“Anette seems very happy with Lord Roswell,” Emilia remarked.
“They both have loved each other for a long time, but neither made it easy for them to come together,” Fredrick shared. “They both were entirely too stubborn.”
“True love should never be taken for granted,” Emilia said.
Fredrick gave her a curious look. “Do you intend to marry for love now that you are an heiress?” he asked.
Emilia hesitated and then winced. “I am not quite sure if I want to give up the freedom that my father so graciously bestowed upon me. If I did wed, everything that I have would belong to my husband.”
“My mother was in a position similar to yours,” Fredrick shared. “She had been given a large inheritance from her maternal grandmother and she was determined to make it on her own.”
“What changed?”
“My father,” Fredrick replied. “He swooped in and convinced her that love was indeed worth the risk. They have loved each other fiercely ever since then, and I have never met another couple that was so devoted to one another.”
“I love that,” Emilia admitted.
Fredrick sighed deeply. “When my mother inevitably passes, I don’t know what will become of my father. I fear that he won’t last long without her by his side.”
Emilia could hear the pain in his words and she wished there was something that she could do to ease his concerns. But she was at a loss to do so. Perhaps she could distract him by asking a question of her own.
“Do you intend to marry for love?” Emilia asked.
That got a reaction out of Fredrick. He huffed in an indignant fashion. “I do not intend to marry, for any reason.”
Fredrick’s response took Emilia by surprise. She couldn’t help but press him. “Don’t you require an heir?”
“Roswell is my heir,” Fredrick answered, his tone firm.
Emilia knew that it was none of her business, but she had to ask, “What about love, Fredrick?”
His eyes grew reflective, shadows of regret lurking within their depths. “I don’t know if I’m deserving of love anymore. Not after what I have done.”
“What have you done?” Emilia inquired.
Fredrick grew silent, and she was afraid she had gone too far in her line of questioning. Finally, he spoke. “War changed me. And not for the better. The man I was before I left doesn’t exist anymore, leaving behind a shell of a man.”
“Nothing you have done could have been that terrible,” Emilia said.
“Why, because you think you know me?” Fredrick demanded.
Emilia was taken aback by his harsh tone. Fredrick had never spoken that way to her before, and she found it unsettling.
Fredrick’s shoulders seemed to slump as some of the tension drained from his frame. “I am sorry. I had no right to speak to you in such a fashion.”
“It is evident that you are hurting,” Emilia observed.
“Every soldier must deal with the repercussions of his actions. Why should I be any different?” Fredrick asked, a hint of resignation in his voice.
Emilia looked at him with sympathy. “I can help you.”
“No one can help me,” Fredrick promptly replied. “I am in a hell of my own making, and there is nothing that can be done for me.”
“I don’t know what happens during war, but surely there is someone that you can talk to about this,” Emilia encouraged.
Fredrick’s gaze remained fixed ahead of him as he replied, “There is no one. I left my comrades to die on the Continent.”
She couldn’t accept his words. That went against everything she knew about Fredrick. “That can’t be true,” Emilia insisted.
