Page 40 of Legacy of Roses

Her words made both the older couples shift uncomfortably, and even some of the young women exchanged awkward looks. But Rosalie hadn’t brought up her father’s old business lightly. Dimitri had the right to know what had happened to his grandfather.

She could have done without the look he gave her in response, however. The warm glow of gratitude on his face confused her traitorous heart into strange behavior.

Her impulsive words had been motivated by compassion, but it occurred to her belatedly that if Dimitri’s grandfather was still alive, he might be a motivating factor for Dimitri to leave. She had the impression the old man couldn’t be much more thanfive and sixty, so there was no reason to think he wouldn’t be living in the capital still. She straightened and fixed Dimitri with a hopeful look.

But he had turned his attention back to Blythe, helping her to another slice of cake while she smiled importantly. It turned Rosalie’s stomach to see his excessive solicitude, as if he had nothing more to worry about than pretty girls and tasty food.

The rest of the group—even the older couples—responded by shifting their positions subtly, centering themselves on Blythe and Dimitri and edging Rosalie out. After everything that had happened in the last few hours, tears welled in her eyes.

She fought them back. Apparently, she was only welcome in public in Thebarton if she stayed quiet and didn’t draw attention to herself. No one liked their merry gathering spoiled by reminders of what had happened to Rosalie and her family—and what could happen to any of them.

She was only sorry Daphne was being tarred with the same brush. She glanced at her friend to check if she was equally hurt and nearly let out a watery chuckle. Daphne clearly wasn’t bothered by any of them because she had put her head on the table and gone to sleep.

A serving girl who worked for Otis came forward with a fresh tray of cake. As she walked toward them, her appearance shimmered and stuttered strangely before her legs and one arm disappeared completely. The rest of her body steadied, but Rosalie could see the dining room through the places where her missing limbs should have been. Her progress didn’t falter, however, and neither did the tray she carried with the invisible hand.

“Drat,” the girl said, frowning down at herself.

Dimitri looked up and gave a shout of surprise. Surging to his feet, he stared at her, apparently speechless.

Several of the girls burst into giggles at his response, but Rosalie shook her head. How could he be cautious with the manor when he knew so little about the Legacy? She glanced sideways at his astonished face, and her expression softened. Despite herself, she had to admit there was something endearing about his shock.

“It’s been worse than usual today,” the girl said apologetically. “Otis lost both arms a couple of hours ago, and they’re stubbornly refusing to come back. You can’t imagine how disconcerting it is. He’s already dropped two glasses because of it.”

“Otis…lost his arms?” Dimitri asked, his eyes bulging.

The giggles erupted all over again while the serving maid regarded Dimitri with concern.

“He’s quite all right, sir. His wife insisted he let her clean it up, so he didn’t cut himself on the broken glass. She hasn’t done any serving today, so she’s still perfectly visible.”

Even Blythe was looking at Dimitri oddly, and Rosalie realized no one else knew the details of his background or his ignorance of the Legacy.

“Relax,” she said. “It’s just the Legacy. Servers have a disconcerting tendency to turn partially invisible. It always rights itself eventually.”

Dimitri turned startled eyes on her while everyone else remained silent. They didn’t understand the interaction, but they didn’t want to ask questions when Rosalie was one of the speakers.

The serving girl was oblivious to it all, though.

“I once went completely invisible for a whole day!” she declared. “About a year ago it was.” She suddenly caught on to the group’s discomfort. Glancing sideways at Rosalie, she placed the tray on the table and quickly hurried away.

Rosalie winced. She knew why the Legacy’s power had been swirling through Thebarton at an increased strength a year ago. And so did everyone else at the table. Except for perhaps, Dimitri—which was precisely the problem.

“Why would the Legacy make Otis’s arms disappear?” Dimitri asked in a strangled voice.

“Because of the invisible servants from the original Beast’s castle, of course, silly.” Blythe swatted playfully at his arm. “Didn’t it ever happen to the servers where you used to live?”

Everyone looked at him expectantly, and he winced, glancing toward Rosalie and Daphne. Neither of them spoke to expose his past, though, and he shrugged.

“No, it didn’t,” he said. “I’ve never seen that before.”

“How lovely to live somewhere entirely out of the Legacy’s notice,” one of the older women said. “Although I would miss the roses.”

“You’d best get used to it now you’re here,” her husband warned Dimitri. “Any help you get up at the manor will probably spend half their lives transparent.” He and the other man guffawed, but Rosalie winced.

“Will you be hiring staff soon?” one of the women asked, clearly fishing for gossip.

“I’m not sure.” Dimitri sounded dazed, and Rosalie suspected he hadn’t given the matter a moment’s thought. With the power of the Legacy saturating the manor, he wouldn’t be feeling the lack of servants.

“You’ll need to hire someone before the party,” Sable said enthusiastically. “My mother always hires extra help when she’s hosting a large group.”

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