Previously: The Rose of Whitby – Chapter 76

Tedious and intimidating as the paperwork is, Arthur’s still grateful for the change in topic, and nods. “Let’s see what we get to look up today… I didn’t know there were so many laws and things involving what you can and can’t do with your land…”

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Previously: The Rose of Whitby – Chapter 75

Arthur arrives back to lunch with his hands thoroughly washed like Dr Seward directed, and in fresh clothes that aren’t damp from fog and don’t smell of horse and gun powder. He’s happy to see that Darcy’s hair is back to its usual colour, after all, when she arrives with her papa, gives her a smile.

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Previously: The Rose of Whitby – Chapter 74

She can’t do anything, of course she can’t. She was bad. She deserves to be punished. Still, she feels ashamed that Arthur is seeing this. Now she’s being bad for him, too. And all she can do is whisper a ‘sorry’ at him as she fights not to cry from how helpless she feels. She tried avoiding this and it still happened and she made it worse by trying to do something. She should just have sat in her room waiting for her husband to come and see her misstep. Then it would only have been her who has to go through this. “Sorry,” she says again as Gregory carries her out the door, and doesn’t fight. Not now with the door closing behind them and not throughout the morning as she does penance.

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Previously: The Rose of Whitby – Chapter 73

Darcy has to admit that her mother is beautiful and graceful when she hunts. She can do it with a mere smile, a look as she passes somebody, a wink over her shoulder when, invariably, the men turn to look after her. There is never a dearth of willing victims, and maybe Darcy should feel better about it, but the thought of doing it like that makes her feel she is a whore down to the bottom of her heart. She can’t do it, she knows it’s true but her drac is pouting.

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Previously: The Rose of Whitby – Chapter 72

“I did, didn’t I?” He wraps his arms around himself for a moment- fighting his father?! Is that really what he decided? But… but he would, if… if he had to. For his… friends? Is that the right word? He isn’t family with Darcy like vision him was, but… but her and John are still really important to him. And Gregory, of course. Yes, for them, he’d do that, that’s bigger than just he himself not getting into trouble with his father.

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Previously: The Rose of Whitby – Chapter 71

Darcy tilts her head, looks puzzled. “What? Why?” And she doesn’t let go.

“Let go or I’m… I’m going to hurt you,” he tries- he’s not sure he could kill her, and even if it’s creepy vision Darcy… he doesn’t want to.

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Previously: The Rose of Whitby – Chapter 70

“That answers that,” Darcy deadpans, and she didn’t even know she could do that. Instead, she goes back to sitting next to John. Can she put a cool cloth on his forehead? But he’s not sick, he’s unresponsive. When she puts her head against his chest, his heart is fluttering and she hates it. It’s not like him! He’s always her rock, she can rely on him, and he knows her, he knows her drac, and he wants the real her.

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Previously: The Rose of Whitby – Chapter 69

Arthur… doesn’t know what to do. He can’t tell whether Darcy is happy or upset, because she’s both laughing and crying, and then she’s… dancing? up the walls and around the ceiling as a wolf. He does wince in sympathy when she lands on John, because the library ceiling is pretty high and she’s not that light, and going by John’s involuntary grimace, yes, that hurt. “Ummm…” he says, not sure if he should offer John some healing.

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Previously: The Rose of Whitby – Chapter 68

Darcy hugged Arthur tight the moment she noticed that he stopped in his tracks and didn’t seem to be there at all. Her words didn’t get through to him but she still kept talking softly, reassuring him that she’s there for him, that she got him, that it’s just a mean vision.

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Previously: The Rose of Whitby – Chapter 67

Darcy bounces to her feet and throws herself at John again because he’s just the best! But then she turns back to Arthur to take his hand so they can walk back together while she starts telling him about sitting in her window sill so much while growing up. And sometimes Papa brought her plushies made from real animals and those are the best, they smell a bit like the animal and she could pretend that she had a real pet! With a blush, she admits that she talked to them and pretended they could walk around her room and that she’d need to take care of them as if they were alive.

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