Page 14 of Courting the Wrong Duke

Rosalind's heart broke a little. “So instead you choose to believe he left?”

Her mother closed her eyes. “I choose to believe whatever allows me to wake up each morning.”

The words robbed Rosalind of every reply she had prepared.

For the first time since her father's disappearance, she understood that grief had not divided their family because they loved him differently.

It had divided them because they were surviving him differently.

She opened her eyes once more. “You will not meet Lord William again.”

Rosalind met her mother's gaze. “Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“You are behaving recklessly.”

“I am behaving like Papa's daughter.”

Lady Eastmere stared at her for a long moment. Then, without another word, she turned and quietly left the hall.

Rosalind watched her disappear until the sound of her footsteps faded up the staircase.

The house felt impossibly quiet.

It had always been her father who filled it with conversation. A remark to a passing footman. A cheerful greeting for the housemaids. A story carried from breakfast into luncheon because he had forgotten to finish it the first time.

She had not realized how much silence one man could leave behind.

Only then did she become aware of the ache in her hands.

She had been clenching her fists so tightly that crescent-shaped marks pressed into her palms.

“Your ladyship?”

Rosalind turned.

Nelly, her young lady's maid, lingered uncertainly in the doorway leading toward the servants' passage, twisting the corner of her apron between her fingers. She had attended Rosalind for three years now and possessed the rare gift of knowing exactly when to speak and when silence was kinder.

“I did not mean to overhear.”

Rosalind managed a tired smile. “I imagine half the household already has.”

A faint blush crept into the young maid's cheeks. “They're worried about his lordship.”

Something tightened painfully inside Rosalind. “So am I.”

For a moment neither of them spoke.

Then Nelly glanced toward the staircase to make certain Lady Eastmere had truly gone before stepping closer.

“If you'll forgive me for saying so, my lady…”

“Yes?”

Nelly hesitated, lowering her voice until Rosalind had to lean in to hear her. “The servants hear things.”