Rosalie slowly rose from her chair as she processed what Cole told her. "I am not allowed to see her? You speak as though you are my father, not my husband. It is not your place to decide who I consider a friend, and who I go to visit."
"I am your husband, so I have so say in what you do. I have a lot more say than you think, but because I love you, I am always patient and allow you to have freedom-"
"Cole, if you use the word allow once more, I shall lose my mind," Rosalie interjected, disliking the lone word.
Cole remained adamant about his feelings. He had let Rosalie do as she liked for far too long.
Cole sighed, expecting this to put a strain on their marriage, but it needed to be done.
Rosalie couldn’t go on being so spoiled.
"It is the first ti I have put my foot down and told you what to do. For the sake of our marriage, respect it," Cole said, a surge of confidence coming over his body.
For the first ti in a while, Cole felt like a man in his ho. The true head of the house.
Rosalie chuckled, but it lacked the usual warmth. "You are telling to respect it? You, Cole?"
"What is that supposed to an? Because my father isn’t a duke or so nobleman, I am not to tell you what to do?" Cole asked, his eyes challenging Rosalie to say how she truly felt. He always knew that deep down, Rosalie thought she was better.
"No. Our marriage has been built on respect. I don’t order you around, and I expect the sa respect from you. My husband isn’t going to tell which ladies I can and can’t et with. Just as I won’t tell you which gentlen to et with. I will see Eloise again," Rosalie said, her mind made up.
So far, Eloise was the one Rosalie believed wasn’t hiding a secret or a plot to betray her.
"Rosalie," Cole sighed, annoyed by Rosalie’s behaviour. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, calming herself. "I don’t want to argue about this with you."
"Neither do I. This matter could easily be put to bed if you would stay out of my decisions concerning Eloise. My family has always been close to the Hawthornes long before you and I wed. I am not going to spoil it now," said Rosalie.
Cole placed his hands on his hips and turned away from Rosalie. "I didn’t rush ho for this."
"And I didn’t start this. So what if they are wary about setting foot in our ho? They are allowed to want to hold off on visiting. Even I am uncertain of what is happening within my ho," Rosalie said, the early confession making her eyes widen.
Cole faced Rosalie, his brows knitted. "What do you an? What are you uncertain of?"
Rosalie bit her tongue. "Where are the servants my father sent to work here? Where are the maids I let follow from my father’s ho?"
Now that Rosalie paid attention, she noticed the changes in her ho. There were many servants either fired or simply left and never ca back. Servants all loyal to her father.
"Answer ," Rosalie demanded. "Where have they all gone?"
"I did what I thought was best for us, Rosalie. Those servants would only report to your father and bring trouble to our marriage. We should start fresh with servants who belong to only us. I did it for us," Cole said, reaching for Rosalie’s face.
Rosalie avoided Cole’s touch. She no longer felt safe when he touched her. "Then you should have inford . I could have spoken to my father and sent the servants back to him. It should have been handled better."
"If you cared for them, you should have noticed they weren’t around sooner. You can do without them."
Rosalie stared at Cole, seeing him as an imposter.
Where was her real husband?
Rosalie shook her head, refusing to believe the man before her was Cole. This wasn’t the man she married or the man she fell in love with.
Rosalie turned her back to Cole. "It makes sense why the servants have been ignoring . During my own gathering, they wouldn’t so much as glance at . I don’t know any of them, and I’ve been so focused on my marriage that I didn’t notice they were gone. I am awful."
Rosalie stared at her reflection in the mirror before her gaze went to Cole’s pathetic expression. The one he always made when he wanted to have his way.
"I want all the servants back. I don’t care if we have to send off all the new ones who are kind. You don’t fire anyone without speaking to first. I am the lady of this ho, and all that concerns the servant does through . Do we understand each other?" Rosalie asked, her anger reaching new heights.
"I am your husband-"
"And we have this ho thanks to . Thanks to my father," Rosalie reminded Cole. "You may change the servants, but you cannot change our ho."
"I can," Cole said, stepping towards Rosalie. "And I will if you bring this up again."
"You may change hos, but I will not. I like our ho as it was handed to , and all the servants who were here. I will do what is right, and have you know that tomorrow, I will remove half the servants I am not familiar with, and employ half that I know. That is only fair," Rosalie said, brushing by Cole.
Cole grabbed Rosalie’s arm. "You cannot do that."
"I can and I will. I don’t know what’s troubling you, but I would love for my husband to be normal. For the sake of our marriage, I think you should take a mont to ponder what was said here. Do it outside of my bedchamber," Rosalie said, folding her arms, unwilling to be the one to leave.
Cole cald himself, realising how silly the argunt was. "Rosalie," he sighed. "We are at odds over maids. We shouldn’t allow this to get between us. We are to be focused on having a child."
"Until we co to an understanding, I will not bring a child into this ss. You went behind my back," Rosalie said, speaking of both the maids and the affair. "That was a grave mistake. Until I am ready to address you, make yourself comfortable in another chamber."
"Rosalie-"
"Out!" Rosalie yelled, pointing her finger at the door. "Do not look at like that, Cole. When this all settles, rember that you started this."
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