“I…” Prudence hesitated. Her particular form of socializing was certainly not the kind of thing Mrs. Mills was picturing. “I’m sure my sisters will want to visit,” she said. “I’m very close with them.”
“Lovely. We’ll have to see about cleaning the room up a bit to prepare it for use. His Grace doesn’t take much advantage of it. Most of the guests he has to the house are here on business, not for pleasure, and he tends to see them in his study rather than in this room.” She pushed open a pair of double doors.
Prudence could see what she meant at once. The room looked as if it might not have been touched in years. Several pieces of furniture had been covered to protect against dust, but some had not, and the dust had found them. And then there was the matter of the heavy drapes over the windows. They were thick and dark, and they stood closed, admitting no light whatsoever. To judge by the size of them, Prudence imagined that the windows were likely quite large and would light up the room if they were permitted to do so. It was a room that had the potential to be beautiful and welcoming, but it had not been given that chance.
Mrs. Mills turned slowly as if she was really seeing it for the first time. “We’ll get this cleaned up,” she said. “Never fear, Your Grace. It will be fit for company in no time.”
“Does Lord Hall live here?” Prudence asked. “I mean—even though I am married to the wrong man, you must have known that I was coming.”
“We did know of course,” Mrs. Mills said.
“I ask because I’m surprised that His Grace did not instruct his staff to prepare this room for my arrival,” she said. “Was it seen as not very important before it was known that I would be coming as a duchess? Perhaps no one cared that Lord Hall’s wife might wish to entertain guests?”
Mrs. Mills looked uncomfortable. “We were instructed to prepare the bedchamber and nothing else, Your Grace,” she said. “I confess I do not know what thoughts were in the Duke’s head.”
“Of course, you didn’t,” Prudence said quickly. “I didn’t mean to criticize, Mrs. Mills. I only wondered whether I might glean some information about what was anticipated with my arrival—what might have changed now that I have the title of duchess. This has all happened so very quickly.”
“I quite understand. The truth is that I cannot satisfy your curiosity about that,” Mrs. Mills confessed. “What I can tell you is that the Duke is a man who cares a great deal for appearances and reputation.”
“I certainly see that about him,” Prudence agreed.
“He may have been willing to let his brother’s wife live in a house with no way to entertain guests, but now that you are his own wife, I’m confident he will feel differently about things,” Mrs. Mills said. “He is going to have different priorities now. So, I know that if there is anything you should require, any change you wish to see made to the house, His Grace will support us in making that change for you.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Mills,” Prudence said, hoping very much that the housekeeper was correct in her assessment.
More than anything, she wanted to find a way for this new life she had fallen into to be comfortable and happy. She wanted to believe that it was possible for that to happen.
Having the housekeeper on her side would be a crucial piece of that puzzle.
CHAPTER 7
By the end of the day, Prudence was as exhausted as she had ever been in her life.
She sat on the edge of the bed in the chamber to which she had been directed, trying to convince her mind that this was home now. It didn’t feel like it. She had taken several of her things out of her trunk, positioned them around the room, and then experimented with moving them to new places, but that hadn’t been effective. Even though she was staring at familiar items that had been a part of her life for years, she felt as if she was in a foreign land looking at things she had never seen before.
About the room itself she had no complaints. At least, none that she would have felt justified in making aloud. The room was larger by half than the one she had inhabited at home, but she was sure that had been meant kindly. The window gave her a beautiful, clear view of the grounds which was objectively lovely—but all Prudence could think about was the fact that she was stuck up here on the second floor with no tree to climb down. No way to escape.
At least she still had her secret men’s garments. She had carefully wrapped them up back at her parents’ house and concealed them in the bottom of her trunk, knowing all too well what would happen if she depended on someone else to pack them for her. But without a tree, she couldn’t escape out the window. It would be difficult, if not impossible, for her to get out and do anything, even though she did have her disguise to help her.
Not to mention the fact that I have no idea what the Duke would do if he were to catch me doing such a thing of course.A man as concerned about image as he was would probably be even worse than her parents if he found out how she liked to spend her time under cover of darkness. He would have no patience for it at all, and the first time she was caught, she would likely find herself locked up in the house for the foreseeable future.
Prudence sighed heavily. At least the staff had been welcoming and kind. Mrs. Mills was not an anomaly in this household. Most of them had been just like her. And Prudence had discovered a great fondness, in particular, for Emily, the girl the Duke had apparently hired to serve as her lady’s maid. She had never had her own lady’s maid before. It was an expense her parents had not been able to afford. Emily seemed like someone Prudence might be able to count on as a confidante—at least, she hoped so.
She rather wished she had not dismissed Emily tonight. It would have been easier to have someone sitting here with her, waiting for what might or might not happen next.
After all, this was Prudence’s wedding night, and she knew enough to know what that might mean. Her husband had said he didn’t intend to ask anything of her, but had he meant this? She couldn’t be sure. There was every possibility he would come to her room tonight and try to make their marriage official.
Better him than Lord Hall, she reminded herself and meant it. But she didn’t want to share that sort of thing with any man at all, and certainly not one she hardly knew.
Still, he had ignored her since they had arrived back at Desford. He hadn’t even come to dinner tonight. She hadn’t seen him since he had left her at the front door, and there had been no hint that he was even in the house. That made her feel as though perhaps she had nothing to worry about on this front. Surely, he wouldn’t arrive in her bedroom suddenly, after a full day’s absence, making demands of her. He couldn’t do that.
No, there was nothing to fear. She might as well simply go to bed. There would be plenty of things to concern herself with in the morning. She didn’t need to stay up all night worrying over problems that had yet to present themselves.
She moved to extinguish her lantern so that she could go to bed, but she was disrupted by a knock at the door.
Emily.
It was Emily. It had to be. She’d come back to tell Prudence something, or perhaps to see if she needed anything. Prudence went to the door and opened it.
