The final bann will be read this Sunday, the last moment for someone to object to our marriage. Despite the contract, if you wish to be freed, I will honor that.
This does not mean that I do not want to marry you. Quite the opposite. It means that if you feel the need to be free to heal without the constraints of the betrothal, I offer it to you.
If not, I hope you will consent to see me as soon as you are able. You are forever in my heart, and I dearly wish you to be in my arms.
Yours always,
T
Rose lay her hand flat on the page. She stared at Athena, who stared back.
He had looked like hell...
Thomas had been injured—because of her. He had injured others—because of her.“You and Thomas have a difficult, complicated relationship.”
They had fought, parted, and come together again. They knew each other—yet were also still strangers to each other. As most married couples were. He had seen her at her most vulnerable, knew her limitations—yet still wanted to marry her. When she had been threatened...
He had looked like an avenging angel.
“Well, Athena, what do you think?”
Athena yawned, a full, jaw-cracking stretch that ended with a smack and a chirp.
“I see. Nothing worse than a bored cat.”
Athena rolled over on her back and stretched out all four paws.
It wouldn’t be the first time Rose had pretended to be strong. She pushed back the covers, swung her legs out of bed, and reached for the bell pull. She would do this, one step at a time, moment by moment. But whatever happened next, the first step was a hot bath.
*
Thomas opened theletter from Rose with trepidation, then felt his spirits lift with the first line. He recognized immediately that the scratched out words were not mistakes—they were Rose’s not-so-subtle messages that extended beyond the letter itself.
Saturday, 11 June 1825
Lord Newbury My dearest Thomas—
My father once told me that social propriety between a man and his wife was a public matter, but that their private relationship was solely a matter between the two of them. I’m sure my mother would be mortally scandalized to know he had been speaking to his daughter of such a thing yet it was a precious insight into my parents’ lives. However, given the respective natures of the two of us, I would be hard pressed to believe that you and I will be able to maintain an appropriate sense of propriety, even in public. You, for instance, seem far too willing to place your hands upon my person, whereas I seem to be unable to unwilling to persuade you otherwise.
Would you, by any chance, be available to test my hypothesis tomorrow afternoon at two? If so, please call upon me at that time. The gardens are being made ready for Lady Cecily’s wedding on 2 July, but tomorrow afternoon is most of the servants’ half-day, including the gardeners.
I do realize this will be after the final bann is read Sunday morning. This timetable is satisfactory for me, if it is also for you.
With affection,
Rose
“From the absolutely wicked grin on your face, I am assuming that’s good news.”
Thomas folded the letter and slipped it into his coat pocket and sat down in the wingback across from his brother. At his desk, Philip focused on a ledger and was deep into his calculations, ignoring his sons for the moment. “She’s agreed to see me tomorrow after two.”
Robert’s eyebrows arched. “After the final bann.”
He nodded.
“So you are leaving the whole ‘heir and a spare’ thing up to me, are you?”
“From what I hear, you have a good start on it already.”
