Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Rose was sitting in the back garden, perched under a large tree for shade, and reading a book when she saw Mr. Carter coming for her. He waddled down the steps and started along the footpath, indicating to Rose with a wave of his arm that she was his destination.
In his right hand, Rose saw an envelope.
“Mr. Carter.” She closed her book and smiled pleasantly. “Do not tell me,” She pretended to look suspicious. “That letter in your hand is for me?”
“I do, Your Grace.” He held out the letter. “It came just now, via a courier.”
“Did the courier say from whom?”
“He did not, Your Grace. Nor is there any indication of the sender attached to the letter. The only instruction given was that it be for your eyes only.”
Rose frowned as she eyed the letter in Mr. Carter’s hand. Receiving a letter was not such a strange thing, but the secrecy certainly was. Her heart rate increased slightly, as if from worry, and she took the letter from the Head of Staff.
Mr. Carter watched her closely as she opened it. “Anything to raise concern?”
“Let me just…” Rose unfurled the letter, saw immediately who it was from… and did her best to hide the alarm that surely flashed across her face. “Oh, it is just from my father,” she lied.
“Your father?”
“Following up on some work we were doing the last time I saw him.” She smiled, even as her pulse rate ripped through her. “Thank you, Mr. Carter. That will be all.”
Mr. Carter studied her with extreme skepticism. She continued to smile, even fluttering her eyelashes, because she needed him to buy the lie and dismiss himself before she read the letter… one that was certainly not from her father.
“As you say.” He offered a short bow. “If you need anything…”
“I will be sure to send for you,” she finished for him.
Rose watched Mr. Carter make his way across the garden and back inside the house. And she continued to watch, sure to give it a few minutes after the fact, paired that with a quick glance around the garden to make certain that she was alone.
Only when she was certain that there was nobody nearby did she unfurl the letter and read it in full.
Rose,
Please do not judge me for what I am about to tell you, and please do not judge me for telling you via a letter. I meant to tell you everything when you were home, but Father was there, and I did not want him to overhear me, lest he guess what I was planning to do.
I still cannot believe it, Rose. I lie awake at night and wonder how… I suppose I should not be so surprised, as this is our father, and this was always going to happen. Silly me for daring to dream.
Father refused Julian’s offer of marriage.
Not only did he refuse, but he grew furious at the suggestion, insulted even.
He acted as if Julian were some street urchin, and I was a foolish, lovesick child unable to see how I was being duped.
He threatened to throw Julian out of the manor by his collar, such was his fury.
I refuse to live in a world where Julian and I will not be together. I refuse!
Last evening, I fled from home. Julian and I will marry, even if we must do it in another country from which we will never return. We are on our way to Scotland now, as Aunt Fiona lives there. She will shelter us, I am sure of it. After which, hopefully, she will help us disappear.
I write to you not to invoke fear but hope. You never wanted to marry His Grace, and I know you wish you had not. I ask you, Rose, come with Julian and me . Leave it all behind. Go somewhere His Grace will not be able to find you, and be free once and for all.
I have attached the address of an inn we shall stay in for two nights. This should give you more than enough time to come to us. Please consider it, Rose. You saved me once; allow me to save you.
Your beloved sister,
Marianne
Rose read the letter three times before she fully comprehended its meaning… and its consequence. And once both of these things settled on her shoulders, the panic set in quickly.
Marianne… what have you done?
It had been a beautiful and bright summer’s day when Mr. Carter had come to her, but now storm clouds began to gather, and a cold wind swept across the garden that had her shaking. Such was the effect of the letter.
That Rose’s father had denied Marianne’s request to marry Julian was not a huge surprise.
Indeed, Rose had predicted that he might.
But she had also assumed that when that happened, she would have a chance to speak to him and change his mind.
Rose, more than anyone, would have been able to convince her father to let Marianne marry him.
A shame that she never got the chance.
She read the letter again, swallowing the lump in her throat, while trying to ignore the pit that grew in her stomach. Marianne had run away and, if her words were true, she did not plan on coming back. That alone would have been cause for alarm, but it wasn’t what Rose focused on.
She means for me to run away with her. She truly believes that I would want such a thing. That she would be saving me.
It was a sweet gesture, if not painfully misguided. Perhaps once, Rose would have considered it. But so much had changed since she married the Duke, and the idea of running away and never seeing him again did not sit well with her at all.
In fact, Rose felt guilty to even think of such a thing.
She remembered Christopher’s anger a few days ago when he thought that she was in trouble, how much he had worried over her.
Perhaps he was not the kindest, most generous soul she’d ever met, but she knew now that beneath the hard shell that he wore, there was another side of him. One that she was starting to fall for…
All that was to say that she had no intention of running away.
She also wasn’t going to simply sit back and do nothing. If her sister did run, the chaos that would cause was unimaginable. Marianne might think it was her chance to be happy, but Rose knew better. She would spend her life living in fear, looking over her shoulder, and never truly being free.
She deserves to be happy, and this is not happiness. It is running, and I cannot allow Marianne to make such a huge mistake. If I do all of this, everything I have done for her will be for nothing.
Rose came to a decision quickly.
She was up and striding across the garden and back indoors. “Mr. Carter!” she called after the Head of Staff. “Mr. Carter!”
“Yes, Your Grace?” he appeared as if from nowhere.
“His Grace,” she said. “Where is he?”
Had Rose had time to think about it, she might have realized how significant it was that her first thought was to seek out her husband and ask him for help. Again, it was something that even a week ago would have been inconceivable. Now, it felt right.
“I am afraid that he is out for the day, Your Grace.”
“What? Where?”
“London. Is there something I can help you with?”
Rose began to panic. She imagined her sister and Julian sitting in an inn, waiting for her. Worse, she imagined what would happen if she did not arrive on time, and she never got a chance to stop them. Likely, she would never see her sister again…
“Have a carriage readied for me, Mr. Carter. To leave at once.”
“A carriage? And where will you be heading?” he hurried after her.
“North,” she said. “I will be heading north.”
Rose was inside the carriage heading north twenty minutes later. She gave the address to the driver and then had no choice but to sit and wait.
As she waited, she ran through in her head what she was going to do and what she was going to say. She had no idea. Could she change her sister’s mind? Did she even want to? If Marianne truly believed that she would never be allowed to marry Julian, why would she return?
The hours stretched on, and soon the sun began to set.
Rose’s eyelids were growing heavy, and she started to drift off in the back of the carriage, which is why she did not notice the carriage slowing down until it came to a sudden stop.
“Whoa!” she heard the carriage driver cry out. “Who goes there?”
Rose’s eyes snapped open. She glanced out the window, seeing the empty stretch of road on both sides, the vast plains that ran endlessly, and the slowly darkening sky. Her pulse quickened, and fear spiked through her when she heard footsteps approaching the carriage door.
Oh no, what if my father has sent someone? Worse than that, what if it is bandits? I really should have waited for Christopher.
The door to the carriage flew open suddenly, and Rose did not know if she should have sighed with relief or cried out in fear at who she saw.
“Rose!” It was Christopher, of all people. He was dressed in his riding clothes, his face was red from exertion, his hair was whipped and messy across his head, and his eyes burned with fury.
“Christopher!” Rose stammered and scrambled back in the carriage. “What are you… How are you here?”
“Mr. Carter is to thank.” The side of his lip twitched, and she could literally see him trying to control his rage.
“And thank God that he did.” He put a foot up as if to climb inside with her.
“I thought we spoke about this, Rose. I thought…” He took a deep breath.
“I thought I made my feelings perfectly clear.”
“It is not what it looks like,” Rose started desperately. “I… I am not running away.”
He frowned. “I never thought that you were.”
“Oh.” She blinked in surprise. “I… I just assumed you thought that I was leaving you.” She laughed awkwardly.
“Rose…” He sighed, and the anger faded from him. “I did not chase you down because I thought you were trying to flee. I chased you down because I knew that for you to have taken off like this, something must be wrong.”
“You… you did?”
“Tell me what has happened,” he said. “And tell me how I might help.”
Once again, Rose was forced to consider her husband in a new light.
She supposed that by now she shouldn’t have been surprised by his concern for her. Had he not demonstrated how he felt once already? Had he not proven to her that he cared about her well-being enough that she should start to believe it?
I continually misjudge my husband, and I am starting to wonder whether I am the problem, not him.
“It is my sister, Marianne.” Rose reached for the letter, tucked away in her dress. “She… here, take a look for yourself.” She handed Christopher the letter, not considering for a second that she should lie to him.
He read the letter quickly.
“And you mean to do what, exactly?” he asked. “Change her mind? Force her to come back with you?”
“I do not know. I just know that I cannot sit back and do nothing.”
“And if she refuses to listen to you? What then? Will you tie her up and drag her home? Or, barring that, if you let her go. What will your father say? Rose…” He shook his head. “You must see how desperate a situation your sister has put you in.”
“It makes no difference,” Rose said as the stress of the moment finally hit her.
“I do not know what I will do, Christopher. I do not even know if there is anything that I can do. But she is my baby sister, and I must do something! I cannot… I cannot sit back and let her throw her life away like this. I must talk to her. I must see if I can change her mind! You must see that!” She was breathing heavily, her body shaking as the panic erupted from her.
Christopher watched her in silence and gave nothing away. The letter was still in his hand, his body was still half out of the carriage, and she could not begin to guess what he was going to say or do.
“I suppose we'd best hurry then,” he said and handed her back the letter.
She blinked in confusion. “You are coming?”
“As I have told you time and time again, Rose. You are my wife, your life is mine, and no matter what happens to you, be it good or bad, I will be there for you. As is my charge.” He looked right at her, strong and silent and so very serious. “Now, is that a problem?”
“No…” She blinked again. “Not at all.”
“Good. Allow me to attach my horse to the carriage, and then we will get moving. We don’t want to miss your sister.” He stepped back from the carriage and strode away.
Rose sat there gaping stupidly. Surprised by her husband’s words. Touched by them, also. She was starting to realize that it was time she stopped being so shocked when her husband acted as he was doing. By now, it should have been expected.
Christopher was many things, most of all, he was honest. He did not lie. He did not cheat. He did not try to obfuscate. When he told her that he wanted to help, he meant it. And when he told her that he would be there for her, he was being truthful.
Her husband might not have been in love with her, but he clearly cared for her. It was time for Rose to accept that she cared for him just as much… and to start showing him that she appreciated everything he did for her. At this point, she felt that she owed him that, at least.