Page 36 of The Marquis' Game of Seduction
Duncan considered this. “No. I suppose it was selfish of me not to consider that she might have a home and friends and a family who wish to hear from her. I apologise for that.”
“Don’t be silly, Duncan. You don’t need to apologise,” Rose said. “It’s simply good to broaden your mind about what a person can be, don’t you think? And in this case, Anna is attempting to be someone better than she was before. And she wishes to write a letter to someone to prove that to them.”
“That’s quite nice. I hope she can write a story as good as I can,” Duncan said. “Perhaps I can help her, if she wants to write a story about a pirate ship and exploring.” His eyes turned toward Colin’s. “That’s the best kind of story, Uncle Colin.”
“I would have to agree with you,” Colin said. He beamed at the young boy. “In fact, those were the sorts of stories I read when I was a child more than anything else. I wanted nothing more than to get on board an enormous vessel and head out across the ocean…”
Duncan’s lips parted in shock. He turned back to Rose, as if to demandIs he actually serious? I thought he was just an old man, someone who could never have a single inventive thought…
But instead of allowing such words to roll from his mouth, Rose just nodded and arched her brow.
“Goodness,” Duncan whispered. “I do hope you’ll show me some of your favourite stories. That is, if you have time.”
Colin cleared his throat. Again, his eyes traced across Rose’s cheeks, down her collarbone, toward the dip at her breasts—Rose could see his eyes as they made this trek. She shivered and felt a dull ache of desire in the pit of her stomach. How silly of her to allow such passion to brew.
“It won’t take me time at all, Duncan,” Colin said. “I know precisely where the books are. If you wish, we can find them after dinner.”
Rose thought Duncan might leap out of his chair. It took all of his strength to remain there and finish out his dinner. Then, he stared with remorse and panic as Colin and Rose finished their dinners slowly, taking care and relishing each bite. Both Rose and Colin were conscious of this, and were playing it up with every moment—a private game they were playing with Duncan, as a team. Rose’s heart bumped with this knowledge. She hadn’t imagined Colin to have such a sense of humor. And although it was done at the expense of the poor, excited boy, she truly did love it.
After dinner, Duncan and Colin retreated to Colin’s study to find the books. Rose padded back up to her bedroom. When she reached the door, she discovered one of the manservants packing up the last of her things. Her stomach lurched with panic. Was it possible that Colin had asked her to have dinner with him that night as a final goodbye? Had he decided to rid her from the mansion?
“What is the meaning of this!” she cried. Tears sprung to her eyes.
“Don’t worry yourself,” the older manservant said. “This is simply our orders.”
“I very well will worry myself!” she cried. “This mansion is my home. And once kicked out, I won’t know where to go. Please. Have some compassion. What was told to you? Where are they sending me?”
The manservant tapped her suitcase back on the ground and scrubbed his palms together. His bones creaked as he did it, as though they had a mind of their own.
“No, no. It’s nothing like that. It simply came to the attention of Judith that your room was far and away worse than any of the others. She arranged for you to take a bedroom closer to the other servants, including Anna.” The manservant beamed. “Anna has been quite lonely all these years, you know. I met her when I was hired seven years ago. Just a young thing. So awkward about her place in the world. With you here, I can sense her confidence rising. It’s been a unique pleasure.”
Rose looked at him curiously. “You’re saying that Judith requested that I get a better room…?”
“Yes. Have you seen yours? I reckon it’s the worst room in this entire mansion. And I once heard that this place has over 500 rooms. Just standing here in this room is giving me the creeps. Like it’s haunted,” the manservant said.
“You haven’t ever… seen ghosts in this mansion. Have you?” Rose asked, remembering once more her conversation with Anna.
The manservant clucked his tongue. “Not me. But a few other servants over the years have told stories. Strange noises. A woman screaming. There certainly is a strange air to this place, isn’t there? But it gets in your bones if you stay too long. I imagine that if there was a ghost, it would be after you—fresh blood. Not me. It’s used to me by now.”
The two manservants darted out of the room, carrying the few items Rose owned. She blinked after them, her head all muddled with thoughts of ghosts and whether or not they were “used” to her yet. After giving her room a final cursory glance, she trotted after them, winding down the staircase and toward Anna’s bedroom.
The door was locked, the wood stiff. Probably, Anna was getting some much-needed shut-eye, or else studying for the next lesson. But knowing that Anna was mere steps away gave Rose an inner peace, one that made the air feel fresher and cleaner and easier to breathe.
The bedroom Judith had arranged for her was nearly three times as large as the original. When the two manservants splayed her things on the floor, Rose felt a bubble of laughter. The largeness of the room made her tiny things seem even tinier, as though she was a doll with only a few items as accessories. She thanked the manservants and then clicked her door closed and stood in the center of her bedroom with her hands on her hips.
From this new window, she could peer out across the gardens and the moors, across a very early, newly-brewing winter. Sunset had flung itself over creation, casting long shadows. Rose sat at the edge of the bed and gazed once more at that strange tower, which was now completely black.
Regardless of Colin’s immense friendliness and her undeniable attraction to him, it was still clear that he wanted to keep secrets from her. The tower was a constant reminder of that.
Was it possible that she could allow these secrets to scurry beneath her nose, without her truly seeing them and turning them over? Perhaps. But her skull ached with her own morbid curiosity.
It was a funny thing to think that the idea of ghosts was simply too boring for what was actually going on. She smiled to herself, turning her eyes from corner to corner in the immense room. “No. I know there’s nobody else lurking around here. Certainly, not the dead,” she muttered, as though she was trying to tell the ghosts themselves to stay away.
Chapter 16
Those weeks after Rose’s unconsciousness, Colin found himself—rather against his ordinary sensibilities—going out of his way to see Rose as much as he possibly could. He understood her schedule, at this point (could feel her whipping around the house with Duncan during their “educational” times) and, if he felt like it, he could dip into her path easily, allowing for an awkward, yet eye-opening experience.
Ordinarily, when they fell in line with one another, Rose’s eyes widened with shock—as though running into him, the master of the mansion, was a thought that hadn’t occurred to her. She stopped walking and slipped her hands past her ears, as though she wanted to tidy her hair, and then she blinked up at him and gave him this delicious smile. Colin wondered if she had any inkling of how beautiful she was when she looked so nervous.
