Still shaking, she sat forward and watched him disappear into the house in front of her. He didn’t turn around to see if she was following, and she hadn’t expected him to. The footman, meanwhile, came around the side of the carriage and began to let down the stairs, then offered her his hand. As she took it, she thought again of her husband’s obsession with having saved her reputation.
It wouldn’t have been irreversible ruination if Henry and I just hadn’t married!She thought sadly, angrily, as she stepped down from the carriage and onto the drive.The guest list wassmall, considering my parents are quiet people who prefer the country and don’t have many friends. Besides, Henry and Lucien are rich, powerful men with large estates and good looks: they would recover.
In fact, it was her who would have suffered the worst damage to her reputation. But funnily enough, she was the one who had been willing to risk it all.
But no,she thought grimly,the Duke had to pretend to save me, when really he is the one who has condemned me.
She tried to push these thoughts aside as she walked up the drive toward the house. At the same time, she dried her eyes on the back of her gloves and tried to still the angry shaking feeling inside of her.
She was furious, yes, but she also knew she was about to meet her husband’s staff and that she couldn’t come in sobbing or ranting--especially since, and her stomach dropped as she realized it--the staff was not expecting a new duchess to arrive. They were expecting a new Lady Henry, who wouldn’t be their mistress and wouldn’t be living at Dredford Castle.
“Oh God,” she said aloud, as she stepped up to the front door. “They don’t know anything.”
The door swung open, and the butler--whom she had known for years in her visits to Henry--stepped out to greet her, a confused and anxious look on his face.
“Lady Emery,” he began, bowing low, “if you do not mind, can you please explain to me exactly what is happening? His Grace just came in and said… he said that the Duchess was right behind him. But the Duchess has been dead these last fourteen years, and--”
Suddenly the man’s eyes grew wide. He stared at her, his lips parting slightly. “But--it isn’t possible,” he murmured. “You… you are Lord Henry's wife, are you not? You cannot be…”
“There was a change of plans,” Emery said heavily. “I’m sorry for the confusion, Wilkes, but yes, it’s true: the Duke of Dredford and I were married this morning. I am…” she cleared her throat, suddenly dry, and tried again. “I am the Duchess of Dredford.”
Wilkes, she knew, was a supremely well-trained butler. So, it was a testament to just how shocking the whole turn of events really was that for a long moment, he ogled her in shock and confusion.
It was also a testament to how well-trained he was that this ogling took only a moment, and then he snapped to business.
“Right… Well, congratulations, Your Grace. We are overjoyed to welcome you to your new home at Dredford Castle. I apologize, but the Duchess’s chamber is not prepared yet, as we were not expecting--well, never mind. I shall have it prepared at once. In the meantime, would you like to meet your staff? They are all downstairs taking luncheon--we were not expecting the Duke home until after the wedding breakfast, you see--but I can have them up here to greet you in just a few minutes.”
“Let them finish luncheon,” she said after considering it. She wasn’t sure she could meet the entire staff when she was still shocked by how the day’s events. “But perhaps, while my rooms are being prepared, you might ask the Duke’s sisters to meet me in the drawing room for tea? I would like to explain to them what has happened.”
“Yes, Your Grace,” Wilkes said, bowing low. “I will fetch them at once.”
His sisters.Emery took a deep breath as she set off across the hall toward the drawing room, where she knew all three young ladies would soon be joining her and she would have to explain to them that she had not married Henry, as had been expected, but the Duke. She couldn’t lie to herself: it was an intimidating prospect.
The Duke’s sisters--Ladies Leah, Celeste, and Eve--were three of the most difficult to engage people that Emery had ever met. They were younger than her--Leah, the eldest, was only eighteen, and four years her junior--which meant that they hadn’t interacted much.
Last time I visited Henry at the Castle, the girls were still in the nursery. And even then, she didn’t remember interacting much with them.
Because she didn’t know them well, Emery had no idea how they were going to react to finding out that they would now be living with another woman who would outrank them. And while Emery didn’t plan on being a domineering Duchess, sheknew that the subtle and nuanced dynamics between women living under the same roof could be even more complex than the dynamics between husband and wife.
Steeling herself, she seated herself on a divan in the drawing room and waited. She didn’t have long to wait. Not five minutes later, the doors to the drawing room opened, and Ladies Leah, Celeste, and Eve came in, all looking politely confused and curious.
“Lady Emery,” Lady Leah said, curtsying. “What a surprise it is to see you! We were not expecting you to come here after your wedding. Were you and Henry not planning to honeymoon in the Lakes District?”
“Is Henry unwell?” Lady Eve, the youngest of the Duke’s sisters, asked, her eyes wide. Leah shot her a look that said,Don’t ask intrusive questions,and Eve lowered her eyes, blushing.
“Henry is very well,” Emery said, standing and curtsying as well. “That is… I think he is.”
The sisters looked at one another, then back at Emery. “You think?” Lady Leah asked. “You do not know?”
Emery sighed. “Please, you may as well sit, and I’ll explain everything.”
If the ladies thought it odd that she was inviting them to sit in their own home, they were too polite to say so. They madetheir way over to the couches and sat, in a row, across from her, blinking at her with wide eyes.
“There was a change of plans,” Emery said as she sat back down on the divan and brushed her skirts out. “I did not marry your brother Henry today. I married… Lucien.” It was harder than expected to use his Christian name, as if she were overstepping, despite their newfound bond. “I am the new Duchess of Dredford.”
I am getting quite used to shocked silences,she thought ruefully as another one spread over the drawing room. Lady Leah’s eyes had gone as wide as saucers, while Lady Eve’s mouth fell open. Lady Celeste’s reaction was more reserved, even thoughtful. She blinked, frowned, and then nodded slightly.
“I know this is shocking,” Emery said after a moment. “I myself am still in shock. In fact, I can’t quite believe any of this is happening…” She tried to laugh but couldn’t. “You can ask me any questions you want, anything at all, and I can try to explain.”
