She laughed. “No, no, but I should be returning home. I told him I would be hours ago.”
He nodded rightly. “It is good to see it, Rose. That you have accepted your new life, rather than shirking it as I thought you would. I am proud of you.”
Rose smiled coyly as she was taken home. While it was good to see her family again, Thornwall Estate was starting to become her home, and the man inside it was a very big reason why.
It thus came as little surprise that her husband was waiting for her in the foyer when she strode inside. When she saw him, she smiled and was about to make a joke about him missing her. Then she saw his face.
“Where have you been?” He asked her, his expression severe.
“I,” Rose hesitated, almost certain that she was misreading the situation. “You know where I have been.”
“No,” he said. “I certainly do not know where you have been.” He was not shaking with anger, but his hands were clenched by his side, and his glower was etched with rage. It was, Rose realized, the first time that she had ever seen him angry.
“I was with my father,” she said carefully. “I told you that.”
“Just as you told me you would be home by supper.”
She started with the comment. “I told you that I would try to be home by supper.”
“So, you are lying to me now?”
“I am not lying.”
“You are.” His lips were pressed tight, his brow was furrowed. “I was waiting for you, Rose. I was… I thought… You should have sent word to me that you would be late.”
“I am not that late.”
“Two hours,” he said sharply. She widened her eyes in shock, and he bit back his anger… barely. “Two hours I have been waiting, wondering what happened to you. Two hours, and why? Because you lost track of the time?”
Rose didn’t know what to say.
If there had always been one thing that she could count on for her husband, it was that little seemed to faze him. He was a master of keeping his temper, of hiding his emotions, and of never letting her know how he felt.
To have returned and found him in this state of quiet rage was not only surprising, but it was extremely disconcerting. Something was wrong.
“Did something happen?” she asked slowly. “What?”
“Nothing happened,” he said. “I am just annoyed.”
“You are more than annoyed.”
“Is this not what you wanted? To see another side of me? You should be happy.”
She laughed bitterly. “Oh, yes, happy. So happy that I have returned to find my husband behaving like a petulant child.”
He stiffened. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t mock me.”
“I won’t.” Rose straightened and looked at him plainly. “Nor will I stand here and be bullied for reasons that are, quite frankly, ridiculous.” With that, she held up her chin and strode right by him.
At least she meant to.
When she reached where Christopher was standing, his hand shot out and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her back to face him.
“Please, Rose, do not behave as if I am acting unreasonable, when all I am doing is,” He took a deep breath. “I was waiting for you. For hours, I waited, having no idea where you were.”
