“You may think that and I may know it ... but would anyone else believe it? Even if they did ...” He shook his head with mock-sorrow. “I’m afraid it wouldn’t make a difference in the eyes of society at large. She would still be hopelessly compromised.”
Rose would have given anything to be able to deny that statement, but it was the same horrifying calculation she had been forced to make when Sir Gareth had discovered her and Mr Aubrey together in a closed carriage.
Nausea roiled through her stomach. “You truly are a monster.”
“And yet, Serena is the one who will have to be cast out from her family forever if they hope to protect their remaining daughters' futures. Of course, they may be too soft-hearted to manage it, in which case, the whole family will pay the price together.” He shrugged. “They’ll become social pariahs. The girls will never marry; even their young brother, when he eventually grows into adulthood, may not find any respectable lady willing to wed into such a tarnished family line.”
Rose was breathing so hard with rage, she struggled to form articulate words, even with the comfort of Mr Aubrey’s arm to ground her. “A moment ago, you called yourself a gentleman,” she finally gritted through her teeth. “How dare you?”
“Would you prefer me to behave in the approved gentlemanly fashion and rescue her reputation in the only way possible by marrying her myself?” Snorting out a half-laugh, Sir Gareth raised one mocking eyebrow. “You don't seem to care for the way I treat my possessions, Miss Tregarth. How well do you think an unwanted wife might fare? Although ...”
His head tilted, as if in consideration. “It would solve some issues, wouldn't it? After all, if I marry sweet, empty-headed Serena – and I assure you that she would say yes – then I need fear nothing from you or your fiancé ever again. After all, I wouldn't be the only one ruined by any shocking revelations of illegal activity. No, my dear wife and her family would all suffer along with me. Indeed, if I were to be transported for my crimes, Serena might well be sent along with me. I don’t think your romantic cousin would care much for life in a penal colony, do you?”
“Uncle Parry would never agree to let her marry you,” Rose spat. “Even before any of this, he warned us all ...”
“He might not want to,” Sir Gareth drawled, “but I believe your lady aunt is a more pragmatic sort. When faced with the choice of losing one of her daughters forever, ruining her other children’s futures by keeping her disgraced firstborn at home, or solving everything in one stroke by allowing our marriage and hoping for the best ...”
A cold chill spread across Rose’s skin, overwhelming her righteous fury.
Yet again, he was horribly, indubitably correct. Aunt Parry would loathe that option, she had no doubt ... but much like Rose’s own mother, Aunt Parry was fierce and strong enough to steel herself, swallow that bitter draught, and protect her family as a whole. Uncle Parry would never stand against her.
“Who do you think they’ll blame for it in the end?” Sir Gareth asked. “When Serena is discovering for herself how unpleasantly binding holy matrimony can be, her parents are legally helpless to aid her, and I tell them that it all could have been avoided if only you’d been willing to keep your mouth shut ... Are your fiery principles really worth all of that?”
Rose’s throat closed. Her vision began to swim. She couldn’t draw a breath. She couldn’t—
“Enough.” Mr Aubrey’s voice was harsher than she’d ever heard it. “You’ve made your ultimatum clear. Now, go.”
“Or ... what? You’ll quote dragon facts at me until I expire from the tedium?” Snorting, Sir Gareth turned away. “I’ll just take my leave in terror, then. Oh, but I did mean to mention, you two left your hat and bonnet behind earlier, when you were busy sticking your noses into my business. You can pick up your own belongings when you deliver mine ... in no more than three days.”
White fog was everywhere, filling Rose's vision. Dimly, she was aware that the door had opened and closed again. Now, someone seemed to be speaking nearby, his voice low and calm, but it was utterly overwhelmed by echoes of other voices, so much louder and more urgent, seven months earlier.
“There's been an accident, a terrible accident ...”
And then, just when she’d thought it couldn’t become any worse: “It seems that your father made a terrible mistake ...”
It was all happening again. She was about to lose everything: everyone she had foolishly allowed herself to love, everyone she had horribly failed, yet again, and ...
“Rose!”
She recognised Mr Aubrey's voice this time, but that wasn't what finally broke through her fog. It was the unexpected huff of hot, moist air against her ankles that made her jump and suddenly see the room around her, vivid and real, in full colour once again.
“Rhiannon!” Stumbling backwards, Rose gave a helpless half-laugh, half-sob as the little red dragon wound around and around her legs in agitation. “How did you—? Oh, of course.”
She had wondered if it could have been her distress that had summoned Rhiannon to the drawing room on the night of Aunt Parry’s reading, when Rhiannon had arrived immediately after Rose’s humiliation. Now, there was no shred of doubt left in her mind. However Mr Aubrey wished to explain it, whether by science or by magic, Rose knew that Rhiannon had transported herself in response to Rose’s pain, displaying steadfast loyalty and courage despite every mistreatment she had endured ...
And as Rose imagined how that loyalty might be repaid in only three days’ time, a raw sob of anguish tore itself from her chest. “I can’t! I can’t, I can’t, but ...”
“Shh.” Mr Aubrey’s long fingers shifted to wrap around her elbows, gently guiding her down onto the worn cushions of the velvet settee. “Only sit for now. Don't try to think it all through yet.”
“But—”
“Careful,” he murmured. “You'll distress your ... Rhiannon, is that not what you named this dragon? Your first one, the young female.”
Rose swallowed hard as she nodded wordlessly. Rhiannon was already trying to ascend the too-high legs of the settee chairs, her long tail slamming against the floor in frustration. Mr Aubrey leaned over to help her the rest of the way until she was clambering frantically across Rose’s lap and chest with hard claws.
She curved her scaled neck to look Rose directly in the eyes. Her hot snout brushed against Rose’s nose, her forked tongue flicked out; at the salt taste of a tear, she mantled her small wings protectively over Rose and let out a low, surprisingly dangerous-sounding hiss.
“Shh,” Rose breathed, accidentally echoing Mr Aubrey. Hiccupping out a sigh, she reached out to stroke the smooth scales of Rhiannon’s neck. “There’s nothing here for you to defend me against, brave girl. You’ve dared more than enough already. When I think of the risks you took earlier today ...” She broke off, swallowing back another sob.
