He said he wanted to protect you, take care of you, the voice needled her.
From a distance,she screamed silently.
She threw the encyclopedia she was still holding onto her bed and let out an angry sigh of exasperation.
He hadn’t even come to seeher!
The one thing Rose had decided in the past week was that she was not going to be dependent on anyone else anymore for her calm and happiness. She would no longer be the victim.
Yes, she might still have to go through with her marriage to Ernest, to guarantee a roof over her head if he survived, but she intended to have a stiff talk with him and tell him what she would and wouldn’t accept in terms of his behavior. She would not allow him to terrify her anymore, whatever the consequences.
As for Will, she would longer feel guilty about him either. Yes, she had married someone else instead of him, but she had no choice; circumstances had dictated her fate, and she had done what she had to do. She would get him his coat of arms if she could, but if she couldn't, so be it. She also knew she needed to keep him from kissing her or making love to her because it muddled her thinking and set off an uncontrollable chain reaction in her body.The same went for Mary. If she didn’t want to stand by her own sister and trust her to make the right decision, that was up to her. She was taking back charge of her personal relationships because if she didn’t, she felt like she might implode.
Will could find his way back to Rose's bedchamber, and she didn't doubt he'd try, even in broad daylight. She didn't want to be there when he came looking. So she took up her book and walked down the main staircase, out of the castle, and around the back to the rose garden.
In a series of square flower beds, a former Duke of Norfolk had planted a vast array of large-headed roses. Sheenjoyed the smell of the blooms as well as their beauty whenever she went there. The rose garden was surrounded by a semi-circle of large oak trees, which blocked the view of the town's rooftops, and the sculpted hedges and flowers themselves hid her well.
She sat down on one of the benches and took a deep breath.
Time for change,Rose.Everything starts again from here.
Fate had dealt her an ace card. She intended to play it wisely.
She tried to concentrate on the listing of liver injuries and diseases in the book she had selected from the library, but Will’s face kept sprouting out of the words. It was because he had been so close to her, and he had rattled her, she told herself. But she also knew that her link to him was primeval, rooted in a past they both could not forget. She was going to have to be very strong to fight it. One day, she would tell him the truth, but she didn’t expect it would make any difference to him. He would still know he had been put last.
She tried again to read the paragraph. The encyclopedia said that a liver laceration or rupture was likely to take months to heal, which at least gave her some much-needed breathing space.
She shut the book, laid it on her lap, and then closed her eyes as she turned her face into the sun. The smell of rose blooms was all around her, and she could hear birds in the trees and the distant hum of the town.This will do.
“Well, that looks like the perfect spot.”
Rose did not need to open her eyes to know who it was. Her heart fluttered.
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
“Ithought you were with the Duke,” she said, keeping her eyes firmly closed.
Maybe, if she didn’t open her eyes, he would take the hint and walk away, she thought. Maybe if she didn’t open her eyes, that meant he wasn’t really there. If she didn’t open her eyes, she could keep a better grip on her emotions. She really did not want to fight with him anymore.
“I was with him for a short time. Probably for quite long enough,” Will laughed wryly.
“I take it he is not best pleased,” Rose said, imagining Will’s smile and then trying to wipe that image from her mind.
“Oh no,” Will assured her. “He is giving his nurse the benefit of his acerbic wit. Apparently, someone called a doctor against his will.”
“I take it I should stay away from him for a while then.”
“Your name did come up,” Will chuckled.
Silence. She assumed he was still there. She couldn't believe he'd gone without saying anything. But he did not approach her ortake a seat on the bench. She kept her eyes closed, wondering how long she would have to wait him out.
Her heightened senses were filling her nostrils with the scent of the roses, and the sun went in for a brief moment, and the intensity of the heat on her face diminished. She hoped he'd leave before she got freckles all over her nose.
After a couple of minutes of silence and no words or movement from him, she assumed he had taken his leave, and finally opened her eyes. He was standing right in front of her, holding one of the enormous pink blooms less than an inch from her face. He had been the one blocking out the sun, not the clouds, and the scent of the roses was from that flower.
“What do you think you are doing?” He waggled the flower at her in return and grinned.
“You didn’t know it was me.”