I LOOKED AT HIM expectantly. "Yes?"

"We'll leave after breakfast. We were supposed to leave yesterday but..." Matthew let his words hang in the air. My stomach dropped in disappointment. Brisbane Manor was another world. I didn't want to return to real life.

"Alright." I smoothed invisible creases in my dress. "You should go get ready."

Matthew's lifted in a half-smile. "I know, I look horrid."

I couldn't resist giving him a small grin. "I need to finish getting ready too." We exchanged a reluctant goodbye before going off to our respective rooms. Once I'd put the finishing touches on my appearance, I dallied making it to the dining room. I savored each slow step for I knew as soon as breakfast came to a close, we would be off to our respective houses. Besides, I didn't want to suffer through table discussion with my husband and mother-in-law. It was downright uncomfortable.

When I arrived in the dining room, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was late. Everyone was already seated and chatting comfortably—Matthew was even smiling. "Goodmorning," I greeted.

"Goodmorning, dear," Lord Thomas returned. "We were just discussing the traveling paths this morning."

I did my best to ignore the sting of disappointment that snaked down my spine. "Were you?"

"Yes," Matthew replied. "Archie said that the roads are too dangerous to traverse by carriage. Apparently, they're a lot of broken trees and things down the path."

"Oh," I said, trying my best to my voice light and free of excitement. "So, we aren't leaving today?"

"Correct," my husband affirmed. "I thought we'd stay the weekend as planned. That'll give enough time for the debris to be cleared."

The conversation proceeded normally from there, free of any heated accusations or awkward moments. I was actually enjoying myself until Lady Thomas posed a comment at me directly.

"I hear you love gardens, Rose. Matthew told me of your famous rose garden at Whitfield mansion," she said.

"Roses are my greatest love, ma'am."

"Mary," she corrected. "I know your garden surely puts mine to shame, but would you like to take a walk there? You can give me some tips."

That was the very last thing I wanted to do. I suspected a private conversation meant nothing more than a lecture about my dissolving marriage. But what choice did I have? "I would be honored, Mary."

We bid the men adieu and went outside to walk about the gardens. I felt my heels sink into sticky, deep mud as we sauntered about the grounds. I didn't even look at my dress, which I knew was becoming soaked as we walked on. Mary seemed to pay it no mind. "I owe you an apology," she finally said, once we reached a crop of petunias.

"It's not needed."

"It is." The woman got her knees and proceeded to pluck flowers from the ground. I stared at the mucky ground with profound distaste before reluctantly following suit. "I should've never blamed the state of your marriage on you alone. I know I would've lost my cool if my mother-in-law had done the same." I remained silent. I was pleasantly surprised with the tide of conversation. Mary glanced at me with Matthew's glimmering ocean-blue eyes. "I'm sorry, Rose."

"Thank you, Mary," I replied smilingly. "Not many mother-in-laws apologize when they offend their daughter-in-laws."

Mary laughed. We picked about a dozen flowers in comfortable silence. "I was also being hypocritical. I've never been a proper mother-in-law to you, Rose. I never asked of you or invited the two of you on holiday. It was wrong to suddenly blame marital problems on you, especially when I knew his attentions lay elsewhere."

The mention of Victoria during a rather pleasant time left a better taste in my mouth. "It's okay. You're forgiven." I aggressively plucked a poor flower from the ground, dragging the stems along with it. "It was my family who sold me, after all."

Mary gave me a concerned sidelong glance that I pretended not to see. It was if we silently agreed not to press that particular subject forward. "If you want any help to save the marriage Rose, just ask."

"There is nothing you can say to your son to halt the divorce. I know you've already tried."

"Pressing Matthew is not the solution to the problem," Mary agreed. "It's getting rid of the tart, correct?"

I tensed. "He loves her."

Mary sighed, with a shake of her head. "I believe he once loved her. But it's plain to see that the two of you are in love with each other."

I burst into a sarcastic peal of laughter. "We are not in love." In lust, maybe. Uncomfortably and inexplicably attracted to each other, sure. But love?

"A man simply driven by infatuation doesn't sleep at the foot of a woman's door to read her to sleep. Not at his age, anyway."

"We were both just trying to sleep," I pointed out. I didn't want to ask how she knew. For whatever reason, this accusation of love was making me cross.

"Some brandy and a sleeping tablet would've done the trick," Mary indicated. I frowned, despite myself. Why hadn't I done that in the first place?

"He's assured me that you'll be well protected after the marriage is dissolved."

"Matthew is behaving like a gentleman, that is all."

"Rose," Mary began softly. Her voice was downright motherly. It turned my head to look at her, even though I wanted to do the opposite. "I won't pretend my motives are altruistic. The marriage of my son to a courtesan will bring definite shame to my family and I will do everything in my power to avoid it."

"There's nothing I can do to help you," I cut in.

"But I see the way you look at him," she continued. I felt a tingling heat ripple through my body. "And I see the way he looks at you. I know the both of you are blind to it, such are the truths of fresh love. But I, a meddlesome mama, am not. So if you would like my assistance in making that woman disappear just say the word."

I stared at her expectant face in wonder.

"Will you say the word?"

🥀

"Have you ever tried whiskey in your coffee?" Lord Thomas asked his step-son. Matthew tore his gaze from the window. The bizarre question temporarily took his mind off wondering what his mother was doing with his wife.

"God, no," Matthew answered.

"You should try it," Archie suggested lazily. He rang the bell for a servant. A servant boy appeared with a tumbler of whiskey on a platter.

"You jest." Matthew's eyes darted to the crystal blue skies. "It's not even eleven o'clock."

"You're just like your mother," Archie laughed, pouring a dark golden stream in his cup. "She abhors it."

"It's abhorrent." Matthew watched his step-father stir a spoon in his drink, before taking a sip and releasing an exaggerated sigh.

"As an gentleman would, I must ask you. Your mother made me promise I would," Archie began.

Matthew sipped his own coffee, eyes on the whiskey tumbler. "We don't have to talk about it."

"I promised." He grinned. "She can tell when I'm lying."

"I'm going to dissolve my marriage and make sure she's taken care of in every respect for the rest of her days. I will marry my betrothed and be a respectable father."

"Hmm."

Matthew rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to change my mind."

"Wouldn't dream of trying to change your mind," Archie said. His voice was genuine. "You're a grown man capable of making sound decisions."

Matthew was both relieved and surprised to hear those words. "Exactly."

"I have to ask how long it's been, though."

"I've been with Victoria for years now."

"I mean your wife. How long have you been in love with her?"

Matthew swallowed his coffee with such speed it induced an embarrassing coughing fit. When it was over, he was teary-eyed.

"Shall I ask the question again?" Archie queried patiently.

"You may not," Matthew rasped. There was a definite attraction between the two of them. And he cared for Rose more than he liked to admit to himself. But, he did not love her. He could not. " There is no love between us."

"Is that why you slept outside her door with a book in your lap last night?"

Matthew silently cursed the gossipy, servant girl that had found him that morning. "That was nothing."

"Actually, I think it means a great deal more than you'd like to admit."

Matthew scowled at his step-father who only cheerily smiled back.

"You can pretend it's not true. But it's plain to everyone—servants, nobles, and gentry alike."

"Pardon me?"

"How do you think your mother got the idea to invite you here?"

Matthew petulantly shrugged. "It reached her that I was going to marry my mistress."

"It also reached her that you ravished your wife in an infamous spa house."

Matthew felt himself go red. He hadn't considered that the entire kingdom might actually he gossiping about his wife. The news was mildly alarming. Victoria had no polite society friends, but news always travels fast. What if she learned about he and Rose? "I didn't ravish her. We only kissed."

Archie looked at him with laughing eyes as he sipped his tea. "I'm sure."

"It's true," Matthew insisted. He was suddenly overcome with a desperate need to correct the story. "I wouldn't just take her in savusauna."

"Why not? I've taken woman in many unorthodox places. Why I—"

"Stop!" Matthew exclaimed. He was sure he would be positively sick if Archie continued.

"I wasn't even..." Archie gave a brief chuckle. "Alright, fine. Forget me and your mother and past lovers. Why wouldn't you just take her there?"

Because she was untouched, Matthew thought. Because her first time deserved more than a thoughtless escapade in steamy room. "Because," he answered stoutly. "I wouldn't."

"Alright," Archie said pleasantly in a tone that told Matthew he completely believed the rumor and not his step-son's word. "Fine. Let's talk about something else. I think I've tortured you enough."

"What else are we going to talk about? It's the whole point of these separate interrogations," Matthew remarked.

"One Hector Axel. I believe you know him."