Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Ipromise I will be home before supper,” Rose assured Christoper as she climbed inside the carriage.
“You better be,” he said.
She paused in the doorway and looked down at him. “Is that right?”
He seemed to understand immediately how he must have sounded, because he scoffed and looked at her flatly. “We still have work that needs finishing, and as you have been so insistent on being involved…”
“Ah, yes, now I see.” She made sure to be grinning. “And here I was, thinking that you were going to miss me.”
“Just your work,” he said.
She continued to grin at Christopher, enjoying how uncomfortable it seemed to make him.
He could claim that all he cared about was the work that they were doing together.
He could pretend that he thought little of her outside of this fact.
And he could lie to them both, keeping up this facade of coolness and dispassion.
His lies are starting to run thin. This constant battle he wages to keep his distance is becoming old. Try as he might, I can see him changing slowly before my eyes. And soon, I know, the real him is going to come out.
“As you say,” she said with a wink before pulling herself inside the carriage.
She was smiling as he closed the door behind her, and she held that smile as the carriage started down the driveway and exited the estate. This marriage might not have been something that she wanted, but it was also not nearly as tragic as it could have been.
If anything, Rose might have even gone so far as to say that she was starting to like being married to the Duke and, what was more, she sensed that he liked being married to her also.
But that was a thought for later.
For now, Rose had today to look forward to. It was just last evening that her father had written to her, requesting that she visit as soon as she could because he needed her help with his businesses.
While it might have been a little too hopeful, Rose liked to believe that her father missed her and wanted to see her. And even if he did not, she missed him and her sister and was looking forward to the chance to see them again.
“Rose!” Marianne was waiting on the driveway for her. And when Rose opened the carriage door and stepped outside, she rushed to greet her. “You came!”
“Of course I did,” she laughed as she hugged her younger sister. “Did you think I would not?”
“I did not know if the Duke would let you.”
Rose almost laughed at the comment. It made sense that Marianne would think such things, having no idea how Rose and Christopher’s marriage had changed. And it delighted her to be given the chance to explain these changes, as if confirming them for herself.
“Oh, he was never going to stop me,” Rose assured her as she pulled away. “He might have tried, but it would have made no difference.”
“What does that mean?”
“Just that married life is nowhere near as tragic as I believed it would be. Perhaps it is not as wondrous either.” She made sure to be smiling. “But rest assured, my life is still my own.”
“You are happy?”
“I am not unhappy,” she said. “And that is a victory worth holding onto.”
Rose considered it at that moment, telling her sister that she was happy, but she refrained from doing so.
She and Christopher were still finding their way; they were far from a happy couple, and while she could feel the changes happening between them, she could not say for sure where those changes were going.
And if Christopher continued to fight so hard against himself, refusing to show her the side that she knew to exist, their journey together might stall long before it went any further.
“I am glad,” Marianne said. “Ever since you married him, I have…” She bit into her lip. “I am so sorry, Rose. That you did this because of me. That you thought you needed to save –”
“Hush now,” Rose cut her sister off. “I have told you, what I did was my decision, and it had nothing to do with you. Besides,” She let her smile reach her eyes. “I did not come here just because Father asked me.”
“Oh?”
“I wanted to talk to you, silly. Now, tell me,” She dropped her voice, just in case anyone might overhear. “How are things with you and Julian? Should I have a dress laid out for your wedding? Or am I getting ahead of myself?”
Rose expected her sister to blush bright pink and look away with embarrassment. Maybe to giggle and tell her to keep her voice down, while assuring her that things were going well. She expected laughter, smiles, gushes of love. What she got instead…
“Oh… yes… me and Julian…” A shadow passed behind Marianne’s eyes, and Rose could feel the sudden tension emanating from her sister’s body.
“Marianne, what is wrong?”
Before Marianne got the chance to say anything, the front door to the manor opened wide, and their father strode from inside.
Marianne sensed him coming, and she let go of Rose, turning away as if to hide her face.
And Rose eyed her sister a moment longer, realizing without having to ask that something was terribly wrong.
A shame that there was no chance to follow up with a question, because their father was on them.
“Ah, there she is,” he crooned as he reached his daughters. “Risen from the dead, it seems. At least it feels that way, for how long it has been.”
Rose rolled her eyes as she hugged him. “It has not been that long, Father.”
“Perhaps it just feels that way.”
“You’re in an awfully good mood.”
He chuckled. “That I am. I just received a letter from my accountant, and it looks like your Bride Price has come through. His Grace, as he promised, did not change the terms he agreed upon with your sister.”
“Did you think he would?”
“That man?” her father scoffed. “I would have thought I’d have a better chance of squeezing blood from a stone than convincing him to part with even a cent more than what he could get away with.”
Rose was slightly taken aback by the comment, only to decide that she should not be. She had to remember that she was the only one among them who knew the Duke as more than a cold and calculating businessman, and that she alone knew there was another side to him.
“I am happy to see you in such high spirits, nonetheless.”
“Yes, well,” Her father glanced quickly at Marianne, and she saw a glare flash behind his eyes. “I have every reason to be.”
“Oh,” She turned and looked between him and Marianne. “Has something happened?”
“No, no.” He put an arm around her and started leading her toward the manor. “Just speaking in hyperbole.”
As he led her, Rose looked over her shoulder and found that Marianne was not following. Nor was she watching them. She cast her gaze down at her feet, and her shoulders were slumped with sadness. Something was clearly wrong.
“Father,” Rose started as they entered the home. “Is something the matter with Marianne?”
“No,” he said. “Why would there be?”
“I am not sure, she just seems a little put out.”
“She has no reason to be.”
“But –”
“Enough of that,” he dismissed her. “We have better things to speak of than your sister. Come, there is much to do.”
Rose thought to push, while knowing there was no point. If there was something the matter with her sister, only Marianne would tell her. And only when they are alone.
I will find and speak with her later. Surely, whatever my father needs of me, won’t take too long?
Oh, how wrong she was.
Rose ended up spending the entire day locked away in her father’s office, working with him on a trove of random investments, calculations, and quandaries.
If she did not know any better, she would guess that he hadn’t done a single second of work since she married the Duke, and that he was just waiting to get her home so that he could put her to work.
It was funny to Rose that she used to enjoy days like this one.
When she had lived at home, helping her father with his work had made her feel both important and necessary.
She’d had no doubt that the house would fall apart without her, and that as much as anything was why she had dedicated her life to helping him.
Now, things were different.
She still enjoyed helping her father, and she still took much pleasure in proving herself capable and needed. Only, as she worked across the length of the day, she came to realize that such work no longer brought her the joy that it once had.
This is no longer my home. A strange thing to admit, but also a relief. Despite how I feel about my marriage, that is undoubtedly where I belong, and this right here is exactly what I needed to prove as much.
Nonetheless, Rose became lost in the work, and it wasn’t until her father asked if she wished to stay for supper that she realized what time it was.
“Oh!” she jumped from her chair. “Is it that late already?”
“What’s the matter?” her father asked. “Do not tell me, the Duke has you on a leash?”
She laughed. “No, no, but I should be returning home. I told him I would be hours ago.”
He nodded rightly. “It is good to see it, Rose. That you have accepted your new life, rather than shirking it as I thought you would. I am proud of you.”
Rose smiled coyly as she was taken home. While it was good to see her family again, Thornwall Estate was starting to become her home, and the man inside it was a very big reason why.
It thus came as little surprise that her husband was waiting for her in the foyer when she strode inside. When she saw him, she smiled and was about to make a joke about him missing her. Then she saw his face.
“Where have you been?” He asked her, his expression severe.
“I,” Rose hesitated, almost certain that she was misreading the situation. “You know where I have been.”
“No,” he said. “I certainly do not know where you have been.” He was not shaking with anger, but his hands were clenched by his side, and his glower was etched with rage. It was, Rose realized, the first time that she had ever seen him angry.
“I was with my father,” she said carefully. “I told you that.”