Patrick’s role in diverting Lilian yesterday had been well-played and thoughtful. It was not lost on Cecily that the young man had been willing to stand up to her uncle for Mary, even after hersister had repeatedly snubbed him. At the same time, Mary was somewhat justified in her attitude. Cecily could not approve of her brother-in-law’s lack of initiative and independence.
How messy it is!
Before attending to her sister’s life, Cecily reminded herself that she must consider her own. Most immediately, she also needed to wash and change. Unlike Mary, she did not know where her own bedroom was, having spent the night before the wedding in a guest room.
Likely, her few belongings and the first tranche of her trousseau would have already been moved to the Duchess’s suite, wherever that was. Or should she go seek the Duke first and apologize for what must have seemed a vanishing act on their wedding night?
Still, imagine having to ask a maid for directions to her own husband’s bedroom. Even worse, imagine how the Duke might react. Cecily was unsure whether it would be worse to be welcomed or turned away.
Taking advantage of a passing maid, she asked for directions to Mrs. Barnes’s room and headed that way instead. The elderly housekeeper was kind, capable, and seemed to know everything. It would be easier to ask her questions than anyone else, and Cecily didn’t get the sense that the woman would find her ridiculous.
“Your Grace,” Mrs. Barnes greeted her with a curtsy and a happy smile, setting aside the linen she had been inspecting beforeCecily entered the room. “How does it feel to be Duchess of Greyhaven?”
Cecily did not know how to answer and had to laugh at herself after a long pause.
“I do not know that I do feel like the Duchess of Greyhaven yet,” she admitted. “I do not even know the way to my own suite.”
“That could be easily fixed,” the housekeeper assured her. “Shall I walk you upstairs now and show you where everything is?”
“Yes, please,” Cecily returned eagerly. “That is part of what I came to ask you.”
“Of course, you’ll be wanting your own lady’s maid now,” Mrs. Barnes said by way of conversation as they climbed up the stairs. “There’s been no time for that yet with this whirlwind of a wedding, but Gertie will look after you for now. We can ring for her when you’re ready.”
Cecily nodded, never having had her own lady’s maid before.
“I should thank you for looking after Mary and me last night,” she told the older woman. “We were both shattered and slept all the way through on the sofa because you closed the curtains and covered us.”
Mrs. Barnes chuckled. “Oh, that wasn’t me, dearie, I mean, Your Grace. It was His Grace who said you should not be disturbed and set the blanket with his own hands.”
“Oh!” Cecily gasped, disconcerted. “I had not thought…”
“That man’s instincts are good,” the housekeeper remarked in a critical and familiar manner that likely came from her long service with the family and unique relationship with the Duke. “But he has always been left far too much to his own devices, and far too little challenged. Society cannot understand him, and he has little interest in society.”
“Yes,” Cecily agreed carefully. “He does have good instincts.”
She thought of the way the Duke had marshaled and briefed his footmen to ensure Lord Holt could not cause trouble at the wedding reception. She also thought of how he had followed and defended her from personal assault with his bare hands.
In his own way, the Duke was a thoughtful man. In other ways, he was the most careless man she had ever met.
“Now, here we are. Your suite is at this end of the corridor, Your Grace, and His Grace’s suite is at the other end. There’s a door connecting the bedrooms…”
Cecily swallowed and nodded silently, this news making her heart beat faster with something like alarm. A connecting door? Might the Duke just suddenly walk in?
“… but we won’t see His Grace at this hour. On a normal day, we wouldn’t expect him to rise before noon when he’s here.”
“Not before noon,” Cecily repeated with relief as the housekeeper opened the door to the suite and led the way through a sitting room, a dressing room with an adjoining washroom, and then into a large, sunlit bedroom with a view over the gardens.
Her few belongings had indeed already been arranged about the room and on the dressing table, but it was the window that caught her attention first, the curtains already drawn back as if in welcome.
“How lovely!” she exclaimed, not having seen a full view of Greyhaven Park’s grounds before. “What beautiful gardens.”
“It is a fine estate, isn’t it?” the old housekeeper replied, looking very pleased with her enthusiasm. “There’s a lake out beyond those woods to the southeast, and some fine bridle paths for riding if you enjoy being on horseback. You can see the dower house from here too.”
Looking at that half-visible dwelling, perhaps a mile from the main house, Cecily frowned.
“Why does Lady Lilian live there?” she asked. “I cannot understand it.”
The housekeeper sighed and shrugged. “His Grace thought it would be her little palace, I suppose,” she suggested. “He thought she should have everything her own way, just as she wanted it.”
