“Wait here.” The Duke turned and strode across the room.
“Where are you going?” she cried out, surprised by herself for doing it, because in that moment she found that she did not want him to leave her.
He reached the doorway, turned back, and smiled. “To fetch you something to eat. Will you be fine on your own?”
Despite herself, she smiled too. “I will be. And Christopher,” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “Thank you.”
His smile remained; she saw him fighting it, just as she saw how he allowed it to win. “You are most welcome.” With that, he left the room.
Alone now, Rose stumbled to her chair and sat back down. Her head was still spinning. Her body was still shaking. And she still felt rotten, like her body might shatter should she not be careful.
There was more to how she was feeling, however, than the presence of her illness. Deep down, hidden away so that she could hardly sense it, there was…no, why would I be feeling such a thing? Why would I care at all?
It was hope. Buried deep. Long since forgotten. It gently peeked its head up and reminded Rose that it was there. Hope that this marriage wasn’t going to be the most horrid thing. Hope that her life was not over. And hope that her husband was more than she imagined.
This sense of hope warmed her, set her at ease, and caused Rose to smile. Such a small thing, but in the context of this last week, it was huge.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“… a
nd as I have told you for the tenth time, I am feeling perfectly well.” Rose laughed as she said it, because she was not annoyed. If anything, she was more than a little pleased by how worried her husband was.
“I’ll remind you that you told me the exact same thing last evening, seconds before you collapsed into my arms.”
“I did not collapse into your arms.”
“That is what you are taking umbrage with?” he said dryly. “You know what I meant.”
“I merely… stumbled,” Rose said with a dismissive flick of her wrist. “And you over-reacted.”
“I did not!”
She laughed. “That does not mean I am not grateful. Even stumbling, one can still hurt oneself. So, even though I have said it a dozen times, thank you.”
“And it feels better to hear each time,” the Duke said, letting his smile show. “Which means that…” He raised an eyebrow at her. “You are feeling better now? You’re not going to stumble again anytime soon?”
“Yes!” she cried and threw her hands in the air. “I feel perfectly well.” She looked pointedly at him, he kept that eyebrow raised, and she sighed. “I have eaten twice today. I slept well last evening. And I have made sure not to exert myself all day. As I said,” She widened both eyes at him. “I am fine.”
“Good.” He nodded once as if he was serious, only for the smile to return to his lips; it was gleeful and mocking. “Can’t be too careful, you know. If you were to hurt yourself…”
“I am sure you would not even care.”
“Careful,” he warned her. “Next time, I might not catch you.”
To that, Rose rolled her eyes, all the while trying her best to smother the smile that wreaked havoc with her lips. She was enjoying herself, the Duke was enjoying himself, and Rose wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about it.
It felt strange, which was why. There was an awkward tension sitting between husband and wife, one that was slowly melting,but not so slowly that it wasn’t noticeable. This was, after all, the first time that they had spoken to one another in a manner that could be deemed as friendly, and both seemed aware of how important it was that nothing be said that might ruin the moment.
Stranger still, that Rose did not want the moment to be ruined.What has become of me?
A better question might have been, what had become of her husband?
The changes she noticed began yesterday evening. At first, Rose had assumed he was angry with her, as that seemed the safe bet. And when he had shown worry, she assumed he was doing it to placate his own guilt, because there was no way that he actually cared about her well-being.
Apparently, her well-being was exactly what he cared about.
The first thing that the Duke did this morning was check on her. And as it neared noon, he again checked on her to see that she was feeling better.
