Page 26 of The Marquis' Game of Seduction
“You were found. Outside. A tree’s limb had broken and it busted your head. I’m sure you must feel it, even now…” Here, Anna brought her fingers up toward the crown of Rose’s head. Gently, she tapped at the place that—Rose felt now—the tree branch had fell and cracked open her skin. Pain rollicked up and down her spine.
“Who found me?” Rose asked.
As she asked it, she saw flashing images. A light, in the yonder tower.
The stone tower? But why on earth would anyone be at the tower? Judith had told her that nobody was allowed out there, under any circumstances…
Of course, that was why she’d gone to it. To investigate. To know.
“Anna… My goodness,” Rose muttered. She dropped her chin to her chest and she marveled at what she’d heard. “Sometimes my stubbornness can really grow too much, even for me. I suppose I went out there to… to discover something. To get to the bottom of something. And nature fought back. Ha. Imagine that.”
Anna shifted in her chair. Her hands toyed with one another, as though she didn’t know exactly where to put them.
“And who was it who collected me? Did you know I was awake?” Rose demanded. She gazed into Anna’s eyes, wondering if this woman—this creature before her—was the reason she’d survived the night.
But even now, Anna’s eyes turned toward the ground, filled with shame. “No. I’m afraid not,” she whispered. “You see, I only awoke a bit earlier than my ordinary time—just after three-thirty. I found the Marquees in the hallway. He was absolutely drenched and wild-eyed and he looked so fearful and… and he asked which room you slept in.”
Rose’s lips parted with shock. How was this possible? How could this vision of reality actually have occurred?
“The Marquees? No. I imagine not. He’s been incredibly distant from me the past few days, so much so that I imagined I might get fired rather soon,” Rose insisted.
“I know only what I saw,” Anna said. She shrugged a bit, almost sadly, like she wanted to apologise for saying so. “And when he left, I crept out in the darkness to watch as he carried you upstairs. He did it so tenderly, like he was carrying a child who he didn’t wish to waken…”
Suddenly, there was a wild knock at the door. Rose nearly uprooted herself from her bed, so frightened was she of who might arrive through the door. She blinked at the hard wood of the door and thought for a long moment before whispering to Anna.
“Is it Judith? Is someone else expected to arrive?”
Anna shook her head. Her eyes were similarly wide. “I only came up here because everyone was saying that you hadn’t yet awakened. Judith informed everyone that we were to let you sleep. But I wanted to make sure…”
“I’m grateful to you for doing such a thing—“ Rose began.
But yet again, there was that knock at the door—this time done with more urgency. Rose chewed at the side of her cheek and pondered what to do next.
“Shall I…” Anna began.
“I suppose that’s the only thing to do,” Rose said.
Anna burst up from her little stool and hobbled toward the door. With a flourish, she opened the door to reveal Colin Remington himself—the Marquees of the region—looking incredibly awkward, his hat held in his hands and his dark eyes peering directly at Rose, who stared back at him with an impossible amount of confusion.
“Good morning,” Colin said.
“Come in,” Rose returned. Her words were tentative and charged.
At this, Colin stepped forward and into the bedroom. It felt strange to Rose to have to tell him to enter, since it was obvious that this—this very small, closet-sized room in the upper levels of the mansion—belonged to him. But still, he remained standing and strange, as though he’d hardly seen this room before in his life.
“Anna just explained to me a few of the events of the previous night,” Rose said. She loved how regal she sounded—as though she was a woman who required the sort of attention she was receiving. Of course, in the back space of her mind, she was wholly panicking. How could she get out of this situation, and quickly?
Colin turned slowly toward Anna. He cleared his throat and said, “Good morning to you as well, Anna. I trust you slept well?”
“Quite well, my lord. Thank you,” Anna said. She curtsied quickly, in the style of a woman who’d been made to curtsy well and quickly every day of her life.
“I would hope that you’d prepare some tea for myself and the governess,” Colin said then.
Anna gave Rose this near-petrified look. Rose wanted to return it, but she could feel Colin’s eyes upon her—and they terrified her even more.
“Of course, my lord,” Anna affirmed. “I will be back very quickly.”
Anna skirted out of the bedroom, leaving Rose and Colin there alone, in the closet-sized space. Rose felt her head might explode, both with the headache and the ache in her heart. She shifted a bit beneath the sheets. All the while, Colin’s eyes seemed to bore into her. What was she meant to say to this man—this man who’d gone out of his way to make her feel unwelcome since her arrival, and had mostly avoided her since their initial conversation at dinner weeks before?
