His eyes widened in shock, and he quickly scratched the image out. It might have just been a simple rose, but even Christopher at his most stubborn wouldn’t deny the obviousness of the imagery.
She is getting to me. Do not let her in. You cannot let her in.
Christopher scrunched the parchment into a ball and tossed it in the fire. Then he did everything he could to remove thoughts of Rose from his head.
He had worked too long and too hard to keep his secret hidden, and he wasn’t about to let a little thing like married life ruin everything.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Good morning, Your Grace.” The door to Rose’s bedroom flew open, and in walked her personal maid, Sally.
“Oh, good morning,” Rose started in surprise. She was sitting up in bed, having not had the best of sleeps last night, so she wasn’t caught completely unawares by the maid’s entry. But that did not make the interruption any less disconcerting.
“Did we sleep well?” Sally asked as she crossed the room, where she proceeded to throw back the heavy curtains and let the morning light in.
The sudden increase in light had Rose wincing, and she threw up an arm to block her face. “Ah, Sally, is it?”
“That’s right, Your Grace.”
“Might I ask?” She lowered her arm and blinked through the brightness of the sun until she found Sally across the room, beaming at her. “What are you doing?”
“Helping you awake, Your Grace,” she said, still smiling pleasantly. “I’ve spoken to the kitchens, and they are preparing your breakfast right now. I’ve had a bath drawn for you, because I find that is always the best way to start the day.”
Rose had no idea what to say.
The fact that she had a personal maid at all was a concept that she was not used to. When she was growing up, Rose had always been the one in charge of these things; waking up Marianne, ensuring meals were prepared on time, not having a bath until everything was done with, which was often never.
Yes, she had servants of her own, of course, everyone she knew did. But only a few, as her father preferred to save their money, forcing Rose to take a greater hand in her home’s upkeep than was usual.
“Thank you,” Rose said, but only because she thought she should say something.
“No need to thank me, Your Grace,” Sally said. “Of course, I am honored. Now,” Somehow, the smile on her face grew even bigger. “ Shall we get you out of that bed and into a nice hot bath?”
What else could Rose say but yes?
If there is one good thing to be taken out of this marriage, might it be a chance for hot baths in the morning? It’s important to have these small wins.
The confusion of the morning was enough to distract Rose for a few minutes at least. And it wasn’t until she was in that hot bath, having her hair washed and her nails cleaned, that the situation dawned on Rose’s now relaxed shoulders. Or rather, it reemerged.
“And have you decided what to do with yourself today, Your Grace?” Sally asked. She stood across the room watching, hands folded behind her back, bobbing on the spot.
“Do today?”
“Yes,” Sally said. “How will you be spending it?”
It was a simple question, but the answer was more complex than the bubbly maid seemed to realize.
Rose had done a lot of thinking last night, the chief concerns of which were how she was going to approach this marriage and, to that effect, her new life.
Her husband had told her specifically what he wanted, and until he proved otherwise, she was inclined to believe him. And while Rose found herself feeling annoyed when she thought back tohow quickly he had dismissed her yesterday, she also knew that she had no good reason for it.
This is exactly what I wanted, isn’t it? Should I not be happy? Or as happy as I can be, considering the circumstances.
Her husband, Christopher, wanted nothing to do with her. Rose supposed that the least she could do was oblige him.
Rose was not the type to be doted upon. She had always been in charge of the household and how it ran, and the idea of relying on someone else to do what she knew that she could do herself, and often better, felt wrong.
It was thus that she came to a decision: she wasn’t going to change who she was. This was her new life, and she was determined to live it how she always had.
