“It’s a beautiful day. I think the green muslin today, don’t you? It looks so lovely in the spring with all the flowers. And I have always thought you look good in it.”
Startled, she sat up straight, looking over at Margaret.
Her lady’s maid gave her a sympathetic smile and then turned back to what she had been doing, getting Diana’s clothes ready for the day.
“It has been long enough that you’ve been moping about in this room. Today, we shall venture about the house and see what we can find.”
Margaret seemed quite firm on that, and within a short period of time, Diana found herself out of bed, dressed and ready to begin her day.
“Are you satisfied with me now, Margaret?” she asked, glancing at herself in the looking glass.
She looked presentable, she thought. Though perhaps not as fresh as usual.
“You shall do just fine, Your Grace. We shall not make any calls today, but if you receive any, you should look every bit the duchess that you are.”
“Very well,” Diana relented, though she did not care much for the idea of receiving visitors in her new home anyway.
“This house is quite lovely. What I have seen of it,” Margaret told her. “Of course, that’s not the entirety of the place, as I have only been in the rooms that you have.” She gave her a reproachful look. “And the servants’ quarters, of course.”
“I’m not interested in traveling about,” Diana mumbled.
The idea that her husband—it was still strange to eventhinkthat word—was somewhere in this house as well was even more unpleasant.
“It is not ‘traveling about,’ Your Grace. It is merely moving about your own home.”
“My own home,” Diana scoffed. “As if he even wishes for me to think of it as such.”
“Itisyour home, whatever he or you may think. And as such, you should spend some time getting to know the place. You will be here every Season, after all.”
The very thought of that… that every Season from now on would be spent here, with Matthew…
“I cannot even imagine it,” Diana replied, her tone haughty, but she couldn’t hide the catch in her voice. Not from Margaret, who knew her better than anyone. Perhaps even her sisters.
“It is a sorry state of things that you are wed and your new husband is not about,” Margaret admitted. “But we shall make the best of it. You have free run of the house and no demands on your time. So come, have some breakfast, and we can see what this house is about.”
“Why should I go down to that room for breakfast? It is a large hall for only myself to eat in.”
“Would you prefer that I have breakfast brought up to your room?”
“Perhaps I shall not eat at all,” Diana huffed, knowing that she sounded petulant, but she did not care.
“You shall not waste away under my care, Your Grace,” Margaret asserted. “I shall go and fetch you some breakfast, but for lunch, you shall go down to the dining room, whether you eat alone or not.”
“Bring your own breakfast as well!” Diana called after her.
If she was going to be forced to eat something, she might as well not do it entirely alone. That was allowed up here, after all.
With that, Margaret strode out of the room, returning not long after with a light breakfast for each of them on a small tray.
“There now, doesn’t that look lovely?” She set both trays on the small table in the sitting room and settled into her own chair. “Come now, Your Grace, it is time for us to eat.”
Reluctantly, Diana sat down at the table and began to eat. Though as soon as she did, she felt slightly better. Because the food was actually quite good.
“It’s not our cook’s poached eggs, but it is still a satisfactory breakfast,” Margaret announced.
Diana couldn’t help but smile. “That is true enough,” she agreed.
“Now then, what shall we do with this lovely day?” Margaret asked.
