CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“Will His Grace be coming to luncheon this afternoon?” Leah asked the butler, even though she already knew the answer. The butler, Mr. Smith, bowed his head in apology.
“I’m afraid not, Your Grace. His Grace has a great deal of work to do today and requested that luncheon be brought to him in his study.”
“Right…” Leah swallowed and tried not to let the hurt and confusion show on her face. “Very well, then. Thank you, Mr. Smith.”
The butler bowed and stepped back from the table, allowing Leah to contemplate the meal in front of her. It looked delicious, as all the meals had since she had come to Nottington Castle. The Duke was certainly not someone who scrimped on the finer things in life. However, it had been difficult for her to enjoy her meals--or enjoy anything, really--when she was partaking in all of them alone.
It had been three days since they had arrived at the Castle, and so far, she had barely seen her husband. Except for a few glances of him here and there, she had not been in his presence, and he had spoken only a few short words to her in greeting. All of it had left Leah feeling hurt and irritated, but most of all, bored. There was nothing for her to do here by herself. She had grownup with two sisters and a brother. Boredom was not something she was used to, and now, to find herself with nothing and no one to amuse her, she felt as if she were crawling out of her skin.
Which was to say nothing of the blazing anger she felt whenever she thought about her husband’s final words to her their first night at the Castle, right before he had ordered her back to her room:“We will not be having any children.”
It couldn’t be true. There was no way a duke would give up an heir. And she knew the duke’s reputation. It wasn’t possible that a man like that had that kind of self-control.
He just said that to hurt me, or to scare me, because he’s still angry at me for entrapping him in this marriage.
This is what she had been telling herself for the past few days, and she reminded herself of it again now as she stared down at her plate.He just needs some time to get used to having a wife around.
That, or he needed to bemadeto get used to her. Because she wasn’t going anywhere; she didn’t have anywhere else to go. And he couldn’t just ignore her forever. Which meant she was going to have to make her presence known.
“Mr. Smith,” she said, looking around at the butler, “I have a request to make.”
“Yes, Your Grace?” he said, stepping forward at once.
“I would like to begin redecorating the house. How would I go about doing that? Is there someone I should talk to about where to buy different furnishings and paintings?”
“I can find out for you, Your Grace,” the butler said, his eyes widening. “But is His Grace--”
“I am the Duchess of Nottington now,” she interrupted, “which means that I am the one in charge of running this household. And if I want to redecorate, I can. I don’t need my husband’s permission.”
“Of course, Your Grace.”
“Oh and I’d like you to have the best and most expensive dress-maker in the county come to see me. Now that I am the Duchess, it is far past time that I re-do my wardrobe to reflect my new status.”
“Yes, Your Grace,” the butler said, nodding again, although there was a crease of concern now on his forehead. “Anything else?”
“Yes…” Leah’s eyes glittered as the idea came to her. “I would like you to hire me a violin tutor.”
The music room, Leah had noticed, was right next to the Duke’s study.You might be able to ignore me, but you are not going to be able to ignore the sound of me learning violin.
“That’s very good, Your Grace,” Mr. Renault, the violin tutor, said, as Leah lowered the violin and looked at him. She had just attempted to play a short scale, and, if you asked her, it had sounded like several kittens screaming in pain. From the look on Mr. Renault’s face, he shared her conclusion. However, his words said the opposite, and Leah had a feeling he didn’t like the idea of telling a duchess she was terrible at the violin.
“I know it wasn’t the best,” she said, giving him an encouraging smile. “But I am new to the instrument. Growing up I played the pianoforte or occasionally the harp.”
Mr. Renault frowned. “And you want to switch to the violin because…?”
“Because I always thought it a very beautiful instrument,” she declared, staring admiringly at the wooden instrument in her hand. Itwasvery beautiful. It had also cost a great deal of money, which she had told Mr. Renault--who had procured it for her--to bill to her husband. It had been a very satisfying moment, telling him to send an exorbitant bill to the man who was currently ignoring her. She had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to ignorethat.
She also had a feeling he wasn’t able to ignore the sound of the violin. They were in the music room, and there was a very thin wall between it and the Duke’s study.
“Shall I go again?” she asked, raising the violin and looking expectantly at her teacher.
“Y-yes,” he said. “Go again. And this time, try to focus on where you are placing your fingers.”
“Oh yes, of course.” Leah raised the violin once more and began to play the scale. She did feel she was a little better this time, but the sound of the screaming, discordant kittens still filled the music room. It was bad enough to make even her own hairs stand up on the back of her neck.
“How was that?” she asked, lowering the violin again and smiling at her teacher. “I thought I was a little better.”
