Page 29 of The Marquis' Game of Seduction
Anna walked in after him, half-smirking. “How are you feeling, Rose?” she asked. “Duncan here insisted on coming all the way up here to see you. I told him that it really wasn’t appropriate, but…”
“Oh, it’s quite all right,” Rose said. Truthfully, her heart swelled with adoration for the boy. He sprung forward and dotted at the side of the bed and bounced a bit. “It’s good to see you. Good morning. I’m terribly sorry for missing out on our lesson.”
Duncan shrugged. “Everyone said that you hurt yourself really badly. But I told them that wasn’t possible. That you have to teach me and you can’t stay in bed for a whole week! I’ll fall way behind.”
Here, he leaned forward and his voice fell into a whisper, as he added, “But I didn’t tell them how much I need you to play hide and go seek with me. I know that that’s not what people need to know.”
Rose grinned wildly. She reached up and tapped Duncan’s hand. “It’s ridiculous, keeping me in bed for so long, isn’t it? I have to admit that it’s really all my fault, Duncan. I went on a little adventure of my own, and unfortunately, I got a bit hurt. It’s nothing to worry about, though. You were right to tell everyone that I’ll be quite all right.”
Anna tapped deeper into the room and perched at the edge of her stool. Her eyes switched from Rose to Duncan and back. It occurred to Rose that nobody had truly analysed the relationship between Duncan and Rose in the previous weeks—how intimate it had truly become. Anna gave her a little smile, her eyes glinting with good humor.
“Well, then, it’s good I saw you for myself,” Duncan said. “I reckon that you can take another few days off.”
“Oh, you’ll allow it, will you?” Rose asked. Her voice was heavy with humor and sarcasm.
But of course, Duncan didn’t notice. He hopped up off the bed and strode toward the hallway. "I'll update everyone with regards to your wellness and prospects, Rose."
"I appreciate that, Duncan. I truly do," Rose whispered. Once more, she felt as though she was speaking to a young man, rather than a young boy. With a strange heaviness in her throat, she felt she could already envision what he might be like 10 years from then—when he no longer needed her, and she was off governess-ing someplace else.
Duncan gave her a final look and then hopped out into the hallway, leaving Rose and Anna alone once more. Rose and Anna burst into immediate laughter. Anna clucked her tongue and said, "That boy has you wrapped around his little finger, doesn't he?”
Rose propped herself up on her pillow and gave Anna more of her attention. “You really don’t have to tell him to ever leave me alone, you know,” she said. “Wherever I am and wherever I go, Duncan can always go, too. It really seems that throughout the past months of his life, Duncan has received the word ‘no’ over and over again. His parents brought him here, and Colin refuses to be with him… it seems very much that if I didn’t have this growing friendship with him, he wouldn’t have anything at all.”
Rose thought for a moment, then tilted her head. “Of course, I suppose I wouldn’t have anything either. My life would be very empty, wouldn’t it?”
Anna turned her eyes to the ground. “I imagine he’s anxious to have you back. He told me on the way up here what a remarkable teacher you are. He—“
“Oh, I’m really not,” Rose affirmed. “It’s only that I do whatever he wants. We play for more of the time than we learn.”
“I suppose it probably sticks in his brain much better, allowing all that time,” Anna said. She swallowed and then forced her eyes back toward Rose’s. “I wanted to ask you a question, Rose. And please don’t think that you have to say yes, just because of all the chaos that’s happened the past few days. Everything can return to normal the moment you say no, if you wish. Please. Remember that.”
Anna’s eyes were difficult to read. They were glittery and wet.
“You’re making me nervous, Anna,” Rose said. She let out a little laugh and then propped herself still higher. “What do you wish to say? Please. Don’t dally. My heart is pounding and…”
“Rose, it’s only that I don’t know how to write. Or even read,” Anna blurted.
Rose stopped short, her lips still parted. She peered at her new friend curiously. Throughout her time at the orphanage, Rose had busied herself with learning to read and write, far quicker than the other children. Then, she’d taken up the many hours of her childhood and teenage years, teaching the other orphans. She almost took the fact that she could read and write for granted, and truly didn’t know what she would do without the skills.
“My goodness. Do you wish to?” Rose asked.
Anna poured her face into her hands. A little sigh escaped her lips. “Please. It’s the only thing I wish in this world, Rose. And it’s been such a terribly long time since I felt like I needed something. You’re the answer to this problem…”
Rose furrowed her brow. “Well, of course I’ll teach you,” she said. “It’s not even a question. I imagine that you’ll learn quite quickly. You’re terribly bright, Anna, and…”
“Oh, goodness, you don’t know that for certain,” Anna said. She arched her brow and gave Rose an incredulous, halting look. “No. In fact, the only thing you know for certain is that I’ve worked here since I was a girl, and that I have very little to offer this world, and…”
Rose snapped her fingers. “No. You’re putting words in my mouth. Perhaps you think this about yourself on your darkest days, but it’s simply not true. Tell me. There must be something behind this urgent desire to learn to write.”
Anna’s cheeks reddened. Slowly, she dropped her hands into her little pocket and drew out a stack of papers. Then, she unfolded the papers slowly, her hands shaking. She passed them toward Rose, who accepted them.
The papers were well-worn and crinkled, as though Anna had spent a great deal of time with them: staring at them, trying to make sense of them. Within a few seconds, Rose realised that the papers were actually letters—and each one of them began with the words, “My dearest Anna.”
Rose said these words aloud. “My dearest Anna.” And when she did, Anna fell forward and draped her hands across her cheeks once more.
She shook and then whispered, “My dearest Anna? That’s really how it begins?”
“Anna, there are at least four letters here,” Rose said, incredulous. “Who sent these to you? What is this about?”
