Page 49 of The Marquis' Game of Seduction
“Oh, Father, but if I’m going to come home soon, then we must arrange that Rose comes to live with us,” Duncan said. His face looked set, his eyes set and stern. “I cannot stop my education.”
Laurence sniffed. At first, Colin thought he was going to say something petty, like,There are plenty of other governesses, Duncan.But instead, he turned his eyes back toward Rose and seemed to consider it.
“I suppose she’s really the only one who can teach you all the words in the dictionary, isn’t she?”
Duncan affirmed that this was so.
“Well then. I wouldn’t want you to get behind on that sort of thing,” Laurence said. He gave a little shrug and turned his head back toward Rose to say, “What do you say, Miss Hollingsworth? A formal offer to come back to our estate with Duncan and work as his governess.”
Colin’s heart dipped into his belly. It felt as though he was many miles above the horrific exchange before him. What on earth did he wish for her to say? Did he want her to push her career out of view, only because of what had happened the evening before?
The truth was thatwhat he’d told her about his feelings had only doubled, tripled, since he’d spoken them. From where he stood, he could smell her, and the smell brought back endless memories, all titillating and erotic.
He wanted her. Wanted her terribly.
“It would be a pleasure to work as Duncan’s governess,” Rose said suddenly.
Now, Colin felt someone had slipped a knife directly through his belly. The blood seemed to drip out on the floor. He gaped at her, then at Laurence. Neither of them seemed to notice him.
“Splendid,” Colin said. There was a coldness to his words. “From one situation to the next. No time in between to wonder. Such good news. Isn’t it, Miss Hollingsworth.”
At this, Rose flashed her eyes back toward him. Again, all the blood drained from her cheeks.
“Of course, I will need some time to think about it,” she said to Laurence. “I will give you my final answer in due time, to ensure that you can make any arrangements necessary.”
Duncan hopped back up the steps to wrap his arms around Rose. Rose draped over him.
“Thank you, Father. Oh, thank you so much,” he said. “She’s the best thing that’s happened to me this year.”
Laurence turned back toward Colin. Colin felt strangely crooked, as though he wasn’t sure where to put the limbs on his body.
“I look forward to discussing it in greater detail, Miss Hollingsworth,” Laurence said. His eyes remained on Colin, as though he could dig into his inner psyche. “And Duncan, I will give your best to Mother. I know she cannot wait to have you home once more. She so misses playing with you. But I’ll tell her that you’ve found a worthy playmate in the meantime.”
Laurence swept toward the front door. His coat whirled out behind him, like a kind of cape. At the door, he turned back and said, “Good day everyone,” before heading back into the glittering late-autumn day.
When the door clipped closed behind him, the air seemed to deplete fully from the room. His eyes turned up toward Rose, willing her to take back what she’d said. But with Duncan remaining there between them, there was no way they could have any sort of adult conversation. She pressed her hand against his shoulder, her eyes directed toward him.
Say something. Maybe it’s up to you. Make it right. Make her stay,Colin thought to himself.
But instead, he said, “I have a great deal to attend to this morning. I expect that the two of you do, as well. Good day.”
He spun and stomped back toward his study. As he passed by the dining room, he found it empty—Allan-less—and wondered if Allan had taken a stroll outside. It didn’t matter where he was, nor where anyone was. Colin yearned for darkness, the solace of solitude.
He revved into his study, smashed the door closed, and then cranked the curtains closed. He huffed and sat in his study chair and stared straight ahead, in the strange and sudden darkness.
All of a sudden, it seemed rather clear that Rose wouldn’t spend much more time there at the estate.
Despite Colin laying out his feelings; despite his rather clear display of his inner turmoil and allegiance, it seemed that Rose was like all the rest.
Like every other woman on the planet, Rose had betrayed him.
He clenched his fists and waited. Time seemed to flicker away as he played over the events of his life, each seeming to add up to this moment: this moment when everything crashed down yet again. He should have known better. He knew himself to be an intelligent man.
Was it possible that in matters of the heart, he wasn’t so smart?
Of course. This was the near-constant refrain of anyone who ever tried and failed in matters of the human heart. Still, he dug his chin into his chest and glared at the floor beneath him and shuddered with anger.
Sometime later, there was a rap at the door. Colin lurched his head up and stared at the door, praying that whoever it was would catch the hint and wander away. But then, another rap came. It was clear that whoever it was wouldn’t allow him to escape the day fully.
