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Chapter Five
Rose watched as Elsa, her lady’s maid, opened the door and walked briskly into her chambers, pausing to shut the door behind her and secure the locks.
When she turned from the door, Rose saw the folded letter glistening in her hand as it caught some of the afternoon’s light that was currently streaming through the window.
“My Lady. I’ve got it,” the lady’s maid said, her voice barely above a whisper.
She walked to the bedside and handed Rose the letter that was in her hand.
It was the same type of paper that was used in the others she’d received in the past week—letters that had been exchanged in secrecy between her and the Marquess of Walsrock.
Ordinarily, the letters would have been signed formally, but since these letters were secret, Lord Walsrock had simply signed them with aW.She, on her own part, had signed hers with a simpleR.
They’d agreed on the dance floor at the ball to correspond in secret, without the knowledge of her father or anyone else. However, their decision made, they’d been presented with the challenge of how to keep their pact a secret.
Just before the dance had ended, the solution had come to him. He said he’d figured out a way to get messages to her.
When she’d asked, he’d mentioned the existence of someone he trusted above all else who could deliver his messages to her. He only hoped she had someone like that as well, who could deliver her responses in turn to him.
When he’d told her he was referring to his valet, she realized that she had the same relationship with her lady’s maid, and could use her as a liaison between both of them.
The plan was hurriedly put together and the next day, her first letter from the Marquess had arrived. She’d sent her lady’s maid under the guise of running an errand for her. Elsa was meant to meet his valet at noon and return with a letter from the Marquess.
At dusk, Elsa was to meet the valet again, only this time, what was exchanged was Rose’s response. The lady’s maid and valet had been instructed sternly to avoid discovery of any sort. As a result, the option of where they were to meet was left to them.
If discovered, they were to pretend to be in love themselves in order to save their masters’ reputations and in no case were the letters meant to be discovered.
Rose turned the letter in her hand and felt her heart leap in anticipation as it always did when she received one from the Marquess. If she was being honest, her heart had been leaping from the first moment she’d seen him walk into the ballroom.
Their first dance had been mesmerizing. By the second dance, she’d been beside herself with joy, making her forget that she’d actually been waiting for her betrothed.
Till the end of the ball, the Earl of Rockgonie had failed to make an appearance as planned, and to the best of her knowledge, no letter had arrived at the manor informing her of the reason for his absence.
It didn’t matter in the end, though, as her mind had long sailed from that port.
Thanks to the mesmerizing Marquess of Walsrock, who makes me go weak at the knees at the mere thought of him.
Her mother had tried to broach the subject with her on many occasions during the week, but she’d simply dismissed it with a polite and off-hand comment. After all, Rose wasn’t consulted when they had made the deal with Lord Rockgonie. Why was she being consulted now that the deal hadn’t gone as planned?
When her mother had probed further, proceeding to ask her about the Marquess and their dance, she’d found it hard to keep from smiling while responding that the only thing they’d shared was a dance.
“But he seemed so interested in you,” her mother had said the last time the topic had come up. If she didn’t know better, Rose could swear that she had detected some hope in her mother’s voice, certainly after the deal with Lord Rockgonie had obviously fallen through.
“As I’ve told you before, Mother, he asked if he could call on me and I told him I was already betrothed to someone else and that it wouldn’t be proper,” she’d responded simply, leaving her mother in the dark.
If the betrothal was meant to be a secret, there was no use telling her mother the actual state of things between Rose and the Marquess. In addition, some part of her derived pleasure from seeing her mother tense about her daughter’s betrothal conundrum.
Let her stew over the fact that the plan she’d so desperately made has fallen through. Maybe then she will learn not to interfere with my life.
Yes, she had lied to her mother. But more importantly, Rose had lied to the Marquess. Even though it was a lie of omission, it had been a lie nonetheless.
Rose remembered the exact moment she had the opportunity to tell him during the ball. She’d chosen instead to keep that information to herself, fearing that revealing the truth to the Marquess would tamper with his interest in her.
For some reason, she’d feared the possibility of that happening and decided to stay mute. Now, however, when she received and read his letters, she was glad she’d stopped herself from telling him.
She twirled the new letter in her hand as anticipation built within her. Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind.
What if he finds out about Lord Rockgonie before I ever have a chance to tell him?
