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“He tried to see her again, and wrote her letter upon letter, as Rufus detailed, but he was forced from her estate, and the letters were confiscated as soon as they arrived. At summer’s end, when he realized that her family would not relent and allow them to wed, he decided that it would be best for her if he let her go.” Hudson shook his head sadly. “He has regretted it ever since. He thinks he could have saved her. He did not realize that, by letting her go, he was actually sealing her fate.”
“He tried to do what was right, regardless of his personal feelings.” A bittersweet smile formed on her lips, for she knew that side of him all too well.
Hudson made a noise of agreement. “After he found out what had happened to her, he was a broken man. He longed to go straight to war, but his father made him stay at Cambridge a while longer. Only when he had every don and fellow at their wit’s end did his father agree, but Dorian found no solace on those battlefields, either. I think he just found a greater reason to believe that he was being made to pay for Lana’s death when he saw the men in his cavalry regiments dying around him.”
“You made it out alive. Does that mean you are the exception to his supposed curse?” Rose eyed him curiously.
Hudson shrugged. “I think he chooses to ignore that. Believing he was being punished made it easier for him to contend with everything that happened and everyone he lost. It was his way of coping, blaming himself and transforming his pain into penance, instead of coming to terms with the truth—that he has suffered many misfortunes that are neither his fault nor the fault of a higher power.”
Rose laughed softly. “You make a lot of sense when you want to, Hudson.”
“I save it for special occasions. I would not want anyone thinking I am a secret intellectual. That would be too much hard work on my part.” He flashed her a wink. “Now, shall we go on to see how our patient is faring? I cannot bear to watch you wince every time you sip this rather expensive vintage.”
Rose nodded. “I would like that.”
No matter what happened, she wanted to be there when he woke up. Even if it tore her to pieces, she would not falter. She could not. Not now, not ever. For what better way was there to fight a curse, than to bombard it with a blessing.
