However, Sophie had another relative in America
and decided that she must try to make contact to ask for help.
She left a note for the Wildmans to let them know what she was doing and set off
for Nottingham aiming to catch the stagecoach to London.
She did not realise just how kindly the Wildmans thought of her. When Mrs Wildman
read the note Sophie had left explaining her situation she spoke to her husband
and they immediately dispatched a rider to catch Sophie and offer her accommodation
in the grounds of Newstead for the rest of her life.
The White Lady
The horse and rider set off in hot pursuit and
reaching the Market Square found a great crowd gathered around a horse and cart
outside the Black Boy pub.
Intrigued, the rider dismounted and pushed through the people to find Sophie lying
on the ground 聳 dead. She had been run over by the cart, not hearing the
drayman聮s warning.
She can now be seen wandering through her beloved gardens, especially along one
path now known as White Lady聮s Walk.
