Page 38 of Cocky August Rake

For now.

According to Mr. Dyer, the Phantom Gale was in no condition to sail. Lord Reginald might hide aboard her—or at any shipyard or dock along the Thames—but for now he was landlocked.

And Rose would find him.

She had time.

Thirty-one days to garner his favor. To make him understand what The Domus truly was. To save the only home she had known since her grandmother died.

Rose lifted her chin.

She would make use of every one of them.

THE WOMEN OF THE DOMUS

Unfortunately, Rose’s determination to right things did not change the fact that, for now at least, she had failed in her task. Again.

And so, frustrated and treading that much closer to despondency, Rose returned to the sitting room where Nell, Marianne, and Violet appeared to have been waiting for her.

“Well? Is there any hope of bringing him round?”

Rose closed the door behind her. “It… didn’t go as I expected.”

Marianne studied her face. “You wore that same expression after the masquerade last spring.”

There was no accusation in her voice though. Only worry.

Rose said nothing.

It was answer enough.

Some of the color left Violet’s face. “He truly means to close The Domus, then?”

“He has always meant to,” Marianne pointed out, but then turned back to Rose. “Tell us what happened.”

Rose moved farther into the room, though she did not sit. She could still hear Lord Reginald’s voice in her head.

You are not free here.

He was wrong. She was free.

She had a wage. Friends. Food in her belly and a roof over her head.

She was safe.

She was not going to stand in the middle of her own sitting room and doubt all of that simply because one incredibly good-looking and broad-shouldered man had cast his judgement on them.

“I showed him our best receiving room,” Rose said. “Explained all of our precautions.”

“And?” Violet asked.

Rose hesitated.

“According to him we are prisoners in a gilded cage.”

Marianne let out a quiet, humorless laugh. “And naturally, he means to set us free.”

There was disapproval in her voice, but Rose heard the fear beneath it.