Page 27 of The Marquis' Game of Seduction
Still, there was something curious about the way he looked down at her. Rose’s heart felt tender and her eyes welled with tears. Without knowing precisely what she was doing—thinking that she could perhaps feign idiocy if she was called out on it—she reached up and gripped Colin’s hand. The touch was so stark and such a surprise, she thought he might leap out of his skin.
“Colin,” Rose whispered. She wasn’t sure, later, if she decided to call him by his first name by choice—or if it simply tumbled out of her lips on its own accord. She supposed it didn’t matter. “Colin, Anna’s informed me of what happened last night. I must tell you. Thank you for saving me. I know that I would have rotted out there without you.”
Colin’s cheeks flashed pink with embarrassment, but he didn’t bother to move his hand. Instead, he seemed to squeeze her hand even harder. Rose’s heart thudded, seemingly filling her ears.
“I didn’t wish for Anna to tell you. I didn’t wish for anyone to know—“ Colin began. He fumbled over his words. He seemed oddly childish and shy and embarrassed; nothing Rose would have attributed to his character prior to this moment.
“Don’t worry. Your act of compassion can stay with me, if you like,” Rose said. She gave him a tender smile, a teasing one. She was surprised that he grinned back, seemingly picking up on her joke.
Suddenly, it was as though the intensity between them grew overwhelming. Rose felt she couldn’t breathe. She dropped his hand, and it fell to his side and kind of flopped around his thigh for a moment. He looked aghast—like he couldn’t believe that they’d once been touching. He swallowed and gazed at her.
“I wish you wouldn’t have gone out there like that,” he said. His voice was still very soft and tender. “I don’t know why you rose from bed in the middle of the night, regardless. It’s—“
“I have trouble during storms,” Rose whispered. “I’ve had it since I was a little girl. I used to rise at the orphanage and pace about, keeping everyone awake. My sister Carrie thought I was absolutely wild. She would tell me to just lay back and imagine that the rain was something else. But to me, it felt like the roof was preparing to fall down upon me. I tried to explain this to her, but she always scoffed at me—told me it was foolish to dream up such things. She was always far more practical than I was.”
Colin gazed down at Rose. After a long moment’s pause, he dipped into the stool on which Anna had perched. His hands draped over the edge of the bed. Rose tried to drift away from his hands, but she felt that with every twitch of her body, her head ached even more.
“Don’t move if it pains you,” he murmured. “I’ve had a head injury before. It’s quite wretched. You can feel it in everything you do. But the doctor said that—“
“The doctor? You also called the doctor?” Rose asked. Her voice felt all scratchy in her throat.
“Of course we did,” Colin said. “I rang the only doctor I know well. He was the doctor who assisted my father throughout his illness. I respect him a great deal. And he understood the severity of the situation. He leaped on his horse and came with me at once.”
Rose let out a heavy sigh. “I do hope that I can write him a letter of thanks. How remarkable of him…”
“It’s simply all he knows to do,” Colin affirmed. “And besides, I think when he saw the look in my eye—the look of panic—it wasn’t as though he could remain at home.”
Rose tried to envision Colin riding out across the moors, his horse kicking back mud and muck, all for the benefit of her health. She struggled with it, despite knowing it was fully true.
Suddenly, without knowing precisely why she turned to this topic of discussion, Rose whispered, “What is it about that tower, Colin? I peered out my window and the light was glowing. I knew that somebody was out there. And—“
Colin’s face changed slowly and then all at once. His cheeks caved in and grew shadowed. But Rose continued on, deciding that she’d rather demand answers than get bogged down with the rules of this conversation. Besides, she was a relative invalid. It wasn’t as though he could kick her from her bed; not now.
“Why did you go after it?” Colin demanded. “After Judith informed you never to go near the tower…”
“I told you, my lord,” Rose said. “I know there’s something amiss in this house. A week or so ago, I informed you that I spotted that little girl…”
“Oh, you’re back on the topic of the little girl again, are you? How terribly wonderful. I love going over and over the same patch of land again. It really makes me think I’m getting things done in my life,” Colin spat.
Rose dropped her head deeper on the pillow and rolled her eyes. “Colin, I must explain. There’s more. After I spotted the little girl, Duncan drew a little picture of—and you’ll never guess this—a little girl! It must have been the same one! He said that she came into his bedroom and played with him and even introduced herself. I know that isn’t a coincidence, Colin. Duncan hadn’t a clue that I’d seen the little girl, and it’s not as though he would make something like that up.”
“You’re saying that the boy with one of the most stupendous imaginations I’ve ever experienced couldn’t have made something up about a little girl?” Colin demanded. His eyes flashed dangerously.
“It’s too ridiculous to refute,” Rose continued. “I know it sounds terribly silly, but I think that Duncan is telling the truth. I asked him if she was his imaginary friend, and he insisted that she wasn’t. That she was actually, wonderfully real. That means she’s somewhere here. And I think somewhere in the back of my mind—when I saw that light in the tower—I thought…”
“You thought you would meddle in other people’s business,” Colin spat.
“That’s not what I mean, Colin—“ Rose said.
“And you thought—oh, yes, wonderful. You’ll just be obsessed with something that actually doesn’t exist, and put yourself in reckless danger because of it. How wonderful! Imagine what might have happened today, Rose, if you hadn’t made it through the night. Imagine me having to explain to Duncan that his governess…”
“Stop! Stop! I understand!” Rose blared. She scowled at him and crossed her arms over her chest. Truthfully, all the jostling made her head spike with pain. But she forced herself not to reveal this pain on her face.
“It’s just. This is clearly an obsession. And it’s a fictional one,” Colin said. He swallowed and stood slowly and wiped his palms across the fabric of his pants.
Whatever magic had existed between them for a few moments, when they’d held hands and gazed into one another’s eyes, had now fully deteriorated. Rose wondered if he regretted saving her at all.
“Surely, you must be under-rested,” Rose whispered. “I’m terribly sorry for keeping you awake all night.”
