Rose tried to quiet her heart. She should not be thinking about Lord Hamlin this way. But if she believed in the songs that spoke of love, or believed what his eyes seemed to be saying to her…no, it was wrong to even think that she could be anything to Lord Hamlin, that he could find her in any way as interesting as she found him. It was simply the music playing tricks on her, making her feel strong emotions that didn’t apply to the situation.
As the last note drifted away, she cleared her throat. She should speak of something, anything, to distract herself from her reaction to the music. “That was beautiful. I suppose you have to practice a lot to remember all the songs…all the notes.” She was babbling.
“I play for my family a lot.”
Rose nodded, searching her mind for something to say. He was smiling at her in a way that made her even more nervous, so she picked up a chestnut from the ground and studied it.
“I noticed a new boy helping out at the stables.”
“You mean Lukas. I found him in the Marktplatz stealing an apple, so I put him to work.”
“Just for stealing an apple?” Rose heard the dismay in her voice. Part of her said to be quiet, but another part was indignant that he would punish a young child for such a minor offense.
“He seems to be an orphan. He says his mother is dead and he doesn’t know what happened to his father.”
“The poor thing.”
“He’ll make himself useful in the stable.”
“But he’s only a child. Will you force him to work with those rough men? Who will look after him, take care of him?” Rose knew she should hold her tongue, knew that boys often were put to work at a very young age, but she didn’t like it. Where was the justice in forcing a child to do dirty, hard work, merely because he had no parents to take care of him?
Lord Hamlin said nothing for a long moment. He stared into the trees across the stream bank.
Rose’s throat tightened. Perhaps he was angry at her ranting. Certainly she had spoken far beyond what her status allowed.
“You’re right. I myself shall make sure he isn’t worked too hard and has a few hours every day to romp with the town children. I’ll assign one of our matrons to look out for him, and I’ll make sure he has a comfortable, safe place to sleep with the women servants.”
She let his words sink in.
“Does that satisfy?”
She examined his face but found no hint of resentment. A bubble of joy expanded in her chest. He had actually listened to her.
“Yes, my lord.”
His expression was unreadable. “My father needs an advisor like you. The region would be a more compassionate place, I dare say.”
Rose stifled a laugh at the absurdity of a female advisor and at the outrageous compliment. The tension between them dissolved.
Lord Hamlin tossed the weed on the ground and leaned back on one hand. “You must live near here.”
“I stay at the castle, with Frau Geruscha in the southwest tower, but my family lives near here.”
A shiver of horror ran down her back at the thought of him seeing the small hovel where the five members of her family lived. Desperate to keep him from asking where she lived, she stood abruptly. “I have to go…help Frau Geruscha…with something. Farewell, my lord.”
She turned and walked quickly down the grassy hillock, escaping her second unlikely encounter with Lord Hamlin, the future Duke of Hagenheim.
“Farewell,” he called after her.
Chapter 5
Several days later, one day before the ball, Rose held up her skirt as she walked across the dusty courtyard toward Frau Geruscha’s chambers. She was startled when Lord Rupert stepped from around the back of the castle, directly into her path.
He smiled and bowed low. “Beautiful weather today, is it not?”
His bowing to her seemed a ridiculous gesture. She was hardly more than a servant.
“Yes, my lord.” Although she knew she shouldn’t stare, Rose glanced at him, curious. He was dressed fashionably in a violet doublet and a bright white shirt with sleeves that puffed out from shoulder to elbow. His light brown hair curled against the back of his neck and he carried a bunch of red roses in one hand.
“May I ask your name?”
“Rose, if you please, my lord.” She curtsied.
“My dear maiden!” He clutched at his chest with one hand while holding out the flowers with the other. “Why, just now I was in the garden and found these roses. I knew I was picking them for someone. Now I see they were meant for a maiden of the same name and beauty as the flowers.” He stepped toward her. “I don’t think I could have planned anything more appropriate.”
Rose hesitated. She did not want to accept them, thinking it rather inappropriate. But it was also inappropriate to refuse the duke’s son. She reached out and took the flowers, carefully avoiding touching his hand. “I thank you, my lord.”
He stood smiling at her for so long that Rose broke the uncomfortable silence. “You must have many important duties to attend to. I bid you good day.” She took a sliding step to one side to walk around him.
Rather than allow her to pass, he studied her, and she watched as his eyebrows shot up in recognition. “I know who you are. You’re the author of that amusing tale my family was so enamored of.”