was nothing to gain from arguing about it.

Sophia knew that Arthur saw her as a hopeless romantic who would get her heart broken time and time again without ever learning her lesson.

And it was true. Sophia fell in love with women easily and quickly. It was always magic at first and then, after a month or two, the letters would stop. And she had to put herself back together again.

And Arthur knew the way Sophia saw him. The sort of person who lets fear lock away their hearts forever. Fear of heartbreak. Fear of pain. But also, that slightly darker fear of the law and the judgement of God that followed them both like a looming shadow.

By forming a deep connection with someone, you risked them exposing you. Although 'sodomy' no longer carried the death sentence, it was still considered a serious crime. And things were not much better for women. The social shame would be a prison sentence of its own.

But Sophia hated feeling like she had to hide. She wanted love. Real love. And all the women she had hoped would give it to her had abandoned her out of fear of public shame. No one understood it, not even Art, who understood her better than anyone, but she didn't want meaningless sex. She wanted love. Why was that it that that seemed too much to ask for?

But she didn't say any of this. Sophia just smiled and said, "let's not fight, it would be a shame to waste such a lovely day."

Arthur nodded. "Yes, of course."

There were another few strained seconds of silence, before Arthur said, "rehearsal went well today."

Sophia struggled not to raise her eyebrows. She did not care one jot how rehearsal went and Arthur knew it.

"I don't know about you but I can hardly bear to think of The Bohemian Girl anymore."

Arthur laughed, "I thought you enjoyed it!"

"I used to, but now it is completely ruined. We've been rehearsing every day!"

Sophia was exaggerating, of course. She was trying to make Arthur laugh to dispel the tension. And it was working. They were both laughing and things almost felt back to normal.

"Well, I'm afraid we have a whole year of performances left to go." Said, Arthur.

Sophia grinned and said, "I have to admit, I'm excited to finally leave London. I hate to stay here for longer than two months."

"Me too, I'm desperate to see fields again."

"Yes, I know what you mean. Although I'm happy that we'll be stopping in Manchester. I've been missing it" Sophia sighed, her heart suddenly heavy again.

When she had left her home, there was only one thing that she hadn't wanted to say goodbye to- the city itself. No matter how far she went, part of Sophia always wanted to be back there.

Arthur smiled softly. "Shall we head back to the inn?" he gently asked.

"Yes please," said Sophia, grateful that she didn't have to explain her emotions to her friend.

Although he never truly understood it, he knew how complicated Sophia's feelings about Manchester were. He knew that she loved it even though it reminded her of everything she was trying so hard to forget.

As they walked away, Sophia cleared her throat, trying to push away all the sadness. The memories of home and the loves that she had lost and the loves that Arthur never had and the peace and security they were both denied by society and the law.