Page 32 of Legacy of Roses

Pushing aside thoughts of her betrothal—she had enough present troubles without dwelling on the past—she firmly shut the door to the cottage’s one bedroom. When her father wasaway, Rosalie slept in the wide bed with her mother, moving to a pallet in front of the stove when he was home.

Her brothers slept in the cottage’s loft, and as soon as she heard her mother’s even breathing through the door, she silently indicated for the boys to climb the ladder. They obeyed without protest or question—yet another indication of just how badly something was wrong.

She followed after Oscar, barely managing to squeeze into the small space beside their lanky frames. The simple pallets they slept on barely fit as it was, and the four of them ended up cross-legged in a circle on top of them. As soon as Rosalie was settled, she directed a stern glare at each of them.

“Well?” she demanded in a hushed tone that was no less demanding for its volume. “Out with it! What’s going on?”

Ralph and Oscar both looked to Vernon, who immediately hung his head.

“He was only trying to help,” Ralph offered when Vernon didn’t immediately speak.

“And we knew about it, so we’re as much to blame,” Oscar added loyally.

Rosalie’s stomach lurched. Just how much trouble had they gotten into that Vernon was afraid to confess it to her?

“Come on,” she said in a much softer tone, “you can tell me. It won’t get any easier by delaying. Whatever it is, we’ll find a way to work it out.”

Vernon seemed to recognize the truth in her words because he took a deep breath and spoke. “I really was only trying to help. Whenever Father is back, we see how worried he looks, and we hear the whispers between him and Mother. Father works hard, but it’s difficult to make money when you have nothing to invest at the start. So we thought…”

He glanced at his brothers before taking another breath. “We thought we could help by providing some initial investment money.”

Rosalie gasped. “Please don’t tell me you stole it!”

“What? No!”

“Of course not!”

“Never!”

Her brothers’ indignant denials overlapped, soothing the worst of her fears.

“Keep your voices down,” she reminded them, and they all instantly subsided. She looked from one to the other, her momentary relief drying up. “So what did you do?” she said. “Because I know you don’t have any money.”

“I borrowed it,” Vernon said in a rush.

Rosalie’s mouth dropped open. “You did what?”

“I borrowed it,” Vernon repeated more quietly, not able to meet her eyes.

“There’s no way the bank loaned you money,” Rosalie said shortly. “Putting aside your age, I know Father already tried. More than once. Every local in Thebarton knows Father has an excellent head for business and sound judgment, but the bank wouldn’t risk it—not once the Legacy started working against us.”

“I…I didn’t go to the bank,” Vernon confessed. “It was a private loan. I figured once Father turned it into profit, we could easily pay it back.”

“A moneylender? But the interest!” Rosalie cried before clapping her hand over her mouth and glancing down the ladder. She lowered her voice. “How could you have gotten a loan? Even moneylenders know better than to make deals with minors.” She ran a hand over her eyes. “If you somehow did, well, you’ll just have to give the money straight back.”

Thank goodness the boys had been eaten up with guilt over their foolish action. Since they’d confessed to her so promptly, she could march them into Thebarton to repay the money before any significant interest had accumulated.

“I’m afraid it’s too late for that,” Ralph said gloomily.

“If we could repay it, we already would have,” Oscar added.

“What do you mean?” Rosalie asked sharply. “Where is the money?”

“I told them it was Father borrowing the money,” Vernon said in a rush. “I forged his signature and everything.”

“And they believed that?” Rosalie asked, incredulous.

Vernon nodded, his expression utterly miserable. “I think they thought Father was too proud to go himself.”

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