Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
“What are you going to say?” Rose asked Christopher.
He could sense how nervous she was. How tense. She had been fidgeting throughout the journey, unable to sit still because the anticipation of what was to come was tearing her apart.
Christopher, deciding to have a little fun with it, opted to play things cool.
He reverted to his old self, sitting perfectly still, expressionless, even appearing bored as his wife slowly lost her mind.
She saw what he was doing, glared at him in warning, and he just looked upon her with such simplicity that it was all he could do not to burst into laughter at how much it frustrated her.
“What I am going to say is between myself and your father,” he said.
“Don’t do that!” she cried.
“Do what?”
She folded her arms and glared at him. “You know what you are doing.”
“Do I?”
She started to shake with anger. “I want to know what you are going to say. Tell me!”
He sighed and shook his head. “And as I have told you already, that is between your father and me.”
“Christopher!” she wrung her hands in the air. “Tell me now –”
“Careful.” He held up a finger to silence her as he looked out the carriage window. “We are almost there. Best to control your intrepid emotions, lest they get us in trouble.”
Her stare was ice cold. “If this does not work…”
“Then I suspect I'd better start sleeping with one eye open.” Still keeping his expression neutral, he offered her a wink. “It is a good thing then that you trust me.”
“I do for now…” She narrowed her eyes. “But if this does not work, I might have to question everything that I think I know. And that includes my feelings for you.”
“Motivation then.” Christopher leaned back from the window. “Just what I need.”
He could sense Rose glaring at him across the carriage, and he grinned pleasantly as if he didn’t have a care in the world. A lot had changed for Christopher lately, chief among which was his willingness to make jokes and have fun when the timing suited him. Like right now, for example.
Let us just hope this works; otherwise, it might be a while until I find a reason to laugh again… I am certain that Rose will make sure of it.
It was less than one minute later when the carriage began to slow, and a minute after that when it came to a gentle stop.
The door opened for them shortly afterwards, and Christoper was the first to climb out.
Of course, he then turned and helped his grumpy wife to step outside, sure to smile gaily as she continued to glower.
“Rose!” Marianne was waiting on the driveway, and she clapped her hands excitedly as she hurried to greet them. “You made it. You’re here.” She took her sister’s hands and squeezed them.
“I told you I would be.”
“And His Grace…” Marianne trailed off as she glanced at Christopher, offering him an intrepid smile before looking at her sister again. Eyebrows raised. “Is he…”
“I have agreed to speak to your father on your behalf,” Christopher said. “And as I have told Rose more times than I care to count…” He winked at Rose, who rolled her eyes. “You need not worry. I am quite confident that I can change your father’s mind.”
“Thank you!” Marianne seized Christopher by the hands next. “I don’t know how I can… are you certain?” She battered her eyes hopefully. “Will you be able to convince him? That Julian and I…”
Christopher had been certain that he could convince Lord Strathvale to allow Marianne to marry her paramour, Julian Ford.
As a duke, he had certain sway over men who sat beneath him…
which was almost everybody. Convincing a viscount to allow his daughter to marry who she wished – for a price, of course -- should not have been a problem.
Only now, with the added pressure of Marianne’s hope added into the mix, and the warning words of his wife drifting about his subconscious, Christopher wondered if he shouldn’t have been so darn cocky.
The price of no longer hiding my emotions, unfortunately. It can’t all be positive.
“I promise that I will do what I can –”
“That’s not what you said earlier.” Rose swept in. Hands on her hips, one eyebrow cocked, she wasn’t about to let him get away with something. “You told me it was assured.”
Christopher balked. “Did I say that?”
“You did.”
“Is it?” Marianne was still holding him by the hands, and she pulled them into her chest and looked upon him with such hope that it was damn near impossible not to feel pity.
“I promise...” Christopher swallowed as both women looked upon him; their emotions vastly different from one another. “I will convince your father to allow you to…” He cleared his throat. “… to marry Mr. Julian Ford.”
“Thank you!” Marianne threw her arms around him, and she was just about sobbing with gratitude. “How can I ever repay you?”
Christopher found Rose over Marianne’s shoulder. She wore an unamused expression, no doubt aware of Christopher’s fledgling confidence, and her sister’s desperation that he do as he promised. He tried for an apologetic smile, but it did not land.
Once the pleasantries were exchanged, Marianne led them into the manor and toward her father’s office.
“He won’t be expecting you,” Marianne explained as she walked ahead; she was brimming with nervous energy and couldn’t slow her pace, forced to scurry back continuously every few steps. “But I thought that best. What is it called? The element of surprise? I think I read that somewhere.”
“It will be fine,” Christopher said as he tried to find focus. I really should have planned something. At least write a few things down.
“I think it best if I introduce you,” she continued. “Yes, it would be improper if you announced yourself with him –”
“Marianne,” Rose snapped. “Will you please just… stop talking. My husband is trying to concentrate.”
“Oh!” Marianne’s eyes widen. “Your Grace, I am so –” She caught her tongue, eyes like dinner plates, and spun back to looking ahead.
Rose took Christopher’s hand and squeezed it lovingly. He looked up and found her smiling at him, and he returned it with gratitude. Despite the doubt, Christopher knew that Rose believed in him. More than that, she trusted him.
It was for her that he was doing this, and that was why it would succeed.
They arrived at Lord Strathvale’s closed office door. Rose strode ahead and knocked before Marianne had the chance. At her father’s command, she stepped inside and closed the door. Christopher balked, not at all sure what was going on. He looked for Marianne, who was pouting at the closed door.
It opened quickly, and his wife stepped back out. Leaving the door slightly ajar, she took her sister’s hand and guided her away, pausing as she passed Christopher.
“He’s ready for you,” she said with a sly smile.
“What does that mean?” Christopher asked.
She shrugged. “That he’s ready.” She kissed him on the cheek quickly and then hurried her sister down the hallway. Marianne was muttering a complaint, but Christopher didn’t hear it.
The door was ajar, and Lord Strathvale was waiting for him. Christopher stood tall, straightened his collar, made sure to look every inch the Duke of Thornwall, and walked into the office.
Why does it feel like I’m walking into the lion’s den…
“Why are they taking so long?” Marianne paced the room frantically. “What could they possibly be saying?”
“I am sure it is fine,” Rose said calmly.
“And he didn’t tell you what he was going to say?” She looked expectantly at Rose. “He gave you no indication at all?”
“All he said was that he would take care of it.”
“But what does that mean!” she wrung her hands in the air. “He could be saying anything! What if Father says no? What if he is even more upset with me than he was before? What if --"
“Marianne.” Rose swept toward her sister and took her by the hands. “I told you that Christopher would take care of it, and he will.”
“But –”
“And what is more, I trust that he will do everything in his power to make Father see reason.”
“What if –”
“And if I trust him, and you trust me, that should be enough,” She squeezed Marianne’s hands and made sure to be looking at her. “Do you trust me?”
“It is not about if I –”
“Do you trust me?” she repeated.
“Of course I do, Rose. How could you ask me that?”
“That settles it then.” She gave her hands a final squeeze and let them go. “Christopher will not let you down, because he knows that he will let me down. And that should be enough.”
Marianne tried for a confident smile, but Rose could see how desperate her sister was for answers. Not that I can blame her…
The idea for Christopher to speak to her father had been Rose’s.
She was determined to help Marianne with her Julian troubles, even though she knew the chances of her father listening to her were slim.
Which was typical, as he was more than willing to listen to her when he needed advice for just about every other aspect of his life, but as soon as she wanted to help with something that concerned her directly, he was deaf to anything she had to say.
For that reason, Rose decided on a more aggressive approach.
Being a duke, she was certain that her father would at least hear Christopher out. And being a duke, she knew that her father would be more inclined to do as he was asked… so long as he saw a way to wrangle a favor or two from him in the process.
Rose had tried to make her husband tell her what he was going to say.
She had wanted to sit down and map out their options, because she knew her father well enough to know what objections he was going to make.
But Christopher, in a most frustrating maneuver, refused to even hint at what he was going to say.
He is becoming entirely too cute with the way he is acting. Now that he is not so careful about masking his personality, he seems to take pleasure in frustrating me and seeing what he can get away with.
And truthfully, Rose did not care, just so long as he came through. He had to come through…
It was another five minutes of Marianne pacing and Rose trying her best to remain calm before Christopher emerged from the office. He found the two sisters together and immediately told Marianne that her father wished to speak with her.
“What did he say?” Rose asked as the two sisters hurried across the room.
Christopher looked at her plainly. “That is between myself and Lord Strathvale.”
Rose snarled. “What did he –”
“And your sister, of course,” Christopher spoke over her, before turning to face Marianne. She looked desperately at Christopher for an answer or some indication of what had happened. “Marianne, you'd best see to your father. You do not want to keep him waiting.”
Marianne’s chin wobbled, and she turned to Rose for help, but Rose was too busy glaring at Christopher to give any.
Once Marianne left them, Rose tried again.
“Yes, yes, very funny,” she said. “Now, can you please tell me what you said? And what my father said.”
Christopher shrugged. “As I told you, that is between your father and –”
“Enough of that!” she snapped. “Tell me right now what happened.”
He was trying so hard to look nonplussed and emotionless, but the smirk he was attempting to smother fought gallantly so that his lips curved upwards.
“So, it is good news?” Rose seized when she saw his hidden smile.
“I did not say that.”
“Is it bad news?” she tried next. “He refused?”
“I did not say that either.”
“Oh!” She wrung her hands in the air in frustration. “Will you please just tell me? You might think this is funny, but I assure you that it is not.”
“Are you certain about that?” he said as his smirk grew.
She levelled a flat gaze at him. “Laugh it up now, but when we are home…” Her eyes narrowed. “We will see just how funny you think this is.”
“I am not trying to be funny,” Christopher sighed as he stepped into Rose and took her hand. She tried to snatch it away, but he refused to let go. “Your father and I had what amounted to a business meeting, and he made me promise that I would not divulge the particulars to you.”
“Typical,” she snapped. “He is happy for my help when it suits, but as soon as –”
“What I can tell you…” Christopher spoke over her, and as he did, he took her other hand so that he was facing her directly. “We will need to go shopping in the next week or two.”
She leaned back. “What for?”
“A new dress for you to wear at your sister’s wedding, of course…” He pumped his eyebrows. “One that I am quite certain your sister will be rather pleased to attend herself. She did insist on the matter, after all.”
“Does that mean…” Rose felt her heart flutter, but she tried to contain it. “Julian…”
Christopher winked.
“Oh!” Rose threw herself at Christopher and smothered him in kisses. He pretended to try to push her away, but he did not try too hard. “Thank you! Thank you!” Rose beamed as she continued to kiss him.
“I told you I would see it done,” he said.
‘I never doubted you.”
Christopher snorted.
“I did not!” She pulled back and looked at him warningly. “I am many things, and supportive is one of them.” She dared him to argue.
He just laughed. “And that, more than anything, is why I never doubted myself. Also…” He winced. “The idea of returning home with you if I had failed…” A shudder next. “I would not wish it upon my worst enemy.”
“Stop it!” she slapped him playfully on the chest.
He snatched her hand and widened his eyes at her. She pretended to narrow her own. They stared in warning… only to both break into joyous smiles, which soon devolved into a passionate kiss.
“Rose!” Mariannes hurried from the room. “Rose!”
Rose pulled herself from her husband’s embrace just in time to see Marianne rush toward her. She was crying tears of joy, and Rose struggled to remember a time that she had ever seen her sister so happy.
They hugged. They cried. They laughed.
Through it all, Rose caught her husband watching them. His smile was generous, his eyes glimmered, and she knew that he was almost as happy for this moment as she was. As he should well be, because Marianne was more than his wife’s sister; she was family.
We are all family, and it is one that’s about to get that little bit bigger. If not for this marriage, then for the children we will bring into this world. How things got to here, I cannot say. But that they did, and that we get to enjoy them, for that I could not be happier.
Rose had never wanted to marry; she had never wanted to fall in love, and now that she had done both, she couldn’t imagine her life any other way. Nor could she imagine spending it with anyone other than Lord Christopher Kingswell, the Duke of Thornwall.