For the first time that evening, the mask slipped. Christopher’s brow furrowed, and she saw a shadow of doubt pass behind his eyes. He bit nervously into his lower lip, he glanced about them, and she truly thought that he was going to open up to her…
“Just playing my part,” he said eventually, letting his smile grow in a way that was very fake. “Just playing my part is all. Better that than the opposite.”
“Which is?”
He shrugged. “I never had to find out.”
“But –”
“Enough of that.” He waved her down and cocked his arm. “Shall we rejoin the throng?”
Rose sighed. He was lying to her. Worse, he was lying to himself. But considering how little she knew of her husband, and how far they still had to go, she did not think it was worth pushing him.
Maybe one day he will tell me more. Maybe he won’t. Maybe I shouldn’t care either why. Why do I care…
“Shall we find my sister?” she asked as they started into the ballroom again. A few people watched them, but thankfully, none came to approach.
“Oh, she is here, is she?”
“She better be,” Rose said with a smile. “At her age, she would be right to. Besides, there is no way that Father would let her not attend.”
“Yes, I gathered that he was a little,” He clicked his tongue. “Involved with her life.”
Rose laughed. “Oh, he is not that bad. Truly, sometimes I wish that he took more of an interest than he does.”
Christopher frowned at her. “More of an interest? That is an odd thing to say, considering that just last month he schemed to marry her off.”
“Yes, that was,” Rose shook her head. “That was a rare instance. The fact is, since I was a little girl, such tasks have fallen on my shoulders. My father tries where he can, but he knows that where Marianne’s future is concerned, I am the one who will see that she gets what she deserves.”
“And what does she deserve?”
“The world,” Rose said without missing a beat.
He came to a sudden stop, so unexpected that Rose continued to walk. When she realized that she was alone, she turned back and frowned at the way the duke was just standing there.
“What is it?” she asked, glancing about with nerves. “What did I say?”
He studied her with those green eyes, doing so in a way that made it seem as if he could see through her. It was uncomfortable, and Rose fidgeted, just as her heart rate quickened in her chest. It was so intense and so personal a feeling that Rose felt as if she were the only person in the room…
“What?” she asked again.
A smile found his lips, and it was genuine; likely the first of the night. “You really care for her, don’t you?”
“Who?”
“Your sister,” he said. “You care for her.”
“Of course I do.”
He nodded his understanding and walked to her, taking her arm without asking. “I shouldn’t be surprised, but I never had any brothers or sisters, so I never considered it.”
“Oh.” She blinked, caught off guard by the confession; the first time he had told her anything personal about himself. “You were an only child?”
“Something to that effect.”
“What was that like?”
The question was innocent, and Rose asked it to try to keep the conversation flowing. Is that not what one was meant to do? But as soon as she asked him, she felt him stiffen, and when she turned to see what was wrong, there was a darkness lurking on his expression.
