She thought he might refuse her or tell her that she needed to take that up with Leonard, but he simply produced a second ledger and flipped it open to a marked page. “This is an accounting of the wages the staff members are paid?” she asked, pointing.
“That’s right,” Hawkins said. His own name was at the top of the list, followed by Mrs. Mills and then down the rank of everyone else who served at Desford.
An idea came to Prudence. “I could increase everyone’s wages,” she suggested.
“You’d be under no obligation to do any such thing, Your Grace,” Hawkins said. “I can assure you that no one here is unhappy with their pay. We all earn a fair amount, and the Duke is good to us.”
“Yes, I’ve seen that,” Prudence said. “Still, I’ve been given more money than I need, and good service ought to be rewarded, so I’d like to increase pay for all the members of staff, just by a little bit. Would I note that down here?” She pointed to her own book.
“That’s right, if that’s what you want to do,” Hawkins said. “Though I might suggest discussing the idea with His Grace before you do so.”
“Nonsense, Hawkins. This money was given to me to use as I see fit, and this is what I want to do. I’ll consult with Mrs. Mills about the money I want to devote to renovations, and perhaps I’ll find someone to come into town with me to do a bit of shopping—that would be enjoyable. In the meantime, thank you for showing this to me. I can take things from here.”
Hawkins nodded and withdrew.
Prudence went down the line and added the pay increase to each member of the staff—not much but enough that they would have something extra in their pockets at the end of each week. She wanted them to know how much she appreciated all the help they had given her and how easy and comfortable they’d made it for her to settle in to her new life.
Once Leonard leaves, once I am able to stop thinking about him and what he’s doing all the time, I don’t think I’ll have any problems at all!
And then she would be able to leave the house in the evening, dressed however she liked, and she could go wherever shewanted, and no one would have anything at all to say on the matter.
She would make it to that moment. It would be easy. She just had to hold on a bit longer, and then the chaos of this new life would finally settle down.
In the meantime, she decided she would write to her sisters. They deserved to know how things were going, and she wanted to alert them to the fact that she was looking forward to having them here for a visit just as soon as she possibly could. She knew that Arabella would have told Caroline by now that Leonard intended to go to his country house, and she was sure Caroline’s opinion on that subject would be much the same as Arabella’s had been. It would be easier to wait until Leonard was gone before trying to explain the situation to them because then there wouldn’t be anything for them to try to argue with her about, but Prudence was simply too close to her sisters to do that. There was no way she would be able to wait all that time before reaching out to them.
She looked around for some paper then gave up and tore a page out of the back of her ledger, smiling at the thought of what her sisters would say when they realized she’d done that.
Dear Caroline,she wrote then paused and pondered. Where to begin?
Life at Desford is both more and less than what I expected it to be. The good news is that I’ve quickly come to realize I’ll be able to be happy here, and I’m excited for what the future holds. I’msure by now you have spoken to Arabella about my husband’s plans, and that you have plenty of opinions to share. Worry not, I will hear them. But in the meantime, please know that I am more than satisfied with my circumstances.
The Duke will remain with me long enough not to raise any questions. He doesn’t want to see his brother disgraced for abandoning me at the altar—although, if I am honest, Lord Hall is such a disgraceful person that nothing that happened between the two of us could possibly make his reputation any worse than it must already be. I’m glad to be rid of him.
As for the man I did marry, he keeps to himself for the most part which makes it easy for me to go about my own business. Today alone, I have learned that there is plenty for me to do in this big old estate, and I will be inviting you and Arabella out to visit and admire my handiwork just as soon as I feel the place is ready for me to start showing it off a bit.
In the meantime, I hope that you and your family are well, and I miss you every day.
Yours,
Prudence.
She tore out another piece of paper and penned a nearly identical letter to Arabella. With luck her words would keep her sisters from worrying too much, and the promise of a visit soon to come was enough to make excitement flicker to life within her.
And what she had written was true—there was plenty to do, and plenty to think about, in the meantime. She had her work cut out for her, making this place ready for company, and she was intent that by the time her sisters came to visit, it would be a home she could take pride in with plenty of things for her to show off.
The sitting room was just the start. She would redo the gardens and plant her favorite flowers. She would hang new drapes. She would even have new foods brought in so the cook could experiment with fresh recipes.
Being a duchess might be more exciting than Prudence had anticipated.
CHAPTER 11
“Prudence, you and I have matters we need to discuss,” Leonard said over breakfast the following morning.
He watched her closely to see how she would respond. The truth was that he was almost more interested in her reaction to this declaration than he was in how she would explain herself for what was to follow. He wanted to know whether she knew already what she had done wrong and would acknowledge it or whether he was going to have to explain it to her.
Whichever was the case, she didn’t seem willing to give him anything. She looked up from her coffee and met his eyes, but she said nothing at all.
Leonard waited a moment longer, hoping to see whether she would buckle.
