Page 44 of The Work of Art

“Well, if our marriage were to progress like any other marriage—” She broke off with a flush of embarrassment. “That is to say, a new bride upon arriving at her husband’s home would begin to oversee things related to the household. She’d meet with the housekeeper and—”

“I didn’t marry you to gain a servant to run my household.”

“No, of course not, but I don’t wish to run your household as a servant might do. I…” She hesitated for a fraction of a second. “I’d like to be mistress of your house, Arthur, as any wife would be. But if you’d rather I not interfere with things—”

“You have all the authority of the Heywood name, Philly. You may do with it what you will. Don’t forget that no one else even knows of our particular arrangement. To the rest of the world, you’re simply my wife, with all of the rights that come with it. I won’t gainsay you in household affairs.”

He acceded to her so easily that Philly was given to suspect that he had very little interest in the running of his household. She brightened nonetheless. “You won’t be disappointed. I have a particular talent for managing a great house, you see. Why, I was running Satterthwaite Court while I was still sewing samplers.”

“I’ve no doubt.” He looked once more out the carriage window, his expression grim. “Heywood House may not be as great as you imagine.”

“No?”

“Don’t mistake me, it’s a grand old place, but most of it’s shut up now, and I’ve kept on very few servants.”

She nodded. “You’ve preferred to live quietly.”

“I don’t know if it’s a preference, but it’s how I’ve lived since coming back from the Peninsula.”

Philly hesitated. Arthur had never mentioned anything related to the war before. She was wary of saying the wrong thing. “Did no one come to stay with you when you first returned? Your father or your brother, perhaps?”

“In the beginning, yes, there was an excessive amount of company. I found myself quite unequal to it. I couldn’t bear the noise and all of the activity. Nor could I bring myself to be amiable to my guests for any length of time. Within two months, everyone had happily gone and left me alone again. Since then, I’ve had no one to stay, and there have been few callers. It’s…easier.”

She sighed. “Oh Arthur, will I disrupt your life very much?”

He turned his attention from the window, his gaze coming to rest on her face. “No, Philly. Not you.”

“I shall try not to. But even in a large house, we won’t be able to avoid each other completely.”

“Did you think I intended that we would?”

“I hoped you wouldn’t, but I wasn’t certain. Everything has happened so quickly, and there’s been no time to discuss any of the particulars. I don’t know anything about Heywood House or the servants. Why, I don’t even know the name of your village.”

“Heycombe.”

“Heycombe? Your family must have been there a very long time.”

“Several generations. Heywood House was the estate of Richard Heywood, a second son of the Earl of Gordon over one hundred years ago. When his elder brother was killed, Richard inherited the earldom. He gave Heywood House to his own second son. It’s been the residence of the second sons of the Earls of Gordon ever since.”

“So, you have charge of the estate quite independently of your father?”

“For the term of my life.”

“It must be a great deal of responsibility.”

“It’s not a heavy burden. The lands are prosperous and the tenants keep to themselves. My steward handles much of the day-to-day business of running the estate. In truth, he could do it quite well without me, and has done so during the years of my absence.”

“What is his name?”

“Bernard Pebmarsh.”

Philly committed the name to memory. “And your housekeeper?”

“Mrs. Lamb.”

“Mrs. Lamb,” she repeated to herself. “Oh, I do wish I’d thought to bring a bit of paper and a pencil. I might have taken notes on these things.”

“You needn’t worry about any of this, Philly. If you took it in your head to dismiss the entire staff and start afresh, I’d have no objection. They’re none of them the sort of lifelong retainers you had at Satterthwaite Court. Save for Pebmarsh and a few others, most were newly employed when I returned from Spain.”