Loving Madison

Twenty-Eight

Cameron paced back and forth in his study, trying to calm his wrath as he waited for Rosie. After they'd arrived home last night, he sent her directly to her room to rest. Alice was overjoyed, but her sobs of gratitude for Madison's help gnawed on his already frayed nerves. As much as he needed to set things right with Madison, he needed to set things right with Rosie first.

He'd not slept well, only because he tried to think of ways to keep Rosie's scandal from spreading through the gossipmongers. He tried to convince himself that Rosie must have been kidnapped by Heath Langston, but he just couldn't believe that's what truly happened. Hopefully, Rosie would clear up his doubts.

When a soft knock sounded on the door, he swung around to face his sister. "Enter."

Rosie walked in with her eyes downcast, her hand clutched against her middle. She wore a plain gray dress, and her brownish-blonde hair was loosely piled into a bun at the back of her head. The bruised skin around her eye looked darker today. He'd make certain Mrs. Trumble rubbed some cream on the bruise, and maybe he'd have her place a cold slab of steak on there as well.

"Please sit." He pointed to the nearest chair.

Without a word, she did as he asked, still not meeting his eyes.

"As you are probably aware, I'm trying really hard not to lose my temper. However, I still need the truth from you, Rosie. I know by now that you were not madly in love with Mr. Bailey and he had not wanted to court you. So please, tell me everything that happened."

She nodded, finally looking him straight in the eyes. The bruise made her face appear paler.

"I made up the story about Mr. Bailey wanting to court me." Her voice cracked. "I met him when I was visiting Annie Trent a few weeks ago. I also met his cousin, Gaynor. I could tell Mr. Bailey took an interest in me, but it was Gaynor who'd caught my eye."

Cameron fisted his hands, but didn't interrupt her.

"Gaynor and I decided to meet secretly at Mr. Bailey's house while we planned our..." she paused and sucked in a quick breath of air as her gaze fell to her lap.

Cameron arched a brow. "Your what?"

"Elopement." She peeked at him from under her lashes.

Just as he'd thought. "Then what happened?"

"On the day we'd decided to elope, Gaynor sent a buggy to take me to Mr. Bailey's house, but his other cousin, Heath Langston, was there to greet me, instead." Tears gathered in her eyes and her body shook. She wrapped her slender arms around her waist as if she were trying to keep warm. "He told me that Gaynor was waiting for me in the attic bedroom. I didn't know why he'd want to meet me there, but I followed Heath. He shoved me inside and locked the door." A tear slid down her cheek. "I never saw Gaynor after that. Heath threatened that if I wasn't quiet, he'd kill you and Alice. I had no other choice but to follow his commands."

Cameron sat on the edge of his desk and folded his arms. "Why did you choose Mr. Bailey's house to meet secretly?"

"Because Gaynor asked his cousin to help us, and..." She licked her lips and her gaze dropped to her lap. "Gaynor doesn't have a place to live at the moment. He was hoping Mr. Bailey would give him some money to help us start out our new life together."

"So you're telling me that my once-intelligent sister forgot her upbringing and decided to elope with a man who had no money?" His voice lifted in anger, but this time he couldn't control it.

She nodded as another tear slid down her face. "I...love Gaynor, but I didn't think you would approve of him."

"And rightly so!" Growling, he moved away from his desk and resumed his pacing. "Tell me, Rosie. Why didn't you think I would approve?"