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“No!” he yelled, pointing to her. “Don’t you dare. You do not get to tell me what I feel.”

“What then? Just leave her there until her brother finds out and forces her to leave with him. Let Cecil, of all people, ruin her life! Send her to an asylum? Is that what you want for her?”

Edward turned on his heel and left the parlor. He grabbed his hat from the butler and left the house and entered the carriage that was still out front from taking Rose’s things to her. As the carriage made its way to the hotel, he contemplated what he would say to Rose. He didn’t think for a moment that she would be happy to see him. He wasn’t even sure he would be able to convince her to come back, but he had to try.

He had no issue accessing the number of her room, which only proved Marianne right that it would be easy for Cecil to just drag her away.

He mounted the stairs, conscious of the fact that the staff and the few lingering guests in the foyer were watching him. He stopped outside her room and rapped twice on the door.

“Who is it?”

“Warrington,” he said.

“Oh, Your Grace, thank the lord you are here,” Elsie said as she opened the door with a bob. “She is very distressed and has gone to her bedchamber. Shall I let her know you are here?”

“I will tell her myself.”

“But…”

He shushed her as he opened the door. Rose lay indelicately across the bed. She must have cried herself to sleep, as there were tear stains on her cheeks and her lashes were spiky. He closed the door, ignoring Elsie’s worried expression, and approached the bed.

Edward sat on the bed and shook her shoulder gently. She murmured something but did not stir. He leaned down and said into her ear, “The big bad wolf is here.”

Her head lifted, and her eyes blinked open. “Your Grace?”

He tucked a curl behind her ear. “Why are you here, Rose? It is not safe.”

She pushed his hand away. “There is no safe place for me.”

“Of course there is. Come back to the house. I will make things right.” He desperately wanted to take her in his arms and kiss some sense into her.

“You cannot undo what has been done. I can still see the accusations in Marianne’s eyes, and I could not bear it. She thinks me your…”

“No, she does not. She is sorry for what she has said.”

Rose sat up and wiped at her cheeks. “Then why is she not here?”

“She was the one who begged me to come and bring you home.”

“It is not my home. I have no home. Not here, not at Warrington House, not at Ashtonvale, and not even at Brookhaven. When this is all over, I’m moving to Scotland where I can disappear and live with…sheep.”

His lips twitched, but he dared not smile. “Do not be ridiculous. I will not let you live with sheep any more than I will allow you to stay here by yourself.”

“I am not by myself, and besides, it is not up to you, Your Grace.” Her glare shocked him. “You have no say over what I do.”

“That may be true, but Rose, your brother need only ask at the front desk which room you are in, as I did, and it could have been him sitting here. I dare say his offer would not be a pretty one. Let me protect you, at least until the court case is over.”

“And have everyone stare at me like I’m your doxy? I could not bear it. Now, can you please just leave me alone?”

“I cannot leave you here. At least let me put you up at Anna and Thomas’s townhouse, as they are still in the country. They have staff there and at least you will be safe.”

“I am sure they will not be happy to know I am staying in their house.”

“Technically, it is my house, so what they think does not matter.”

“Don’t you understand? It does to me,” she said as tears rolled down her cheeks again.

“Tell me how to fix this.” He handed her his kerchief, his chest squeezing at the sight of her so upset, knowing it was his fault.