Rose began to panic. She imagined her sister and Julian sitting in an inn, waiting for her. Worse, she imagined what would happen if she did not arrive on time, and she never got a chance to stop them. Likely, she would never see her sister again…
“Have a carriage readied for me, Mr. Carter. To leave at once.”
“A carriage? And where will you be heading?” he hurried after her.
“North,” she said. “I will be heading north.”
Rose was inside the carriage heading north twenty minutes later. She gave the address to the driver and then had no choice but to sit and wait.
As she waited, she ran through in her head what she was going to do and what she was going to say. She had no idea. Could she change her sister’s mind? Did she even want to? If Marianne truly believed that she would never be allowed to marry Julian, why would she return?
The hours stretched on, and soon the sun began to set.
Rose’s eyelids were growing heavy, and she started to drift off in the back of the carriage, which is why she did not notice the carriage slowing down until it came to a sudden stop.
“Whoa!” she heard the carriage driver cry out. “Who goes there?”
Rose’s eyes snapped open. She glanced out the window, seeing the empty stretch of road on both sides, the vast plains that ran endlessly, and the slowly darkening sky. Her pulse quickened, and fear spiked through her when she heard footsteps approaching the carriage door.
Oh no, what if my father has sent someone? Worse than that, what if it is bandits? I really should have waited for Christopher.
The door to the carriage flew open suddenly, and Rose did not know if she should have sighed with relief or cried out in fear at who she saw.
“Rose!” It was Christopher, of all people. He was dressed in his riding clothes, his face was red from exertion, his hair was whipped and messy across his head, and his eyes burned with fury.
“Christopher!” Rose stammered and scrambled back in the carriage. “What are you… How are you here?”
“Mr. Carter is to thank.” The side of his lip twitched, and she could literally see him trying to control his rage. “And thank God that he did.” He put a foot up as if to climb inside with her. “I thought we spoke about this, Rose. I thought…” He took a deep breath. “I thought I made my feelings perfectly clear.”
“It is not what it looks like,” Rose started desperately. “I… I am not running away.”
He frowned. “I never thought that you were.”
“Oh.” She blinked in surprise. “I… I just assumed you thought that I was leaving you.” She laughed awkwardly.
“Rose…” He sighed, and the anger faded from him. “I did not chase you down because I thought you were trying to flee. I chased you down because I knew that for you to have taken off like this, something must be wrong.”
“You… you did?”
“Tell me what has happened,” he said. “And tell me how I might help.”
Once again, Rose was forced to consider her husband in a new light.
She supposed that by now she shouldn’t have been surprised by his concern for her. Had he not demonstrated how he felt oncealready? Had he not proven to her that he cared about her well-being enough that she should start to believe it?
I continually misjudge my husband, and I am starting to wonder whether I am the problem, not him.
“It is my sister, Marianne.” Rose reached for the letter, tucked away in her dress. “She… here, take a look for yourself.” She handed Christopher the letter, not considering for a second that she should lie to him.
He read the letter quickly.
“And you mean to do what, exactly?” he asked. “Change her mind? Force her to come back with you?”
“I do not know. I just know that I cannot sit back and do nothing.”
“And if she refuses to listen to you? What then? Will you tie her up and drag her home? Or, barring that, if you let her go. What will your father say? Rose…” He shook his head. “You must see how desperate a situation your sister has put you in.”
“It makes no difference,” Rose said as the stress of the moment finally hit her. “I do not know what I will do, Christopher. I do not even know if there is anything that I can do. But she is my baby sister, and I must do something! I cannot… I cannot sit back and let her throw her life away like this. I must talk to her. I must see if I can change her mind! You must see that!” She wasbreathing heavily, her body shaking as the panic erupted from her.
