Page 26 of Marry in Secret
“I tend to agree with you, Aunt Agatha,” Cal said. Emm and Rose began to speak at the same time, but Cal gently squeezed his wife’s shoulder and continued, “But four years have passed since the wedding ceremony, and with half of London being informed of it this morning, there is no hope of quashing any scandal. I think it must be up to Rose and—actually, as far as I’m concerned, it’s entirely Rose’s decision.”
“I agree,” Emm said. “If she wants an annulment, we will press for it. If she wants the marriage, it stays.”
Rose sat back. Her decision? What about Thomas? Didn’t he get to decide too? She glanced at him. He looked so stern and forbidding, she had no idea what he was thinking.
“Nonsense! We know what’s best for her. Rose is still a gel and she will do as she’s told.”
Cal said dryly, “Oh, yes, she’s famed for her obedience.”
“Oh, do be quiet, Aggie,” Aunt Dottie said. “This isn’t your decision. Cal is the head of this family and if he says it’s up to Rose, it’s up to Rose.” She turned to Rose. “So, Rose dear, what do you want?”
There was a long silence.
Rose swallowed, and opened her mouth, then closed it.Before she could make any decision, she needed to explain some things to Thomas—admit one particular thing—and afterward, well, it all depended on how he reacted. Now, with her entire family looking on, she had no idea what to say.
Thomas said nothing, but those blazing blue eyes bored into hers. She dropped her gaze and saw his big, battered hands clench into fists.
Battered hands? Old scars, white against the tan. How had that happened? And when? They were waiting for an answer, but her mind was full of questions.
“It’s not fair,” Lily said suddenly. “It’s been four years since she and Thomas have seen each other and you haven’t given them so much as a moment alone. Rose is still coming to terms with the fact that the man she thought was dead is alive. With so little warning, and with all of us staring at her, how can she possibly think clearly about what she wants?”
Rose gave her sister a grateful look. She should have said that herself, but she was not herself at all today.
“Lily’s right,” Emm said. ‘The last thing we want to do is rush you into any decision, Rose dear. Take as long as you need. A day, a week—as long as it takes.”
“The longer the better,” muttered Aunt Agatha. “Better yet, let Cal arrange an annulment and you will have all the time in the world to come to your senses.”
Rose closed her eyes. All this sniping and arguing and pushing for an annulment would go on forever, unless she stopped it. She couldn’t bear any more uncertainty, any more waiting. She’d waited for four long years and now it was over. Thomas had returned to her, and if he didn’t want to stay married to her, he shouldn’t have stopped the wedding.
And if he wasn’t the Thomas she remembered, so be it. People changed.
She was married to this tough-looking, enigmatic man with the eyes that burned, and if she could see nothing in him of the charming boy she’d married four long years ago,if he was gaunt and taciturn and somehow... hardened, what did it matter anyway? She wasn’t the same girl he’d married.
Whatever had happened, whoever they were now, she and Thomas would cope. She couldn’t go backward—the past was the past—she could only move forward and hope for the best.
She’d heard a military man say once that it didn’t matter what decision you made, the important thing was to make the decision, and then throw everything you had into making it work.
She opened her mouth to speak.
“If you try to annul this marriage against our wishes”—Thomas addressed Cal in a deep, harsh voice—“I will fight you all the way. And I warn you now, when I fight, I fight to win.” His eyes were hard, bleak, silver shot with blue, and Rose was reminded again of that feral cat.
“So do I,” snarled Cal, bristling.
“It will be a very public fight,” Thomas said silkily. He glanced at Aunt Agatha. “Will that please you, Lady Salter?”
She swelled with outrage. “Impudent jackanapes!”
“Stop it!” Rose jerked to her feet. Her voice shook—she was far more nervous now than when she’d been about to marry the duke—but she managed to say, “There will be no fighting. Four years ago I made vows before God, and it doesn’t matter what has happened since, I’ll honor them.”
There was a short, shocked silence, then a babble of talk.
“You don’t know what you’re saying, gel,” Aunt Agatha began.
“You’re still in shock, give it a week,” Cal said.
“Are you certain this is what you want, Rose?” Emm asked.
Rose wasn’t certain, but then life wasn’t certain, was it? She’d lost Thomas once, and if there was the smallest chance of getting him back—and surely, somewhere inside this grim, taciturn stranger was the man she’d fallen in love with—she wasn’t going to risk turning him away.
