Chapter 7 #2
“Here we are,” Christopher sighed with relief as the carriage came to a stop. “Home.”
“Home?”
“Your home,” he said with a faint smile. “If you can bring yourself to think of it as such.”
Her smile was sarcastic. “It is not as if I have a choice.”
“No,” he said. “You don’t.”
The Duke climbed from the carriage, at which point he looked as if he was going to walk ahead without her, only to pause, consider, and then come to a decision.
With what appeared to be great effort on his part, he turned back and offered her his hand to help her from the carriage.
Then, when she did not take it immediately, he cocked an eyebrow as if frustrated that she would dare deny him.
She was in two minds about his gesture. While it was nice that he made the effort to help, she might have also liked it if he had not acted as if he were doing her some sort of favor. He should have wanted to help her! She was his wife, after all.
In an act of vain protest, Rose decided to climb out of the carriage without his help. In response, the Duke rolled his eyes.
The manor itself was typically opulent and expansive. The drive was half a mile long, the garden that skirted both sides was verdant and colorful, while the building itself was built of grey stone but strangled with so much greenery that it looked as if it had sprung from the dirt.
“Will you please slow down?” she called after her husband.
He was halfway toward the front door when he turned around to see her coming. A smile touched his lips again, and she thought he was going to laugh. “Oh, I am sorry.”
“Are you?”
“I just assumed you would not want my help,” he said with a feigned shrug. “The way you keep scowling at me, I figured the less you saw of me, the better.”
“I am not scowling at you,” she said, as she scowled.
“My mistake,” he said. “Now, shall we?” He cocked his arm for her to take, but the offer felt sarcastic and laced with mockery.
“I am quite fine on my own, thank you.” She lifted her skirt and started toward the manor.
It was such a silly thing, she knew. Even if the Duke was making fun, Rose would be better off not antagonizing him. She was set to live with the man for the rest of her life, and it would be a far more comfortable life if they got along.
But so far, his behavior was frustrating, and she still could not say exactly what he wanted. Oh sure, he told her what he did, but she sensed there was more to it than that. He was hiding something, and she wasn’t about to be taken advantage of.
Unfortunately, that one act of defiance set a precedent for her first day and evening in her new home.
They walked into the manor to find the household staff lined up and waiting to greet them. The Duke introduced them all to Rose, ensuring that should she need anything at all, they would not hesitate to help her.
Then, he turned to leave.
“You’re going?” she called after him, almost on instinct.
He paused at the lower landing of the staircase and turned back to her, frowning with clear confusion. “I am not leaving the manor, if that is what you mean?”
“You know it is not,” she said sharply. “What I meant is…” She sucked back her anger, aware of how the staff were watching her. “Are you not going to show me my new home? I thought— is that not what you are supposed to do?”
“Supposed to do?”
“We are married,” she said, feeling stupid the moment that she did.
He frowned as he looked at her. “And here I was, assuming you wanted nothing to do with me. Is that not the entire purpose of this marriage? Or have you changed your mind suddenly?”
“No,” she said through gritted teeth. “I have not changed my mind. But –”
“That settles it then,” he spoke over her. “I would not presume to impose myself on you any further than I have, and as I said, if you need anything, the staff is more than willing to help. Now,” He raised an eyebrow at her. “Is there anything else?”
Rose glared at him, and she did not care that they were being watched. “No, there is not.”
“Good.” With that, he turned and started up the steps. This time, Rose did not call after him.
It was a strange start to married life, and as Rose watched her husband vanish, she came to accept that things were going to become no more normal from here on out.
This was what she had wanted. This was what she had fought for. And now that she had it, she wasn’t so sure that she had made the right decision. And the fact that her husband was making things all the more confusing for her certainly was not helping.
Loneliness is what she had to look forward to. Loneliness and an empty life.
Christopher was supposed to be working.
Once he left Rose in the foyer, he made his way into his office, determined to make up for the time already lost. That was how he saw today’s events: a waste of time.
Yes, it needed to be done, and there was no getting around that fact.
But that it ate into his day, and the work he needed to do, was frustrating.
He locked himself away in his office, sat down at his desk, and started to work. Or that was what he tried to do.
Was I wrong to speak to Rose like that? I did not mean to be so short with her. I certainly did not mean to be so dismissive. But she has a way of making me so.
She was the frustration, and while Christoper wanted to believe that the worst was behind him, he knew that was being hopeful beyond reason.
There was just something about his wife that he could not keep from his thoughts.
Her face was pretty, which he liked. She was clearly intelligent, which might come in handy.
But it was more than that. She was stubborn, strong-willed, and demanding, and she was not afraid to push him as others never would.
And that itself was dangerous.
Christopher was well-respected and popular among his peers for a good reason.
He was successful, yes, and that was hard-earned.
But he was also even-tempered, funny without being hilarious, interesting without being memorable, the type where nobody had a bad thing to say about him, because he never gave them the chance.
He had to be that way; everything depended on it.
His wife was a different breed entirely, and he could tell already that the more time he spent with her, the more chances there were of her finding out the truth about him. As far as Christopher was concerned, that was not an option.
Early boundaries needed to be set. He would avoid her as much as he could and be careful not to get too close; situations where she might start to see the real him needed to be avoided entirely.
Above all else, he had to control his emotions around her.
And what? What happens after that? Lie to her for the rest of my life? Then again, what’s one more lie?
He should have been working. Quill in hand, the numbers that he was supposed to be tallying blurred together, and his mind wandered as his wrist moved of its own volition.
Before long, Christopher realized that he was sketching.
A rose had appeared in his ledger.
His eyes widened in shock, and he quickly scratched the image out. It might have just been a simple rose, but even Christopher at his most stubborn wouldn’t deny the obviousness of the imagery.
She is getting to me. Do not let her in. You cannot let her in.
Christopher scrunched the parchment into a ball and tossed it in the fire. Then he did everything he could to remove thoughts of Rose from his head.
He had worked too long and too hard to keep his secret hidden, and he wasn’t about to let a little thing like married life ruin everything.