“That is enough, Rosalind!” Her father was not a particularly intimidating man, but he was the head of the household, and even Rose knew better than to argue with him when he had the bit between his teeth. “I brought you here as a courtesy, but if you cannot control yourself—” He widened his eyes at her. “Behave.”
“Father, please…” It was Marianne now, chin still trembling and looking as miserable as Rose had ever seen her.
Oh, how it broke her heart to see it.
“Your Grace, perhaps if we adjourn to my office to finalize the details?” Their father cleared his throat and stepped around the Duke.
The Duke looked at Marianne, no doubt noticing how upset she was. Rose held her breath, praying that the man had a heart and a soul and would not force a woman to marry him who was clearly so against such a thing.
His expression was stern. His eyes were unblinking. He studied Marianne… bit into his lip… looked like he might just change his mind… “As you say,” he said finally, tearing his eyes free. “Let us be about it.”
Marianne gasped and stumbled back, her eyes welling with tears. Rose went to her, an arm around her shoulder, whispering words of conciliation that had no effect.
“It was lovely meeting you, Miss Marianne,” the Duke said with a short nod. He looked at Rose next, the slightest hint of a smirk tugging at his lips, before smothering it and turning serious. “As it was you, Miss Rosalind.”
“Shall we?” Their father was quick to usher the Duke from the room.
The moment they were alone, Marianne burst into tears. And while Rose tried her best to comfort her, to tell her that it wouldn’t be nearly as bad as she imagined, she knew the words to be hollow.
Rose had made a promise to her younger sister; she had broken that promise, and that was a type of pain that would never leave her.
“Father.” Rose presented herself at her father’s office later that same evening. “Might we talk?”
Her father looked up from his work, and he sighed before putting his head back down. “I would rather that we do not.”
“It will only take a moment.”
“If you are here to try and change my mind, Rosalind, I would not waste the time. It is done, and nothing you say will change that.”
Rose knew her father’s words to be true, just as she knew what she had to do to try to change them. She could not sit back and watch her sister marry a man she did not love, not if there was anything she could do to stop it from happening.
There is one thing I can do. Not what I wish to do, but what I have no choice in. So long as my father agrees.
“I understand why you think that,” Rose said as she crossed into the room. “Just as I know why you are doing this.”
He snorted. “It is not such a complex thing, Rosalind. And you, as well as anyone, should understand how important this match is.”
“I do.”
“He is a duke!” her father cried suddenly, the anger taking him. “A man who would not even look at Marianne as a potential mate, let alone commit to her. But he is doing so. He has no choice…” Hunger of the greedy sort flashed behind his eyes. “We have been blessed, Rosalind, and I do not need you ruining that.”
“I am aware of the contract,” Rose said when she reached the desk. “Just as I am aware that there is no getting out of it. However, what if…” Her stomach squirmed. “What if the Duke were to marry another?”
Her father leaned back in surprise. “Rosalind, you do not mean…” He exhaled and shook his head with disappointment. “This is the act of a desperate woman.”
“Marry me to the Duke,” she said. “I will be his wife, not Marianne.”
“No,” he said.
“Please, Father,” she begged. “Go to him, tell him that you have changed your mind. That you think I will be better suited. Tell him anything that you must!”
“How about I tell him the truth?” he said simply. “Do not be mistaken, Rosalind, if it were an option, I would have happily married you to the Duke. It is not as if another suitor is going tocome calling on you any time soon. And Marianne, at least, will have her pick.”
“Then let her have her pick!”
“You are the problem,” he said sharply. “You always have been. Were you a different type of daughter, then we would not be in this situation in the first place. You wish to blame someone for today? Start by blaming yourself.”
The words stung worse than they should have done.
