Chapter 31 #2
Rose could see Peggy retreat into herself, her shyness taking charge. “Yes, you did.”
“It is for the best, I’m afraid.” All eyes in their small group shot to Rose, and she nodded once—firmly and resolute. “I must ensure we are ready for departure, but I have been instructed by our lovely Eilidh that a send-off dinner will take place tonight. I will see you all there.”
Falling into old habits, Rose curtsied, quickly fleeing the room before her emotions could get the best of her. Instead of dwelling in them, allowing them to drag her down, Rose proceeded straight to her parents’ borrowed chamber.
It did not take her long to navigate the paths of the castle, now well-known to her after all this time in the keep. She arrived at her parents’ room and knocked on the door.
A moment later, her mother answered. “Rose, darling, come in. We were just discussing our journey back to the city.”
“Perfect.” Rose stepped inside, her body feeling tight and wrong. “I wanted to ensure that we were ready to leave following dinner. The keep is providing us with a farewell meal.”
“Oh, that’s lovely.” Horatia walked back to the small settee in the room and sat next to Baldwin, who looked as confused and oblivious as always. “I simply cannot wait until we are at last back home, of course.”
“Of course.” Rose knew she sounded flat, her tone distant and hollow. But she was surprised when her mother frowned at her, picking up on it, too. That was decidedly not her mother’s forte, and her reading Rose’s emotions now was nearly enough to make the tears fall once more.
“Dearest, you do not appear to be as excited about our return. Is there something you wish to say?”
Rose wasn’t sure what it was about the question, but it was enough to send her right over the edge, the burning frustration and sorrow in her boiling over like an overfull pot.
“Excited? Mother, have you paid no attention to anything I’ve said since you arrived?
For the entirety of my life, in point of fact.
No. I am not excited. I love it here. I have settled in and become part of the people.
I was terrified when the fire was consuming the main entrance.
I treated burns and bleeding with Fiona, feared for the lives of the people whom I have seen every day since arriving. ”
Her words were vulnerable, raw. Rose could not bring herself to even bother to hide her emotions.
“Darling, what’s gotten into you?” Horatia stood up from the settee, walking up to Rose where she stood in the middle of the room, and taking her hands. “You are never like this.”
“Rose,” her father added, “are you quite well? There was so much smoke and violence. Have you been affected?”
Throwing her mother’s hands off her, Rose began pacing back and forth through the room furiously.
“Affected? Of course, I am affected by the sight of innocent people being harmed because of a man that I brought to this keep!”
“Nonsense! I see that you wish to blame yourself for that, but Lord Egerton was his own man. He made his own decisions.” Horatia scoffed. “No doubt this blame is the result of that Scottish brute putting ideas in your head.”
Rose stopped dead in her tracks, turning back to look at her mother.
For a moment, she wasn’t sure if the woman was serious.
She couldn’t possibly be calling the man who fought to defend her a brute.
But the look of her usual, practiced haughtiness was plain on her face.
Stomping toward her, Rose jabbed a finger in the air at Horatia, fury at its peak.
“Don’t you dare speak about him that way.
That ‘brute’ protected this castle—and your daughter—with his very life.
He said nothing to me about this being a result of my own actions; that’s a truth I’ve been wise enough to discover for myself.
” Horatia looked as if she were going to speak, but Rose stamped her foot, the heel cracking loudly against the floor.
“I will not allow you to speak so disrespectfully about my husband.”
“I…” Her mother’s voice faltered. “I have never seen you so worked up. I only meant that you have taken on such a terrible burden. You have clearly done so much while you are here. Rose, you’ve practically worked yourself to the bone, and I have never seen—”
“You have never seen it, Mother, because I did not show it to you. All I have done is to ensure your well-being, and both of you have been children to your own daughter for years. I have always ‘been like this.’ I simply knew that neither of you would handle it. I protected you. Day in and day out. And it was only Lord Egerton who had slithered his way through that protection, and he managed to upend my entire life twice before his demise.”
Baldwin and Horatia were both clearly astounded by what their daughter said, reeling backward with their mouths hanging open. Pain burned through Rose’s chest as she looked at them, hearing the word “brute” echo in her mind.
“Dominik is one of the most honest, loyal men I’ve ever met.
No, in fact, he is the only one I can genuinely say holds both those titles in his heart each day.
He is an incredible Laird and protector of this keep, and he saved my life from the Viscount, who not only sought to destroy us with his dowry scheme but also to kill me when his greed was not served.
I would do anything to keep Dominik from suffering the wrath of the Crown when what he did was noble and necessary. ”
The last of Rose’s words echoed in the room, and she stood in silence before her parents while they were forced to grapple with reality for the first time.
It dragged on, the moments of quiet long.
But Rose would not be the one to end the tension.
It was time for her to no longer protect her parents from the harshness of the world.
They needed to face it and be stronger for it, as she had her entire life.
“Rose,” her mother started, “I had no idea. Neither of us did.” She looked back at Baldwin, who was still incensed, his face peaked and green along the edges.
“But we should have. We—I am so terribly sorry for that. We are not completely in the dark, and both of us know how much you have done for our family. But…Oh, my dearest, we did not say it enough how proud we are of you, and how grateful that you are our daughter.”
Emotions crested to the surface, and Rose had trouble believing what she was hearing. So much had changed in her since she had arrived at the keep and been forced to deal with all the challenges and unfamiliar customs of her new home. Still, this moment nearly made them all worth it.
Seeing her parents honestly express their understanding, seeing them realize just how much this affected her, was something Rose thought she would never get to enjoy.
“Furthermore,” her mother stepped forward, meeting Rose where she stood and cupping her face with both hands, “we had no idea of your affection for your husband. It was wrong of me to speak so poorly about him, regardless, but especially so when it is obvious that you care for him.”
“I—Mother, that is not—”
“Your father and I genuinely believed that bringing you back to England was what was best for you. But if you feel so deeply for your husband, that might very well not be the case. You can stay, dearest.”
It was all too much, and Rose felt the composure she’d struggled to maintain, only letting out her anger, finally crumbling. The sorrow and longing broke free, nearly drowning her with the fathoms of pain they inflicted on her.
“It is too late, Mother. As much as I appreciate you saying that it doesn’t change the truth. The Crown will issue a verdict, and I must go to England to protect my husband as best I can if they decide action is required. For as long as he is my husband to protect.”
“What do you mean by that?” Baldwin spoke now, still ghostly white from the effect of his intense emotions, likely the first overwhelm he’d ever felt.
“Dominik is free to decide what he wishes to do about our arrangement. I know that he…he must put his clan first, and there were many here who did not approve of our marriage. I will leave it to him to decide how we shall proceed.”
“Rose, darling—” But she held a finger to her mother’s mouth, so she did not continue, shaking her head.
“No, that is the way of it.”
And so, it was. They would have this short time to rest, and that evening, Rose would endure the last meal she would ever have with her husband.