Page 26 of A Duke for Stealing
“It was so terrifying,” Leah replied. “One minute, Mama was holding me. Then next she was trapped in the fire, crying for help. I tried. I tried! But I could not move in my dream.”
Rose reached for Leah’s hand and squeezed it tightly.
“That does sound tremendously scary,” she agreed. “But do you know what I just heard?”
Leah lifted her head toward Rose, looking a little less wary.
“What?” She asked.
“That even though you were in a gravely horrid situation, you were still trying to help your Mama escape,” Rose explained.
“But it was just a dream,” Leah said, shaking her head. “We were not there to actually help. When the real fire happened”
“It is brave to try to protect the ones you love, even in dreams,” Rose replied. “Even if you could not move, you still tried to break free. That means a great deal.”
Leah’s expression softened a little more.
“It does?”
“Of course it does,” Rose assured.
Her little face crumpled again. “But it does not stop us from missing them.”
“No,” Rose sighed.
She took a risk and rose with Diana to sit by Leah’s pillow. She reached out an arm to her, and while the little girl was hesitant at first, she eventually buried herself in Rose’s other side.
“But I shall tell you both a secret,” she whispered, holding the twins close. “When we miss someone, that keeps them alive in our hearts. Their memory can never fade, and they get to live forever as a part of us.”
“They do?” Diana asked, looking up at Rose in wonder.
“Oh, certainly,” Rose replied, “Do you girls not know of the little match man?”
Both girls shook their heads.
“Who is he?” They asked in unison.
Rose spared a glance toward Everett. He looked utterly exhausted and at a loss for what to do, but he gave her a nod of encouragement.
“Well, you see in every church there is a priest, yes? We all know that. But what many do not know is that in every church is a little match man. No bigger than a mouse…”
Rose told the story, making it up as she went, of a little man who lived in a church with one sole purpose: to ensure that the candles lit for loved ones were never extinguished. Even as the girls began to close their eyes and lean heavily into her, Rosecontinued the story to the very end. When she was finished, both girls were deep asleep in Rose’s arms, their cheeks dry, and their frowns gone.
Seeing that they were back asleep, Rose looked up at Everett and noticed he was staring at her intently. Not with that burning passion from before, or with annoyance at disobeying him. No, it was as if he were looking inside of her, trying to determine what it was she was made up of.
“We should get them back to bed,” she whispered.
Everett finally blinked, then nodded. He rose quietly and with the utmost care, took Diana out of her lap and carried her to her bed. As he did so, Rose gently laid Leah’s head back onto the pillows, kissed her forehead, and carefully tucked the covers around her.
“I need a drink,” Everett stated, his voice low as they stood outside the twins’ room.
Normally, Rose would once again point out his mission to drink less, but this time, she merely nodded her head. She understood the urge. Understood how hard that moment probably was for him if his lost expression was any indication. She went to continue on to her room, but felt Everett’s hand grab her own. It was not rough or seductive- but gentle. Imploring even. She slowly raised her eyes to his and saw something she’d never seen there before: loneliness.
“Have one with me.”
Even though it wasn’t necessarily a question, Rose could not help but pick up the pleading in his voice. The Everett, she mused, was a vastly different man from the one who had attempted to seduce her in the dining room. This Everett, the kind, caring uncle, was a man she liked. She marveled at his duality and wondered which one was his true self.
“Very well,” she whispered back. “I suppose I could use a thimbleful of something myself.”
