10. Rosalie
Chapter 10
Rosalie
R osalie trudged in from the cottage’s back garden, a heavy basket over her arm. She had managed to scrounge a full load, but she had picked the garden bare doing so. Her brothers had assured her they had already stripped the last of the harvest, but she had known better than to trust the thoroughness of their search.
“I managed to gather a little more, Mother,” she called as she entered the cottage.
The five of them had already started the task of preserving as much of the produce as possible for the coming winter, and she knew her mother had been concerned about it stretching far enough. They worked hard to cover as much of the family’s consumption as possible since her mother hated to draw from their meager stash of coin to cover the shortfall. Her father worked hard—leaving for long stretches of time—and all their coin was hard-earned.
“Good job,” her mother called absentmindedly, her head bent over the stove top. She was preparing the midday meal, and Rosalie was disappointed to see she was alone.
“Where are the boys?” she asked, stowing the supplies she had gathered and setting the table for the midday meal with brisk, efficient movements.
“Hunting in the woods.” Her mother lifted the pot off the heat.
Rosalie nodded, relieved. At least they were doing something useful. With any luck, they’d find substantial game and could be given the task of preserving it for the coming months.
But her approval waned when all three boys trooped in a minute later. Not only were their hands empty, but their boots were suspiciously free of mud.
Her eyes narrowed, and she nearly asked if they had been wasting their time in town when they were supposed to be hunting. But something in their demeanor stayed her tongue. Whatever mood hung over them, it was far stronger than the sheepishness she might have expected if they had been entertaining themselves instead of working.
All three appeared so downcast that she wondered if they were sickening. Vernon, in particular, looked as if he wouldn’t be able to keep down the food. She couldn’t imagine anything but extreme nausea interfering with his appetite.
She remained silent, watching the triplets closely as they all gathered around the table. As she had feared, all three of them only picked at the meal, a far cry from their usual ravenous hunger. But it was more than just a lack of appetite. Something was definitely weighing them down, and given their tension, she feared it was more than physical illness. It was a wonder their mother hadn’t noticed.
Rosalie added her mother to her mental list of people to worry about. It wasn’t like her to be so unaware of abnormal behavior from her children. She must be beyond exhausted.
If it had only been her and her brothers at table, Rosalie would have immediately demanded answers. But for their mother’s sake, she remained silent. As soon as they had cleared away the meal, however, she suggested her mother take the opportunity for a small nap.
It took earnest entreaties from all four of her children for her mother to agree. Rosalie was glad to see her go, although the triplets’ enthusiasm for the idea only increased her suspicion of them.
“Just a few minutes,” her mother said, hesitating in the door of the bedroom she shared with Rosalie. “Your father often manages a small rest at this time of day if he doesn’t have a full day of travel. Perhaps I can meet with him.”
Rosalie’s smile tightened, but she pushed back the feeling. She hoped her mother did manage to get news from her father. In Glandore, a couple with a close emotional connection—who trusted each other completely—could meet in their dreams. It was the only thing that had made the forced separation endurable for her parents.
But thinking of dream meetings made Rosalie think of Jace, and memories of him were especially unwelcome now he had returned. She had once hoped to meet him each night when she closed her eyes, and the foolishness of it made her mouth sour. During their short betrothal she had worried about the absence of any meetings, but she had allowed herself to be convinced by his reassurances. He had told her it was a connection that would come after their wedding, and foolishly she had believed him. The look he gave her when he said it—sometimes accompanied by a stolen kiss—had always made her blush, stealing away any further words of protests and replacing them with happy dreams of the future.
Why hadn’t she recognized the warning signs?
Pushing aside thoughts of her betrothal—she had enough present troubles without dwelling on the past—she firmly shut the door to the cottage’s one bedroom. When her father was away, Rosalie slept in the wide bed with her mother, moving to a pallet in front of the stove when he was home.
Her brothers slept in the cottage’s loft, and as soon as she heard her mother’s even breathing through the door, she silently indicated for the boys to climb the ladder. They obeyed without protest or question—yet another indication of just how badly something was wrong.
She followed after Oscar, barely managing to squeeze into the small space beside their lanky frames. The simple pallets they slept on barely fit as it was, and the four of them ended up cross-legged in a circle on top of them. As soon as Rosalie was settled, she directed a stern glare at each of them.
“Well?” she demanded in a hushed tone that was no less demanding for its volume. “Out with it! What’s going on?”
Ralph and Oscar both looked to Vernon, who immediately hung his head.
“He was only trying to help,” Ralph offered when Vernon didn’t immediately speak.
“And we knew about it, so we’re as much to blame,” Oscar added loyally.
Rosalie’s stomach lurched. Just how much trouble had they gotten into that Vernon was afraid to confess it to her?
“Come on,” she said in a much softer tone, “you can tell me. It won’t get any easier by delaying. Whatever it is, we’ll find a way to work it out.”
Vernon seemed to recognize the truth in her words because he took a deep breath and spoke. “I really was only trying to help. Whenever Father is back, we see how worried he looks, and we hear the whispers between him and Mother. Father works hard, but it’s difficult to make money when you have nothing to invest at the start. So we thought…”
He glanced at his brothers before taking another breath. “We thought we could help by providing some initial investment money.”
Rosalie gasped. “Please don’t tell me you stole it!”
“What? No!”
“Of course not!”
“Never!”
Her brothers’ indignant denials overlapped, soothing the worst of her fears.
“Keep your voices down,” she reminded them, and they all instantly subsided. She looked from one to the other, her momentary relief drying up. “So what did you do?” she said. “Because I know you don’t have any money.”
“I borrowed it,” Vernon said in a rush.
Rosalie’s mouth dropped open. “You did what?”
“I borrowed it,” Vernon repeated more quietly, not able to meet her eyes.
“There’s no way the bank loaned you money,” Rosalie said shortly. “Putting aside your age, I know Father already tried. More than once. Every local in Thebarton knows Father has an excellent head for business and sound judgment, but the bank wouldn’t risk it—not once the Legacy started working against us.”
“I…I didn’t go to the bank,” Vernon confessed. “It was a private loan. I figured once Father turned it into profit, we could easily pay it back.”
“A moneylender? But the interest!” Rosalie cried before clapping her hand over her mouth and glancing down the ladder. She lowered her voice. “How could you have gotten a loan? Even moneylenders know better than to make deals with minors.” She ran a hand over her eyes. “If you somehow did, well, you’ll just have to give the money straight back.”
Thank goodness the boys had been eaten up with guilt over their foolish action. Since they’d confessed to her so promptly, she could march them into Thebarton to repay the money before any significant interest had accumulated.
“I’m afraid it’s too late for that,” Ralph said gloomily.
“If we could repay it, we already would have,” Oscar added.
“What do you mean?” Rosalie asked sharply. “Where is the money?”
“I told them it was Father borrowing the money,” Vernon said in a rush. “I forged his signature and everything.”
“And they believed that?” Rosalie asked, incredulous.
Vernon nodded, his expression utterly miserable. “I think they thought Father was too proud to go himself.”
“But not too proud to send a child in his place?” Rosalie asked with increasing wrath.
“Vernon went to them last time Father was home,” Oscar said. “The lie wouldn’t have worked if Father was away at the time, so it had to be then.”
Rosalie turned furious eyes on Vernon, and Oscar continued in a rush.
“Don’t blame everything on Vernon! He told us what he’d done, and we both approved. The three of us took the money to Father together, so we’re all at fault.”
“You already gave Father the money?” Rosalie asked in dismay. “But why would he accept it? Where did he think you got it? Don’t try to tell me he condoned what you’d done because I won’t believe it!”
“We told him it was our pocket money,” Vernon said. “You know how lavishly he and Mother used to provide for us all. We told him that since we never wanted for anything, the three of us had been saving our pocket money for years.”
“And he believed that?” Rosalie stared at him in astonishment. “I never saw any of you receive a coin without immediately spending it on sweets!”
“You know that.” Vernon’s head drooped even lower. “And Mother knows that. But Father was always at the office when we spent it.”
“He was touched,” Ralph said in a clogged voice. “Kept checking we didn’t want to spend it on ourselves. He felt bad about taking it, but he also understood that it would benefit us all if he could use it to build a new business.”
“Wait,” Rosalie said, fresh horror washing over her. “How long ago was this? Last time he was here, he was so down because of that promising new business venture that went wrong—the one that fell apart just before he started receiving profit. Are you telling me he’d invested your borrowed money in that?”
All three boys remained silent, their faces pictures of misery.
Rosalie’s hands flew to her mouth. “The three of you were so upset about it,” she whispered, “and he was so apologetic. But I thought you were just disappointed that we weren’t going to get our old life back after all. It never occurred to me…”
“He apologized to us over and over,” Oscar said in a small voice. “But we knew it wasn’t his fault.”
“I never should have borrowed it,” Vernon murmured. “I realized it then, but it was too late to undo my mistake.”
“Why didn’t you say anything at the time?” Rosalie asked. “Why didn’t Father say anything to Mother or me?” She stilled. “Does he still not know the truth about the money?”
All three boys shook their heads.
“How could we tell him when he was already so down?” Vernon asked. “I borrowed the money, so it’s my responsibility.” He glanced at his brothers. “We figured something would happen to allow us to repay it on our own.”
Rosalie shook her head. Apparently the many disasters that had befallen their family still weren’t enough to overcome the boundless optimism of youthful boys.
“How have you been paying the interest?” she asked. “Don’t tell me the lender has been kindly waiving it because I won’t believe you.”
The three of them exchanged guilty looks.
“We’re much better hunters than you and Mother think,” Oscar admitted. “We’ve been selling some of the game we catch in town. We’ve always managed to scratch together enough for the interest, but we haven’t been able to pay off any of the principal.”
Rosalie’s head spun. She could imagine just how it had been. Kindly townsfolk must have been purchasing the game and thinking they were helping Clifford’s family in the process. After all her and her mother’s hard work to make sure the family was self-sufficient, they had been relying on the kindness of others without even realizing.
She drew a deep breath, reminding herself that her brothers were still young. They had made a mistake, but the real villain was the one who had loaned them the money without checking with their father directly. And her brothers clearly felt bad enough without facing her wrath as well.
Her thoughts faltered. If the situation had been ongoing for months, what had happened to make them finally confess it? Had the forest been bare of game lately? Did they need help with the next interest payment? She wasn’t sure where she could find extra coin, but if they needed it, she would have to find a way.
“So why are you telling me this now?” she asked, wishing she didn’t have to hear the answer.
“We didn’t want to tell you,” Vernon said. “But telling Mother seemed worse. Besides, you really ought to know, given…” He faltered, and an uncomfortable presentiment filled Rosalie.
“What is it?” she asked. “Tell me quickly!”
“It’s Jace,” Vernon said quietly, watching her closely.
She went cold all over. She had known Jace was going to do something terrible, she just hadn’t expected it to involve her brothers.
“What has he done?” she asked harshly.
Three pairs of eyes stared at her.
“Did you already know he was back?” Oscar asked, astonished.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Rosalie sighed.
They waited for her to say more, but she stayed quiet. There was no way she was disclosing what Jace had done to her brothers of all people. They’d just demonstrated that they couldn’t be trusted to make sensible choices, and the last thing she needed was them vowing to track Jace down and kill him.
“Why didn’t you tell us he was in Thebarton?” Vernon asked, indignation in his tone.
She raised her eyebrows, and he immediately subsided, his cheeks flushing.
“So what does Jace have to do with any of this?” she asked.
“This morning we went to pay the latest interest installment like usual,” Vernon said. “But the man who lent us the money refused the payment. He said he’d sold our debt.”
Rosalie clapped a hand to her mouth, her meal turning over in her belly.
“He sold your debt to Jace? How did Jace even know about it?”
Vernon shrugged, none of the boys disputing her assumption. It was true, then. Her brothers owed Jace money. Possibly a lot of money. She needed to ask them the total, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it yet.
“Our original moneylender told us to go see our new creditor and pay him the interest,” Ralph said. “We didn’t know who it was at that stage, so you can imagine our astonishment when we found Jace waiting for us.”
“We tried to give him the coins, but he refused to take them,” Vernon said.
“He refused your money?” Rosalie wasn’t foolish enough to be relieved. Jace clearly had some terrible purpose for her brothers and their debt.
“Actually he demanded more,” Vernon said. “He said the initial loan period has passed.”
“Which is true,” Oscar interjected. “But the original lender was quite happy to keep receiving interest.”
“I bet he was,” Rosalie muttered.
“So now Jace is demanding we pay back the whole loan immediately,” Ralph finished. “He says he’s giving us three days, and if we can’t produce the money, he’ll have the guards call in the debt. Which of course means they’ll arrest us since we can’t produce money we don’t have.”
Rosalie frowned. “Surely that’s a bluff? Jace would never go to the guards. Not after what he did to us. He’s a cheat and a liar, and the whole town hates him.”
“Obviously, he didn’t buy the debt in his own name,” Oscar said with distaste. “He seems to have followers now, and officially, it’s all been done through one of them. Jace’s friend will be the one to go to the guards if it comes to that, and we’ll have no evidence he’s connected to Jace.”
Rosalie had already seen Jace’s new followers with her own eyes, so she could easily believe he had someone to stand in his stead. Their family’s stolen money was enough to buy a lot of loyalty.
“They can only arrest me,” Vernon said staunchly. “I was the one who borrowed the money, so I’m the only one they can lock away.”
“Actually,” Rosalie said in a hollow voice, “you weren’t the one to borrow the money. Not officially. It’s Father’s name on the papers Jace purchased. He’s the one the guards will come for.”
All three of the boys’ eyes widened, and if it was possible for them to look more sick, they did so. It clearly hadn’t occurred to them that their father would be the one arrested in their stead.
“I’ll…I’ll tell them it was me!” Vernon said. “I’ll swear it and insist they take me instead.”
Rosalie gave him a withering look. “Do you really think Father would allow that? Or the guard would listen? They won’t drag off a minor when an adult’s signature is on the debt.”
Vernon swallowed. He knew as well as she did that their father would take full responsibility to shield his son. And the Legacy would help him do so. When it came to a bargain, the Legacy loved substitution. A father for a son would suit it perfectly.
“I didn’t…I didn’t mean for Father to have to…”
“No,” Rosalie said poisonously. “It’s clear you didn’t think from start to end of this whole affair! And now we’re all in trouble. If Father can no longer work, we won’t be able to pay the rent on even this tiny cottage. He may be arrested, but we’ll be on the streets.” She paused, letting that fully sink in before she added, “Not that we can allow Father to be arrested, obviously. We’ll have to find a way to escape the situation in the next three days.”
The simplest option—however unpalatable—was to find enough money. As much as she hated paying a single coin to Jace, she would do it to save her family. And if they couldn’t find the money, they would have to think of another way to avoid Jace’s scheme. The alternative was unthinkable.
All three boys perked up at her assurance, and their change of mood settled over her shoulders like lead. They thought she had the answer, but she had nothing, and what if she couldn’t find a way?
She shook the thought off. She would find a solution. She had to. There simply wasn’t any other option.
But something about the story still gave her pause.
“But why is he doing this?” she wondered aloud. “Jace has already taken everything our family had. Why is he targeting you?” She had been sure Jace’s new target was Dimitri, and compared to his potential, the triplet’s debt was spare change.
“Well…” Vernon exchanged a look with his brothers putting her instantly on the alert.
“Well, what?” she asked with narrowed eyes. “If I’m going to help you out of this, I need to know everything.”
“Jace did say he’d forgive the debt,” Vernon said slowly. “I just had to do one small thing for him.”
“Don’t do it,” Rosalie said instantly.
Whatever it was, it wasn’t worth it. She didn’t need to hear any more to know that. If Jace wanted something from Vernon, it was only a way to entrap them all further.
But that didn’t mean she wasn’t curious.
She sighed. “Go on, then. Tell me what he wants. Why did he buy your debt?”
“He wants me to pick one of the manor’s roses. He said if I picked one rose—any rose—and brought it to him, he’d forgive the whole debt.”
“You haven’t done it, have you?” Rosalie cried, alarmed. “That’s not a small thing he’s asking! Surely you realize that?”
“Of course we do,” Ralph said waspishly. “Why do you think we came to you instead of going to the manor? Now that Dimitri’s in residence, we might unleash all sorts of trouble by picking a rose.”
“He would likely end up a Beast for one.” Rosalie felt sick again. “We are not going to get our family out of trouble by throwing someone else into it. And that’s without considering what bargain the Legacy would extract in exchange for your theft.”
“If I could guarantee it was me who paid the price, I would do it in a heartbeat,” Vernon said dejectedly. “But…” He didn’t need to say any more. All four of them knew how the Legacy loved substitution—and in such a direct parallel to the original history, the Legacy would exert a staggering amount of power.
“We have to find another way,” Rosalie said. “Show me the original contract you signed, and I’ll work out what to do.”
She sounded a great deal more confident than she felt, but it was better than betraying her fear.