Then, he turned to leave.
“You’re going?” she called after him, almost on instinct.
He paused at the lower landing of the staircase and turned back to her, frowning with clear confusion. “I am not leaving the manor, if that is what you mean?”
“You know it is not,” she said sharply. “What I meant is…” She sucked back her anger, aware of how the staff were watching her. “Are you not going to show me my new home? I thought— is that not what you are supposed to do?”
“Supposed to do?”
“We are married,” she said, feeling stupid the moment that she did.
He frowned as he looked at her. “And here I was, assuming you wanted nothing to do with me. Is that not the entire purpose of this marriage? Or have you changed your mind suddenly?”
“No,” she said through gritted teeth. “I have not changed my mind. But –”
“That settles it then,” he spoke over her. “I would not presume to impose myself on you any further than I have, and as I said, if you need anything, the staff is more than willing to help. Now,” He raised an eyebrow at her. “Is there anything else?”
Rose glared at him, and she did not care that they were being watched. “No, there is not.”
“Good.” With that, he turned and started up the steps. This time, Rose did not call after him.
It was a strange start to married life, and as Rose watched her husband vanish, she came to accept that things were going to become no more normal from here on out.
This was what she had wanted. This was what she had fought for. And now that she had it, she wasn’t so sure that she had made the right decision. And the fact that her husband was making things all the more confusing for her certainly was not helping.
Loneliness is what she had to look forward to. Loneliness and an empty life.
Christopher was supposed to be working.
Once he left Rose in the foyer, he made his way into his office, determined to make up for the time already lost. That was how he saw today’s events: a waste of time. Yes, it needed to be done,and there was no getting around that fact. But that it ate into his day, and the work he needed to do, was frustrating.
He locked himself away in his office, sat down at his desk, and started to work. Or that was what he tried to do.
Was I wrong to speak to Rose like that? I did not mean to be so short with her. I certainly did not mean to be so dismissive. But she has a way of making me so.
She was the frustration, and while Christoper wanted to believe that the worst was behind him, he knew that was being hopeful beyond reason.
There was just something about his wife that he could not keep from his thoughts. Her face was pretty, which he liked. She was clearly intelligent, which might come in handy. But it was more than that. She was stubborn, strong-willed, and demanding, and she was not afraid to push him as others never would.
And that itself was dangerous.
Christopher was well-respected and popular among his peers for a good reason. He was successful, yes, and that was hard-earned. But he was also even-tempered, funny without being hilarious, interesting without being memorable, the type where nobody had a bad thing to say about him, because he never gave them the chance.
He had to be that way; everything depended on it.
His wife was a different breed entirely, and he could tell already that the more time he spent with her, the more chances there were of her finding out the truth about him. As far as Christopher was concerned, that was not an option.
Early boundaries needed to be set. He would avoid her as much as he could and be careful not to get too close; situations where she might start to see the real him needed to be avoided entirely.
Above all else, he had to control his emotions around her.
And what? What happens after that? Lie to her for the rest of my life? Then again, what’s one more lie?
He should have been working. Quill in hand, the numbers that he was supposed to be tallying blurred together, and his mind wandered as his wrist moved of its own volition.
Before long, Christopher realized that he was sketching.
A rose had appeared in his ledger.
