“I am lost,” Octavia admitted.
“It has only just begun,” Roswell said. “How are you lost?”
“I think it might be the parts in Latin,” Octavia replied.
Roswell gave his sister an exasperated look. “No one on stage has uttered a word of Latin,” he informed her.
Octavia nodded. “Now that I am aware of that, I can pay attention better.”
Anette found her friend’s antics to be rather amusing. It felt good to laugh, at least for a while, as if her worries had disappeared.
ChapterFour
Later that evening, Roswell and his sister returned home from the opera and they stepped into the dark entry hall of their townhouse.
Octavia yawned, not bothering to hide it behind her gloved hand. “I am tired, and I am going to retire to bed.”
“I hope you rest well.”
“I will.” Octavia gave him a curious look. “Don’t you intend to go to bed?”
Roswell shook his head. “I have work that I need to see to,” he replied.
“Don’t stay up too late.”
“I won’t.”
Octavia gave him a knowing smile. “You always say that and then I find you asleep on the settee in the study.”
“The settee is rather comfortable.”
“No, it isn’t,” Octavia argued. “But you are old enough to make your own choices, whether they are terrible or not.”
Roswell kissed his sister on the cheek. “Goodnight, Sister.”
Octavia started walking towards the stairs but stopped and turned around. “Tonight was nice. I enjoyed spending time with Anette and Caleb again. It felt like old times.”
“It did,” he agreed.
With a curious glance, she asked, “Why did you and Anette have a falling out?”
Roswell clenched his jaw. Why was his sister bringing this up now? It was entirely too late to have such a poignant conversation. “Why do you suppose we had one?” he asked.
“You two used to be so close but it changed after we celebrated Christmas with them last year,” Octavia said.
Not wanting to reveal the truth, he replied, “We are just on different paths now.”
Octavia appeared unconvinced by his answer, and it wasn't hard to deduce why that was. His sister was clever but he hoped that she couldn’t see right through him.
“I always thought you two would end up together,” Octavia said as she watched him closely, no doubt to gauge his reaction.
Roswell did not want to talk about this, not now, not ever. “Goodnight, Sister,” he said, his tone much harsher than he had intended.
Fortunately, Octavia was smart enough to know when not to press him. “Goodnight, Brother.” She turned on her heel and started to walk up the stairs.
His sister wasn’t wrong. He had also thought that he would end up with Anette, but it all changed when he promised Caleb that he wouldn’t pursue her. His life was not conducive to having a wife. It was best to let Anette lead a normal, happy life. She deserved that.
So why couldn’t he convince himself that he was better off without her?
