Chapter 6

"Why does she have to be so head-strong?" Vivian sobbed as the group waited outside of Elaine's room for the doctor to give them news. Jacob tried to comfort his fiancé with a hand rubbing small circles on her back. Charles paced slowly in front of the chair he had tried to patiently wait in, while Rose stood at the end of the hallway looking out a window at the setting sun.

"Sit down Charles, you are no help to her if you fall over from exhaustion," Jacob sighed as Charles sent him a confused look before continuing to pace. Little did Jacob know, Charles was not fretting over Elaine, or he was but more in the fact her was fretting over the realization that he was not fretting over her. His thoughts were occupied with the woman down the hall. She had assumed a role of authority when it had been his duty, but he had utter failed in assuming said role. She had handled the whole situation with her reserved calm and she ordered everyone about with sensible command.

"There's something more going on," He muttered. He paused his strides long enough to witness Rose press a hand against the glass before hurrying down to a side door. He watched her go as long as he could before she disappeared down a different hall.

"Go see if she is alright Charles. She may feel responsible." Jacob waved him off. Without a second urging, Charles did so. He paused at the end of the downstairs hallway when he saw a man sitting next to Rose on a bench, holding her hand. Charles was about to return to the chair he left upstairs when he heard a sharp intake of breath and a sickening snap. He whirled back around to see the man holding out Rose's arms, which had turned black and purple around her wrist. The man, obviously a local apothecary or doctor, began bandaging the wrist after placing two braces on each side.

"You will not be able to write for at least a month. If the bruising gets any worse make sure to keep ice on it and call on me immediately," The man stood, tipping his hat and left through the side door again. Rose stood, gingerly pulling her dress sleeve over the bandages, obviously trying to cover up her injury. Charles felt pain to see it.

"Are you badly hurt?" His voice came out as a choked whisper, and he cleared his throat to mask it, "Why did you not bring it to my attention?"

Rose looked at him for several long moments as she still fiddled with her sleeve, "It is just a broken wrist sir, it was not a pressing issue."

"When were you injured?" Charles took a step closer, his suspicion growing.

"Khafre didn't want to go back in the stall sir. I held onto the reins to keep her from bolting."

"That was close to six hours ago!" Charles grasped her good arm, "Why did you not say something! You must have been in a deal of pain!"

"It was not a pressing issue! I would have had to wait till the doctor was finished with Miss Elaine anyway. I saw no reason to cause a fuss!" She shrugged her arm from his grasp, cradling her wrist against her abdomen with her other arm. She pushed passed him and returned upstairs, usurping Charles' chair. Charles flew around the corner.

"You troublesome woman! You should take care of yourself!" He practically shouted. Jacob looked between the two.

"Are you alright Miss Silksome? What can Charles mean?" Jacob turned an inquisitive eye on Rose. She paled and shook her head slightly.

"It was just a broken wrist Mr. Eames. Nothing to worry about really."

"Just a broken wrist?! My dear girl, why did you not say something!?"

"That's what I asked! She didn't want to cause a fuss Jacob! I have never met such an obstinate woman!" Charles ran his fingers through his hair before gesturing with his whole hand at Rose. She merely turned her gaze to her hands in her lap and said nothing.

"I am sure you meant well Miss Silksome, but I am afraid Charles is right. You should have said something. We are friends are we not? Allow us to worry as friends do," Jacob admonished her with kindness and a slight smile.

"I am sorry Mr. Eames. I just saw more important things to be seen to. If I am in such distress again I promise I will inform you immediately," She spoke softly, pain from setting the wrist was obvious in her voice but she managed a small smile which she directed to Jacob.

"I do not think it is I to which you should apologize," Jacob nodded toward Charles, who had tried to watch the exchange with indifference.

"I am sorry sir, but I would appreciate turning concern away from me," Charles grew more frustrated. Leave it to this woman to apologize but still get her way within one line of conversation. Charles nodded his acceptance of the apology, but could not bring himself to speak. The silence grew unbearable to Rose, so she stood and attempted to make an escape. As she passed by Charles though, his voice stopped her.

"We will speak of this later Rose," His voice was soft and held no anger in it. The tone caused Rose to shudder before continuing on to her room. Once inside the relative safety of her room, she slid into the chair at her desk. The failed attempts at her letter still lay strewn across its surface, some even spilling onto the floor. She opened the top right drawer and drew out the final draft of the letter with Charles' name scrawled in her messy handwriting across the front.

"I should throw it in the fire," she spoke aloud absentmindedly. She stared at the letter as she went over what she had written within. Would she still be employed once he read its contents? Would he throw her out for her pure selfishness and youthful mistake? Would abhorrence cloud his hypnotizing eyes as he read what her selfishness had caused? She shook her head as if to dispel the darkening train of thought. One glance out her small window told her that she had sat contemplating for much longer than she had thought. The moon gladly usurped the suns space in the sky and shone its pale light over the fields and trees.

A soft knock sounded at her door and she rose to open it. Charles stood outside, and without a word ushered her to one of the chairs in the library. He then sat across from her.

"You are hiding something. I want to know what." That had come out more directly than he had planned. Rose paled and glanced quickly at the open door of her room, revealing her desk. She then turned sharp eyes on Charles.

"Everyone has secrets sir. I am no different." So she wasn't ready to tell him. Or trust him? They sat in silence for a stretch before Charles took control of the failing conversation.

"As your employer, no. No. As your friend, I think I deserve to know. It really can't be that bad can it? You have not been alive long enough to do something truly terrible after all," He said pleadingly. It had the opposite effect of what he thought. Her face hardened and became a stony expression, her hand clenched and her jaw set.

"You know nothing Charles. My past is a dark one. You would turn me out the instant you knew." She held eye contact with him.

"How do you know? I might surprise you."

"You are rich. The rich all act the same."

"You may be very observant, you may even claim that you are more intelligent than I, which very well may be true, but you know nothing about me either Rose Silksome. You seem to have pegged me as an arrogant and uncaring noble. Not everyone is the same!" Charles stormed from the room, leaving the library door swinging in his wake. As his footsteps faded down the hallway, tears traced their way down her cheeks. Her head began to pound and her wrist throbbed with pain. She realized that she would not be able to do her job properly for a month while her wrist healed. Maybe he wouldn't notice? Seeing how observant Charles had turned out to be, Rose highly doubted that he wouldn't notice the slip in her work.

The doctor had said that Elaine only suffered a few cuts and a nasty hit to the head, resulting in a concussion. She was up and about the next afternoon, her only true complaint was occasional dizziness and a dull throbbing. She and her sister sat out on a small patio, sipping tea in the afternoon sun.

"I know you dislike her, but that was no reason to disregard her caution!" Vivian scolded her sister. Truly, Vivian was disappointed and annoyed with her sister. She seemed to carry an unwarranted grudge against the young scholar, whom Vivian had come to count as a friend.

"She is insolent and selfish. She probably made the beast throw me. She is obviously making eyes at Mr. Fyrmont," Elaine snubbed.

"Elaine! Rose was the one that wiped the blood from your wounds and directed everyone to make sure you were alright! She broke her wrist in the process while you came away with minor injuries!" Vivian was now disgusted with her sister. She didn't realize what a selfish creature Elaine had evolved into over the last couple of weeks.

"Oh you're on a first name basis now! She most likely was trying to wave suspicion away from herself," Elaine continued sipping her tea as if it were just another afternoon. Vivian shoved herself away from the table, and stomped inside to find Jacob. She found him lounging in the study with Charles. He flew to his feet as she flew through the door.

"What is the matter darling?" He scowled in confusion. She puffed at her hair and flopped into a chair. Charles raised his eyebrow and settled back into his chair, sinking into it in a leisurely fashion.

"My sister is being an absolute imp! Surely it is from that blow to her head right? She is being horrible to Rose and blames her for what happened!" Vivian ranted.

"On a first name basis with my employee are we Vivian?" Charles tried to effect a disinterested manner but the idea that someone that was not himself was to that point, and had only known the woman for three weeks. Jacob covered a smirk, but Vivian didn't seem to notice.

"Yes. We spoke this morning and we came to an agreement. I do like her." She commented offhandedly. Charles was no longer lounging in his chair and was trying to look natural. Jacob continued to grin at his fiancé.

"You know it is a shame that Father and Marcus returned to London. Their health was suffering though you know. I think they just wanted to watch that hanging of that one murderer or something." Vivian kept rambling on as the men exchanged a wearied glance. Jacob smiled though. He dearly loved the woman and would see no harm done to her.

The conversation that morning with Vivian had lifted Rose's spirits. It had been a long time since she had had a friend. She felt at ease with the aristocrat and genuinely liked her. They had even come to the conclusion to drop the fluffy titles.

The stone floors sent the click of her boots echoing down the corridor as she made her way to dinner. Vivian had insisted she eat with them for the remainder of their visit, and Rose had only agreed after some friendly threats. The party was already in the dining hall, as Rose told them not to wait for her. She had tried to enter some statistics of the crop production into a ledger, but her wrist protested and she had not the skill to write with her left. It had taken ages to write more than a few sentences.

A footman opened the heavy doors for her and she could not help but smile as she saw that Vivian had retained a seat next to her. Rose took said seat, and began eating her soup slowly, not used to the spoon being in her left hand.

"So Rose, you told me that you had been to the apothecary earlier today. What did he say?" Vivian inquired. Only Jacob noticed that the spoon in Charles hand paused in midair as he strained to hear the soft reply.

"He said it is healing adequately, but that I need to keep an eye on bruising. Apparently one of the bruises has given him some concern." Rose seemed genuinely at ease, and abnormally…..happy in Vivian's company. Charles noted this and started scheming to have the pair spend more time together, thinking that this might draw Rose from her shell. Jacob seemed to see his plan, and nodded his approval. Vivian was a pleasant and amiable woman, but her wealth had made it difficult to find true friends.

"Well you probably wouldn't have an issue if you would follow his directive and cease writing!" Vivian scolded. Charles turned his full attention to Rose, who looked at him with an ashamed blush.

"We will speak of it later," He said kindly. He had long grown tired of their frequent shouting matches, each yelled word seemingly draining him of energy. He truly hated fighting her.

She nodded and finished dinner in companionable silence, often casting glances at Vivian, who would laugh under her breath. Rose would also try to contain giggles.

"You two seem to be sharing a private joke!" Jacob looked between the two women, relishing how happy his fiancé looked, "Do share so we may all laugh."

"Very well," Vivian laughed as Rose paled and stared at her empty bowl, "Early we had discussed that Mr. Fyrmont has this tendency to blank out and stare with his mouth open." It was that exact moment that Charles returned from his thoughts to see everyone looking at him. Jacob and Vivian practically roared with laughter, their laughs mingling. Elaine gave a demure laugh as she fluttered her eyelashes at him. Rose smiled and laughed, looking down at her lap. Her face was radiant when she smiled. Charles laughed good naturedly with them as they stood to go into a drawing room.

Once everyone was seated, Vivian and Rose on the couch, Elaine by the fire and Charles, with Jacob standing with his hands on Vivian's shoulders, the evening continued in a genial manner.

"Mr. Fyrmont, you must be overwhelmed from time to time with your duties must you not?" Elaine inquired before fanning herself.

"Not really. Perhaps in my grandfather's time it would have been so, but now we hire people to do our work for us. Even overseeing my overseers is relatively painless," he replied.

"You have a housekeeper do you not? Who oversees her?" Elaine asked innocently.

"No one really. She does her job well and I have had no reason to complain. I suppose though that my wife would, if I had one."

"It would not be hard for you to acquire one! You are still young, unless you look remarkably well for your age," She resorted to disguised flattery.

"I am but nine and twenty. But you make it sound as if a wife were a commodity brought in on one of Jacob's ships!" Charles admitted, questioning her motives.

"Oh but aren't they in a way? Wives are a means to transfer wealth, gain property, and sometimes even gain a good reputation. Dowries are probably the main source of wealth for many men. I don't claim much but my dowry is significant." Elaine was so transparent. Rose had tuned in to the conversation and now felt the need to add commentary.

"Do you really feel that women are good for nothing but a dowry?" She asked, and Charles could see the hint of fire in her eyes that spelled her temper was boiling. Her voice remained calm though.

"Well yes. How else could they possibly contribute?"

"Women know different things than men. They can help advise them in those matters. They can be the cool head of a pair, they can comfort through tragedy, and yes dowries can help but I do not think they should be the main basis of marriage." Rose sneered and stood. She shot Elaine a disgusted look before disappearing, presumably to the library. Vivian shook her head and followed her. She hesitantly opened the library door, peeking her head in. She saw Rose pacing, periodically glancing at the riding boots that lay haphazardly in her doorway.

"Not thinking of running away are you?" Vivian tried a joking tone. Rose turned to her, eyes red rimmed and infinite weariness in the irises, "Oh you're surely not, are you?" Rose fell into a chair in sobs. Vivian pulled a chair across from her and sat. She took hold of Rose's left hand and spoke as a mother would.

"Tell me what has caused this. You were in much better spirits at dinner. Talk to me Rose. I am your friend remember? You can trust me." Several minutes passed as she continued to weep.

"Oh Vivian, if I had known how living here would torture me and bring up old memories I would never have come."

"What holds your heart in such a bitter grip?" It took Rose several minutes to reply, but at last she felt a small warming in her heart that told her to trust Vivian.

"My parents were nobles in France, not very influential but quite wealthy. I grew up in France and I never knew what it was like to starve or work for your possessions. My parents were always loving and they cared deeply for me, but I didn't always see that. Three years ago, when I was 17, I met a man. His name was Sebastion Rivera. He was a lord from Spain. He was charming and handsome and rich enough that he could easily take me away from my parents and we wouldn't have to rely on them. I was under the impression that I loved him. It was only later that I learned what a monster he was. I had a substantial fortune available to me, that I could draw on whenever I wished and he somehow knew of it. One day, when we were on a picnic the day he had formally asked to court me, he told me that he was not wealthy at all, and he needed funds to properly marry me. He asked for everything I had. I happily gave it to him. My parents were so happy that I could marry for love that they actually wrote him into their will. That was when things got worse. He learned that the only way he inherited anything was if my parents were dead, and he a widower. It was written only if they or I was not able to support him. He told me, after we were married, that if I did not disappear, then he would kill my parents," Rose's tone had gone completely numb at this point. "So I left, I ran away to England. I was declared dead and the marriage ended. Two weeks after I arrived in England, living with my uncle, I learned that my parents had been killed in a suspicious fire. Sebastion got everything. My parents are dead because of me."

She once again dissolved into sobs while Vivian sat shocked. She had expected an explanation but certainly nothing that….dark. They sat for a long stretch of time until the tears stopped and conversation once again ensued.

"That is hardly you're fault. You can't help who you fall in love with and what they do."

"That's the thing. I didn't really love him, I loved the idea of getting away from the responsibilities I had. Ironically enough, I am higher in the hierarchy than my employer."

"He is an Earl, so you are?"

"A Marchioness. And Silksome isn't my name. I have told this to you in confidence Vivian. If word got out that I was here, who knows what Sebation would do."

"I will say nothing, be assured. Have you not told Mr. Fyrmont?" Vivian's elegant eyebrows creased downward.

"No. What would he do if he learned that I had lied? I am not a Silksome, and the man he met was not my father. I was going to tell him when he returned from London, but I didn't expect him so bring people," Rose winced a little at the tone in her voice. She hoped she hadn't offended Vivian.

"Oh I understand," Vivian laughed, "You would tell him, but not with an audience."

"Exactly. I've written him a letter, but I can't seem to bring myself to give it to him," Rose admitted. They continued talking late into the night, Vivian slowly coaxing Rose from her shell. Now that the past had been laid out, and she understood why the talk of wives had upset Rose, they both opened up and shared companionable conversation.