Rosalind let out a soft, knowing sound and smiled.
“What is so funny about this, Rosie?”
She shook her head and laughed. “I knew it! From the first moment I saw you two together. You had a bond with her unlike any other.”
“How do you know it was unlike any other for me?” He was genuinely curious.
Rosalind shrugged. “It was different and real.”
Alexander pretended that he was not taken aback by her words.
“Even so, it does not matter anymore.”
Rosalind frowned at him. “It does matter,” Rosalind insisted. “Especially if you care for her?—”
“I did not say I cared,” he snapped.
“You did not have to,” she retorted.
The siblings glared at each other in the playful manner they used to when they were younger and happier.
Rosalind walked back to the chair opposite him and sat down heavily. “If you truly care for her, then why are you sitting here sulking?”
He let out a bitter laugh. “Love is an awful thing, Rosie. It destroys people and it brings nothing but pain. Look at what it did to us.”
Rosalind’s expression softened. “Alexander… I did not mention love.”
He blinked in surprise.
“I…I do not love Theo. I was just giving you an example,” he stuttered.
“Hmm.” She could not hide her smile from him and Alexander rolled his eyes.
“Alex, our parents were genuinely happy and they loved each other deeply. They lived a full life together too. I did not understand that when I was younger. I did not understand how rare that kind of love was until recently.”
He stared at her, unable to speak as her words wrapped around him.
“And wherever they are now,” Rosalind continued, “I know they are still together and still happy. Because love like theirs does not end. It does not disappear with death. It lives on, within us.”
“Rosie…” Alexander started but he was lost for words.
She sat upright and spoke like his mother used to do. The resemblance was uncanny.
“May I ask you something, brother?”
He nodded slowly. “Yes.”
She took a deep breath in and asked, “Would marrying Theodora, or even telling her how you feel, really be worse than the pain you are in now?”
Alexander could not answer.
Rosalind gave him a gentle look. “You are hurting because you care for her. And you lost something you wanted.”
He shook his head. “I do not?—”
“Do not be stubborn.” She cut him off. “You care for Theo. You may not want to call it love, but you do care. And you are miserable without her.”
He pressed his palms to his eyes and laughed. “Where did you learn to speak in such a manner?”
