‘Quite. Chicken breeding would be obscene in the house,’ Caleb nodded with a smile. ‘Whereas an Art Studio where a lady can express her creativity through painting is not preposterous – not in the least.’
Anne harrumphed, frustrated that her son would not fall in line with her opinion.
‘She could scandalize the Ton, Caleb!’ Anne hushed her voice as if somebody might hear this dirty secret.
‘A Duchess should be partaking in leisure pursuits that are fitting to her status. She should not be messing about with oils and colours that will sully her fingers and clothes! Is she a child?! If you insist upon this girl being your wife, it is your duty, Caleb, to correct her misconceptions about what is proper and acceptable behaviour for a Duchess!’
‘Correcther, Mother?’
‘Yes!’ Anne’s eyes flamed with fury.
‘I do not believe Hannah’s occupation isincorrectand I will not be rectifying anything concerning how she chooses to spend her free time.’
‘You are insufferable, Caleb!!’ Anne snapped. ‘Such selfishness and stubbornness!’
‘Mother, I must have learned it from somewhere…’
The Duchess stamped her foot with barely repressed rage.
‘You do not seem to understand that she is stepping out of the acceptable boundaries from which a Duchess must uphold status and presence. If she brings shame on the family, it will be you who is held responsible. Is that what you want, Caleb? I insist you inform her she must transform the parlour room back to its former state or otherwise prepare it as a quaint sewing room or sweet place to read. I will not have her practising such scandalous activity in the Montwood household!’
Caleb took two steps toward his Mother and engaged a calm, controlled voice as he told her.
‘Hannah is the Duchess I have selected. Hannah is also an individual person and I will not quash her passions or talents to squeeze her into an acceptable box to please society. Frankly, Mother, whatever Hannah chooses to do in her parlour room or in her own time, is none of your business.’
Anne’s jaw dropped and Caleb stepped around her, exiting the library and closing the door behind him with a neat click.
The Dowager Duchess stood frozen to the spot, her face flushed with anger and indignation as she processed the realisation that her son could no longer be called to heel. She used to have such influence over him, but now he was a man and was choosing an alternative path. He had displayed a defiance she had never witnessed from him before – and it originated from the introduction of Lady Hannah Haworth. Before she had come into his life, he would never have stood up to his mother in such a way. Anne seethed and felt vitriol toward Hannah which was now even stronger than it had been before.
She felt so angry at her situation in life. Her father had promised her to the Duke of Montwood when she was too young to have experienced any sort of living. They were thrown together against her will and she felt so bitter about it. Her husband had doted on her, which was irritating. He would bring her gifts to placate her, which made him look weak and pathetic. He instructed staff to furnish their home lavishly to make it comfortable for her but it was tohistaste and not hers. He would try to be funny and his desperate efforts agitated her. The more time she spent around him, the more she was reminded that their partnership was merely satisfying a contract and if she had her way, she would be free of him and the constraints of his grand house.
When he had died so unexpectedly, she was conflicted – but she did not miss him. She was suddenly emancipated but found that she no longer wanted the freedom. She now had the power she had always lacked. She was the Dowager Duchess; the leader of the household finally and she had sovereignty over all the staff, guests, and her children. The supremacy was intoxicating and with her renowned temper, people revered her with obedience.
Only now Caleb had grown and garnered thoughts and morals all of his own. This compromised Anne’s superiority and she revolted against it. She didn’t want the shame of an annulment or a divorce within the family, but Caleb also had a surprise coming to him if he underestimated his mother and thought she was going to make this easy for him and his new wife. He had deliberately gone against her advice and married Hannah despite her foreboding and he would have to endure her acrimony as a result of his defiance.
Caleb strode away from the library toward his office, with a fierceness in his energy. He was outraged at his mother for her audacity in prescribing how his chosen Duchess; the new lady of the house, should behave. Additionally, it angered him that his mother could be so manipulative as to attempt to turn him against Hannah. He felt as though he were breaking free from her coercion – after a lifetime of performing to please her, he felt he could finally break free of her ordinance. Hannah’s appearance in his life had shown him that his mother’s regulation was not always correct and that he did not necessarily need to always adhere to her command. It was yet another moment of revelation; that Hannah was healthy for him – she was helping him to evolve, even without trying.
The moment he and Hannah had shared just before his mother’s unwelcome intervention, was intimate, warm, and personal. He had never anticipated such a connection with the woman his father had chosen on paper.
Caleb shook his head; he had never believed in marriage as an affectionate bond. Hannah was supposed to be part of an arrangement – developing feelings for her would only complicate the situation and distract him from his time when he was due to be tending to business.
Yet he could not deny that she piqued an interest in his mind and intrigued him emotionally. He had bargained for a woman in his space that he would be required to adjust to. Never had he considered that he would be taking in a woman to share his everyday world with; to welcome into his thoughts and share his deepest feelings. Yet he felt an urge to do so and, similarly, he felt a reciprocating desire from Hannah.
One thing Caleb knew for certain was that Hannah had an enemy in his mother and it was not Caleb’s duty tocorrectHannah, as Anne had so wickedly suggested, but it was his duty to defend Hannah; to protect her and ensure she could thrive in her new role.
Caleb went into his office, locking the door so that his mother could not disturb him and further disrupt his thoughts. He poured a brandy to calm his nervous system and opened up some paperwork he needed to review regarding the proposed corn laws.
He read the first two sentences thrice; each time his mind wandering to how Hannah’s eyelashes appeared so long in the candlelight of the library; how sweet the skin of her neck smelt as he bent low to look at her book and how her smile had made something in his chest jump to attention.
Caleb slammed down the documents in frustration. This was why he didn’t need a wife to distract him. But when he considered his life just one week ago, he realised that he was happier with Hannah in his life than he had been without her.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Hannah was entirely engaged with the easel before her – she selected a bright yellow and swept it across the canvas. She smiled, satisfied that the line had landed in exactly the way she’d envisaged it. This was when her Art brought her the most joy; when the image in her head translated directly onto the page.
The light streamed lazily through the window, the morning sun casting shadows across her work, which only seemed to add atmosphere to the scene she was creating.
The previous night, her mind had raced, repetitively replaying the loaded moment in the library with her husband – how different he had seemed and his switch from a cold, hard figure in her mind, to one of warmth and acceptance puzzled and intrigued her in equal measure.
