Guilt flooded Christopher, and he could hardly bring himself to look at her.
“Ah, yes!” Theodore crossed the room, arms held wide. “Her Grace, we finally meet.” He reached Rose and took her hand, kissing the back of it. “Forgive me, but I was the one who sent for you.”
“Oh,” She blinked, glanced at Christopher, and looked away. “You were? Why?”
“I wanted to meet you,” he said innocently. “We did not get a chance at the wedding.”
“Theodore,” Christopher groaned. So much for avoiding his wife. “I am sure that Rose has better things to be doing with her time than wasting it on you.”
“I doubt that,” Theodore laughed. “Well, Your Grace? Does your husband speak the truth? Or is there time for a little friendly conversation? I am positively dying to learn more about you.”
“I am not,” She bit her lip and looked from Theodore to Christopher. He widened his eyes, suggesting that she shouldsay no. An error, he realized immediately, because her stare hardened instantly. “I would be honored for the chance.”
“Wonderful!”
Rose smiled pleasantly as she walked into the room, led by Theodore, who guided her toward the couch by the fire. Christopher glared at his friends, and his wife, too, for that matter.
This is fine. Just don’t say or do anything that might upset her. Control your damn self, Christopher!
“So, tell us about yourself,” Alistair began as he rose from the couch and beckoned Rose to sit. “We hear that you have been settling in nicely.”
“Is that right?” She looked at Christopher, raised an eyebrow at him, and sat down.
“Something to that effect,” Theodore chuckled.
Christopher might have scowled in warning at his two friends; he knew they were doing this to play with him, just as he knew he could not let them get their way and see him break.
Before he got the chance to do that, Christopher was again distracted by his wife’s physical state.
It was her eyes that he focused on, how sunken they were, the dark bags that sat heavy under them. She just looked so tired and worn out, as if she had not slept in days.
Something was clearly wrong with her.
“We hear you are doing wonderful things with the staff,” Theodore started as he sat on the arm of the couch. “Might I ask, why the changes?”
Rose smirked and looked for Christopher again. “It is no great thing. I simply noticed how disordered the schedule was.”
“That is not true,” Christopher said before he could stop himself.
“It is,” she said. “On paper, it appeared adequate. But once I spoke to each member of the staff, and learned more about them on a personal level, I came to realize that they were not being properly utilized.”
Christopher glared at her, but forced a smile when he saw Theodore watching him.
“Fascinating,” Alistair said as if it were the most interesting thing he had ever heard.
“It is not so much,” Christopher muttered, slightly annoyed that his friends agreed with her.
“Oh?” Rose perked up. “I wonder, did you have a chance to look over the taxation ledgers?”
“What taxation ledgers?” Theodore perked up. “Christopher, what is she talking about?”
Christopher looked flatly at his wife, and she beamed in response.
“It seems that I made a few small errors in some calculations regarding a new taxation policy I plan on enacting with some of my tenants,” Christopher said dismissively, trying his best to make it not appear as big a deal as it was. “And Rosalind was kind enough to correct them for me.”
“Truly?” Theodore laughed. “Christopher, that is not like you.”
He shrugged. “Mistakes happen. It is not as big a deal as —”
