Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

R ain pelted Rosalyn's face. Where was she even going? At the moment, the last thing she wanted to do was return to Raven House. But where else was she supposed to go?

"Rosie, wait." Ash's pounding splashes were quickly gaining on her.

She turned to face him. "What do you want, Ash?"

"Let's just get you home and dry and then we can talk." He held out his coat to put over her, but she backed away. She didn't want his help. She didn't want anyone's help. She was tired of these men trying to keep her safe.

She turned and slipped on the wet cobblestones. Her hands slammed onto the ground in front of her. Fire burned her palms as the rough surface bit into her skin, and cold soaked through the front of her bodice. Before she could even attempt to get up, she was yanked upright, barely a second before a team of horses surged in front of her. Their hooves pounded the ground exactly where she'd fallen. The driver hurled curses at her as they passed. She turned to face Ash, her entire body trembling from a combination of cold and terror.

"Rosie, are you hurt?" He looked panic stricken.

But instead of answering, she burst out laughing. Apparently, she did need someone to keep her safe. Tears mixed with the water streaming down her face as she continued to laugh.

Ash placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'd really like to get out of this…" He held up his hands to indicate the weather. "But I'm not going to leave you." He folded his arms across his chest. "So what's it going to be?"

Her laughter faded, and she slowly nodded.

"Thank you," he said, and they hurried the rest of the way back to Raven House.

Once inside, he stopped her. "Go ahead and get dry and warm, and have a bite to eat. But then will you please join me in my office for a cup of tea?"

She gave a meek nod. That was where she would get her telling off. Perhaps she was acting the petulant child, pouting as she made her way down the hall. She just didn't feel as if she deserved to be reprimanded. She was a grown woman, after all.

As she entered her room, Daisy was drying her hair with a towel in front of the fire. The disappointment in her eyes cut deep. Her hair was still wet from the time she'd spent looking for Rosalyn. What was she just saying to herself about being a grown woman who hadn't done anything wrong?

"I'm sorry, Daisy." Daisy simply shrugged, put down the towel, and left the room. Coldness from Daisy had to be worse than anything she had coming from Ash.

She rubbed her hands over her wet hair. Who knew where her hat had ended up. Each piece of clothing was a struggle to get off because of the water. By the time she finally got down to her chemise, which clung to every inch of her, she was exhausted and had lost all patience. Somehow, the wet fabric tangled itself around her body and she couldn't get it off.

"Whyyyy?" she screamed at the ceiling before collapsing into a sobbing mess on the floor.

After a few minutes, she slowly pulled herself together. Crying was accomplishing nothing. Of course her chemise came right off once she was calm.

Not wanting to fight with getting actual clothes on her still damp body, she simply slipped on a nightgown and a wrapper. That's what all the other ladies wore around here anyway. She towel dried her hair and ran a comb through it then made her way down to Ash's office.

Rosalyn was surprised to see Ash already seated behind his desk. His hair was still damp, but otherwise he was his usual, perfectly dressed and groomed self. The man was still a bit of an enigma to her. Somehow, he managed to have a relationship with all the ladies here that was akin to a brother or friend. He never did anything untoward, and although he was their employer, he was rarely demanding or heavy handed. Although, he probably administered any discipline in private, as he was about to do with her.

"Close the door please," he said as she entered the room.

She hadn't been nervous about this meeting until the heavy door clicked shut.

"I'm sorry, Rosie," he said as she seated herself across from him.

She halted, shocked. "Sorry for what?"

He handed a cup of tea across the desk. "I'm sorry for the way I spoke to you in the shop. I was frustrated and worried, and I allowed my emotions to get the better of me."

"I should have known, even in this, you would be kind." She shook her head. "You have nothing to apologize for, Ash."

"I do," he said firmly. "I have a set of rules that I abide by with the ladies under my care, and I take them very seriously. One of those rules is to never raise my voice. I know it can be frightening, and I am sorry."

"You are forgiven," she said, and reached for her tea. With a hiss, Rosie yanked her hand away from the hot cup. Out of habit, she'd wrapped her hand around the side, but apparently, her recent injuries were not happy with the heat. The cup clattered in the saucer as she set it down.

"Are you alright?" Ash looked alarmed.

"I just got a little scrape from the fall earlier. The heat from the cup merely startled me a bit. Nothing to worry about."

"Let me see."

"Really, it's nothing."

Ash simply stared at her and held out his hand. There was obviously no arguing with the man. Eventually, she placed her hand in his so he could inspect her palm.

"That looks painful." He let go of the first hand and gestured for the second. "Would you like me to have a doctor come and take a look at them?"

"Don't be silly. It's hardly a scratch. In a few days, it will be as if nothing happened."

"If you're certain, but it's easy enough to send for a doctor."

"Why are you doing this, Ash?"

"Because you're injured and?—"

"I'm under your care," she interrupted. "Yes, I know. That's not what I meant, though." She let out a sigh. "Why are you protecting me? I'm not a Lady Raven. I'm nothing to you. So why am I under your care?"

He steepled his fingers over the desk, thinking about his answer. "Now don't take this the wrong way, but I was initially doing it for Patrick. Not that the idiot deserves it."

Rosalyn nodded and laughed quietly. She still didn't fully understand.

"Regardless of how it started, you are under my care, Rosie. I will protect you, even from Patrick, if it comes to that." He let out a sigh.

"What do you mean?" Patrick would never hurt her. She knew that.

"I mean, if at some point you decide you don't wish to see him anymore, I can arrange that. I may not have half a dozen estates I could send you off to, but I can get you employment and get you away from here."

"But I do want to see him again." She sighed. "Or at least I think I do. For some reason I do foolish things when I'm around him." Heat crept into her cheeks.

"Yes, well, on that subject, as you are aware, there are rules that all the ladies in this building must abide by, just as I do my own."

Rosalyn nodded. Daisy had gone over all the rules and expectations on her first full day of living under this roof.

"So, if I have to go traipsing through a storm to track you down because you aren't where you're supposed to be, there will be consequences."

"I could hardly have prevented that storm," she argued. "What would you have had me do? Just stand there in the rain and wait for Daisy and Iris to return?"

Ash's lips thinned irritably. "Now you're being deliberately obtuse."

He folded his arms across his chest and sat back in his chair. "You could easily have gone into the shop from which you got your drinks. You could have come back here." He jabbed his finger into the top of his desk. "What you did instead, was run off with Patrick to a place no one would find you, without a care for what the others would do when you had disappeared." He leaned forward and locked his eyes with hers. "That is why there will be consequences."

She hadn't thought of it quite that way in the moment, but he wasn't wrong. "Fair enough." She swallowed, suddenly a bit nervous about what these consequences might be. He hadn't raised his voice, but he was very stern. He was annoyed with her at the very least, even if he did keep his temper well controlled.

"Don't look so worried, Rosie. I'm not going to beat you or throw you out on the streets. Although, when I walked through that door and knew you were safe, I wanted to wring your neck for making me worry."

Rosalyn laughed nervously. Her cheeks warmed remembering exactly what behavior she'd been engaging in when Ash had found her and Patrick. At least he'd so far been kind enough not to mention that.

"Usually, the ladies who live here will have financial penalties as consequences; having to forgo a week of performances, for instance. But your situation is a little different. Instead, you'll be taking over the duties that Daisy and Iris normally perform around here for the next week, in addition to your own. Do you think you'll be able to manage that with sore hands?"

She nodded confidently. "I will manage. It's the least I can do, and I think that's a fair punishment after what I put them through."

"Good. I haven't finished yet, though. During that week, you're also not to leave Raven House. No shopping trips, no outings with the other ladies, no visits to see Patrick. You will remain within these walls. Understood?"

"Yes, sir… Ash." She cringed slightly. "Sorry. Old habits, I suppose."

He gave her an understanding smile and came around the desk. When she stood, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and squeezed. "This too shall pass."

She leaned her head against his shoulder. "Thank you, Ash."

She expected him to argue and brush it off insisting she didn't need to thank him, but instead he just squeezed her tightly again and said, "You're welcome, Rosie." Somehow he understood. Whether it was from all the ladies he'd cared for over the years or experiences in his own past, he knew how grateful she was to him for just being safe.

He leaned in, then, and whispered conspiratorially in her ear, "Genuine, heartfelt apologies to Daisy and Iris probably wouldn't go amiss."

"And to you, as well, I suppose?" He lifted his arm from her shoulders and stepped around to face her.

"Oh, I'm counting on it." He winked. "Now, go get warmed through and dry, and get plenty of rest tonight."

He opened the door, and she knew herself to be dismissed. How was it possible that she felt far better now, after just being assigned extra work and confinement for the next week, than she had before walking into Ash's office?

* * *

Patrick wasn't surprised when Ash appeared in his bedroom doorway. He had a key and never bothered to knock. He was straightening his tie in the mirror, God how he missed Finch. "Is she safe and dry?" he asked Ash's reflection.

"Of course." Ash leaned against the doorframe. "I wouldn't be here if she wasn't."

"I hope you were nicer to her than you were in the shop."

Ash tapped his cane on the floor a few times but remained silent.

Patrick whipped around. "What did you do to her?"

"There had to be consequences, Patrick."

"If you hurt her…" Every muscle in his body tightened as he advanced on his friend.

Ash merely rolled his eyes. "All of this is your fault, Patrick." He pushed away from the doorframe and pointed his cane towards Patrick's chest. "Do you think I enjoy meting out punishment? I had to. If I hadn't, the other ladies would think she was allowed to get away with breaking the rules, and they would have turned on her."

A flash of guilt ripped through him. Ash was right about that, of course. He was also right that it was all Patrick's fault. "It isn't fair, Ash. I was the one who led her away from where she was supposed to be."

"You don't have to convince me, Patrick. I've just said this whole mess is your fault, but I can't exactly punish you, now can I?"

"Sure you can," Patrick said, taking a step towards Ash. "You can return the punch I gave you." He clasped his hands behind his back and lifted his chin.

"I can't very well have you on the floor of the club tonight sporting a black eye."

"In the stomach, then."

Ash slammed his fist into Patrick's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He doubled over, arms wrapped around his stomach. He hadn't actually expected Ash to punch him and wasn't prepared for the blow.

Ash spoke quietly into Patrick's ear. "That's for Rosie."

Patrick nodded, unable to speak.

Ash shook his head and straightened. "Although that made me feel better, your valiant effort at self-sacrifice changes nothing about the consequences that Rosie will be enduring this week."

"What is her punishment?" he asked through panting breaths.

"How about this, if you tell me why it matters so much, I'll tell you what the punishment is."

"What do you mean, Ash?"

"Well, you've never cared to know the details when any of the other ladies have been punished."

"That's different."

"Why?" That's when Patrick knew that what was coming was going to be more uncomfortable than that punch he'd just received. Ash had a way of looking into your soul and forcing out the truth.

"Because I care about her."

"You don't care about the other ladies in our employ?"

"Of course I do, but that's different."

Ash raised his brow and said the single word again. "Why?"

He was going to make Patrick say the words out loud. The words he hadn't even dared to say in his own mind. His eyes slammed shut as he finally accepted that it was the truth. "I love her." He opened his eyes again. "There. I said it. Are you happy now?"

One side of Ash's mouth quirked up. "Have you told her?"

"No, of course I haven't told her." Patrick pushed past Ash and marched down the hall to his study.

"Why?" Ash asked again as he followed him through the door.

Patrick had a glass half filled with brandy before he stopped. He had to work tonight, and that meant he needed to remain sober. With a long sigh, he put the decanter back.

"Why?" Ash asked once more.

"In case you've forgotten, the last time I proposed, she snuck out of this house in the middle of the night and went to sell herself at a brothel, in order to get away from me."

"Well when you put it that way, it does sound pretty bad, but she probably wasn't running away from you. You had just threatened to send her off to live the rest of her life alone, on some strange estate."

Patrick scoffed. "I had sex with her, Ash."

"You've had sex with plenty of women and have never followed it with a marriage proposal."

"No, you don't understand. This is different. She was raped."

Ash furrowed his brow and placed a hand on Patrick's shoulder. "But not by you. I know you, Patrick. You would never force yourself on a woman. You would never do anything unless she was as enthusiastic about it as you."

"That's just it, she wasn't as enthusiastic about it as me. I mean," He plunged his hands through his hair. "She was… and then she wasn't." He shook his head, irritated with himself. "I'm not going to share the details."

"Have you already forgotten? I saw the pair of you together just a few hours ago. Rosie was definitely not trying to get away from you."

After allowing that to sink in for a moment, he looked up at Ash. "You think she might actually want me?"

"She had her hands all over you, Patrick."

"I don't just mean like that." He let out a sigh.

"I know what you mean. You want to know if she'll want to marry you. If she actually wants you as a husband. The truth is," he shrugged matter-of-factly. "I don't know. And unfortunately, you won't be able to talk to her about it for a week."

"Why won't I be able to talk to her?" But then he remembered how this conversation had started. Her punishment.

"Don't look at me like that, Patrick. I'm not a tyrant. It's only a few extra chores and confinement within Raven House for a week. But I am sure as hell not going to allow you in there during that time to create more problems."

Patrick opened his mouth to argue, but there was no chance of changing Ash's mind. When it came to Raven House, Ash was like an intractable headmistress of a girls' school.

"May I at least send gifts?" Patrick asked.

"I'll think about it."

That was a yes, even though Ash kept his scowl firmly in place.

"Why don't we head down to the club before you decide to actually drink that brandy you poured?"