“Marianne.” Rose swept toward her sister and took her by the hands. “I told you that Christopher would take care of it, and he will.”
“But –”
“And what is more, I trust that he will do everything in his power to make Father see reason.”
“What if –”
“And if I trust him, and you trust me, that should be enough,” She squeezed Marianne’s hands and made sure to be looking at her. “Do you trust me?”
“It is not about if I –”
“Do you trust me?” she repeated.
“Of course I do, Rose. How could you ask me that?”
“That settles it then.” She gave her hands a final squeeze and let them go. “Christopher will not let you down, because he knows that he will let me down. And that should be enough.”
Marianne tried for a confident smile, but Rose could see how desperate her sister was for answers.Not that I can blame her…
The idea for Christopher to speak to her father had been Rose’s. She was determined to help Marianne with her Julian troubles, even though she knew the chances of her father listening to her were slim. Which was typical, as he was more than willing to listen to her when he needed advice for just about every other aspect of his life, but as soon as she wanted to help with something that concerned her directly, he was deaf to anything she had to say.
For that reason, Rose decided on a more aggressive approach.
Being a duke, she was certain that her father would at least hear Christopher out. And being a duke, she knew that her father would be more inclined to do as he was asked… so long as he saw a way to wrangle a favor or two from him in the process.
Rose had tried to make her husband tell her what he was going to say. She had wanted to sit down and map out their options, because she knew her father well enough to know what objections he was going to make. But Christopher, in a most frustrating maneuver, refused to even hint at what he was going to say.
He is becoming entirely too cute with the way he is acting. Now that he is not so careful about masking his personality, he seems to take pleasure in frustrating me and seeing what he can get away with.
And truthfully, Rose did not care, just so long as he came through. He had to come through…
It was another five minutes of Marianne pacing and Rose trying her best to remain calm before Christopher emerged from the office. He found the two sisters together and immediately told Marianne that her father wished to speak with her.
“What did he say?” Rose asked as the two sisters hurried across the room.
Christopher looked at her plainly. “That is between myself and Lord Strathvale.”
Rose snarled. “What did he –”
“And your sister, of course,” Christopher spoke over her, before turning to face Marianne. She looked desperately at Christopher for an answer or some indication of what had happened. “Marianne, you'd best see to your father. You do not want to keep him waiting.”
Marianne’s chin wobbled, and she turned to Rose for help, but Rose was too busy glaring at Christopher to give any.
Once Marianne left them, Rose tried again.
“Yes, yes, very funny,” she said. “Now, can you please tell me what you said? And what my father said.”
Christopher shrugged. “As I told you, that is between your father and –”
“Enough of that!” she snapped. “Tell me right now what happened.”
He was trying so hard to look nonplussed and emotionless, but the smirk he was attempting to smother fought gallantly so that his lips curved upwards.
“So, it is good news?” Rose seized when she saw his hidden smile.
“I did not say that.”
“Is it bad news?” she tried next. “He refused?”
