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CHAPTERSEVEN
“Where have you been?” Ernest thundered, just as Rose gathered enough of her wits about her to shout at him,
“What on earth do you think you are doing? These are my private quarters.”
Ernest trudged unsteadilyinto the room. His tiny piggy eyes darted around the unfamiliar space. Rose didn't even dare to look toward Will's direction. Instead, she moved to fill the space between the door and the window, obstructing Ernest's view. However, it was quickly apparent that he was so drunk and the lighting was so dim that he couldn't see much at all.
“So you have been hiding in here,” Ernest snarled, advancing on her.
“I was feeling unwell, Your Grace,” she offered in explanation, but he was not listening.
“Why do you have a fire?” He made to move towards it, but Rose blocked his way. She did not want him on that side of the room.
“Your Grace, you are drunk, and you need to leave my bedchamber,” she said sternly. “Nothing in this room is anything to do with you.”
“I told you, madam,” he shouted, pointing a finger at her from just centimeters away. “There will be no locked doors between us.”
“Not. Yet.” Rose said the words as if they were two separate sentences and as if she was addressing a difficult child. “Right now, you are breaching all bounds of propriety, and you need to leave.”
She walked past him, heading towards the open door. “There is a room prepared for you in the other wing.”
Ernest did not move. He was watching her through narrowed eyes. Rose could now see the curtain behind him and was relieved that there was no tell-tale evidence of Will, but the Duke was still perilously close to him.
“Your Grace, it is very late. I must insist you take your leave.”
Ernest stared at her. She wasn't sure he could see her since his eyes didn't seem to be focusing, but then he drew back an arm and slapped her across the face, knocking her backward and sending intense shooting pain through her cheek. Despite the shock, Rose was mostly terrified when she saw the curtain Will was hiding behind move. She knew she only had seconds to save her reputation before he flew at Ernest.
She lunged forward in an instant, striking himsquare in the chest and propelling him backward, straight into the wall by the window. She stuck out her left arm and pinned Will behind the heavy curtain as he hit the wall. She kept her arm in place, preventing Will from emerging. She looked straight into Ernest's bloodshot, stunned eyes.
“You will never, ever do that to me again,” she hissed right next to his face. “If you ever use violence against me in that way again, I promise you, I will ruin you. Do you understand?”
Ernest stared at her, saying nothing.
“Do you understand?” She hissed more loudly.
Ernest blinked and then nodded his head almost imperceptibly.
“Good. Now get out.”
She took a step back, dropping her left arm, hoping Will would have the wisdom to stay where he was and Ernest would finallyleave.
They were inches apart. She watched as Ernest struggled to straighten himself and then stumbled towards the door. He did not look back. She rushed to her door to shut it and then lock it as soon as she heard his feet move away down the hallway,pushingher dressing table chair up against it for good measure.
When she turned around, Will emerged from behind the curtain and was moving towards her.
“I swear, I will kill him,” he said, throwing his jacket back over the bedpost. He went to her, trying to take her face in his hands to assess the damage Ernest had done, but she moved away towards the fire.
“Why won’t you let me look at you?” He asked. “Let me see if he has marked you. How could he strike a woman?”
“I am fine,” Rose insisted, rubbing at her stinging cheek.
“I don’t believe you are!”
“He slaps like a girl,” Rose said, giving Will a lame smile.
“You should have let me finish him.”