Page 81 of An Orphan for the Broken Duke

“Then why would you assume?”

Rose exhaled as if she was tired. “Whether she returns or not is irrelevant and not my business. The reason that I think you ought to see her is that there are things the two of you need to discuss.”

“What things?”

“I cannot say,” Rose said. “But they are important and while she does not know I am asking this, I know that she would agree. Please, think about it, Rhys. And when you are feeling ready, come and see her. You will be glad that you did.”

Would he be? Or would seeing Violet only make things worse?

Rhys had come so far this week, but if he saw Violet and remembered how he felt about her, only for her to turn him away, what would happen to him? Would he regress? Or would he understand it was for the best?

What he did know was that as good as this week had been, it was missing one thing, and that one thing would not change unless he did something about it.

“You what?” Violet exclaimed when Rose explained to her where she had just come from. “Rose, how could you?”

Rose stood patiently in the middle of the kitchen. While Violet rushed to and fro as she tried to prepare supper for them both, Rose stayed patient and calm.

It frustrated Violet to no end that Rose would go behind her back like this, and seemingly not care—that she likely thought that she had done the right thing!

Oh, she can be so frustrating at times!

“Well?” Violet turned on her sister as she put her hands on her hips. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

“You will not make me feel guilty, Violet,” Rose said without blinking. “I did as you would not do—as I know that you want to do. You ought to be thanking me.”

“Really? Do you really believe that?”

“I do,” Rose said with a righteous nod.

“I do not want⁠—”

“Oh, will you stop with the lies!” Rose cut her off, her voice finally pitching high and harshly. “And will you stop pretending that you are fine! You can lie to yourself, Violet. You can spend each day keeping busy, running about like a chicken with its head cut off, just so that you do not have time to stop and think about how you truly feel. But please, do not lie to me. I know you far too well for that.”

Violet opened her mouth to rebuke the claims… but her words came out in a pathetic whimper. And to make matters worse, that saw Rose cock a knowing eyebrow, proof that she was right, and that she had done the right thing.

“I…” Violet shrank back. “I do not need you to fight my battles for me, Rose. I never did.”

“Violet…” Rose sighed and shook her head sadly. “When are you going to learn that it is not a weakness to ask for help? You are so determined to prove that you can do it all, while you fail to understand that you do not need to. I am here, Violet. I want to help—I have always wanted to. But where I used to ask for permission, I have chosen to simply do it.” She scoffed. “Lest you refuse me, as I know you will.”

“I…” Violet looked away with shame. “I know you only mean to help, Rose. But you know how hard it is for me to accept help from anyone.”

Rose laughed. “Oh, I know it. But for one who preaches so ardently about showing love and doing things for others because you want to help them, might it be time to recognize that this is exactly what I am doing?” Rose’s smile was soft and loving. “I love you, Violet. And I do this not for me, but for you.”

“And I love you too,” Violet said as she tried to ignore the ache in her chest. “And this past week…” She grimaced. “I have not been that bad.”

Rose scoffed again. “You have been worse than that. As a young girl, I ignored it. But as the fine woman that I have grown into, I can no longer sit by and watch you kill yourself.”

“I might ask whom you learned to be so stubborn from…”

“But you know the answer,” Rose laughed softly. “I learned from the best, just as I learned how to look after those who truly need it.”

Have I really been so awful this week? And so obvious…

Since her father had died Violet and Rose, there were well over a dozen weeks in her life that she could point to and nominate as the worst that she had lived. That first week after he died… the first time that she had lost her job… when the bank had first come to their home and told them they would need to vacate… there truly were no shortages of awful weeks.

If Violet was being honest with herself, however, she would have said without fear of exaggeration that this past one left them all for dead.

A part of that was how much she missed Lucy. The little girl’s smile. Her laughter. The joy on her face every morning when she woke and slowly accepted where she was and that this was her new life. It had been a joy to see her grow, and that Violet was no longer there to see it broke her heart so that it might never be whole.