He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed each tender knuckle. “I feel sorry for your brothers then.”
“Oh?”
He cupped her cold fingers between his hands and blew a warm breath across her skin. “They will miss getting to know how wonderful you are.”
Ros
emary snatched her hand back. “It’s best that they don’t. They know enough already and I cannot bear to see their opinion of me brought lower. In time, they will understand and accept my absence. They can stop placing those plaintive advertisements in the paper and get on with their lives.”
“That first day you brought my daughters to my study, you saw the notice begging you to come home. How long have you known your brothers were searching for you?”
Rose shrugged. “Months. Long before we ever met.”
“So you did not care to answer them?”
“I never said I didn’t care. I tried to write once.”
He shook his head at her stubbornness. “That’s not what Leopold believes. I’ve never seen a more shattered man. You’re breaking his heart.”
“The duchess will console him,” Rosemary said bitterly.
“Not in this. There are limits to even my sister’s ability to divert one’s attention. He will regret this day all his life. Can you live with that? Can you walk away, knowing it was you who hurt them so badly?”
Rosemary flung herself off the bed and stalked to the window. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. You barely know my brothers.”
“That’s true. But I know a little about you and I would be the poorer should we never have met. Are you afraid?”
Rosemary stilled. Her hands clenched into fists. She spun about. “I am not afraid.”
“I see that despite the discovery of your name and connections, some things never change. You really do have a dreadfully short temper. I do enjoy the fire in your eyes.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I’m no different and that is the problem.”
He sighed and stood, stopping close enough to set his hands on her arms. “If it’s any consolation, I will be at your side every moment should you return to Romsey. If they have a problem with you, then we can leave together.”
“Why would you do such a thing? She’s your sister.”
“And you are just as important to me and my daughters. You are my governess. The one my daughters cried hours over in the carriage yesterday. You cannot discard our feelings so easily. You made us love you.”
Rosemary’s eyebrows shot up. “Love?”
“The girls certainly do. Who else would tell them stories and help them remember their mother? None of the other governesses I hired could be bothered to keep her memory alive. Only you did that for us. I can never show you enough gratitude.”
Rosemary stilled. “I’m sure that you can figure something out.”
His lips curved into a smile at her challenge. “There are many ways to prove you are adored. All of them required you to not run away. There will never be enough hours in the day to learn everything about you, but I promise to start now.”
Rose frowned. “Forgive me, my lord, but I’m not feeling very energetic right now.”
“I know. You’re carrying my child.” He caressed her face gently. “Back to bed for you.”
He swung her up into his arms, crossed to the bed, and settled her comfortably on it. Rosemary didn’t protest or say he wasn’t needed, and that gave him hope. He added a blanket over her legs to ensure she stayed warm and tucked it closely around her.
Rosemary caught his hand in hers. “Thank you for understanding.”
“I don’t understand anything, Rosemary, except that I hope you will not dismiss my feelings as easily as you do your own family.”
“Surely you can see I have my reasons.”