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“Ah, my dear. How has the day been?” Lord Casey asked as she came into the room, collected the letter, and went over to her father.
“A footman came on behalf of Lord Mavis. He delivered this letter for you,” Diana said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. She was very eager to know what was contained within the letter and was sure that her parents would feel the same way.
Lord Casey carefully took the letter from her as Diana went and sat upon the settee next to her mother. Even Mrs Merriweather remained in the room, serving them all a cup of tea as Lord Casey took his time and opened the letter, then began to slowly read each word. Diana held a teacup in her hands but wasn’t bothering to drink any because she would rather know what the letter said instead of drink tea at a time like this.
Eventually, Lord Casey folded the letter and set it on his lap. He looked up and met Diana’s eyes, a small smile on his lips. Diana wasn’t sure what this reaction all meant, but the suspense was eating at her, making her almost lose her composure.
“The Duke has replied with a simple and to the point letter. He’s agreed to wed Diana and has invited us to dine with him the night after next,” Lord Casey explained. Diana went still as she tried to focus on just breathing. Certainty washed over her as she realized her fate had been sealed. She would be marrying this mystery man and would soon meet him for dinner. She would be Duchess of Chatham after all and all the wealth that came with the title. Their family would be saved from poverty and a tarnished reputation. It seemed that all their dreams could come true when it came to living comfortably.
“I won’t deny that I am eager to meet the Duke. I know not much of him and would like to know him more before the wedding day,” Diana said as she looked down at her cup of tea. It was still warm in her hands, and though she could acknowledge the warmth, she simply wasn’t sure if she could feel it.
Her body was slowly growing numb as Diana did her best to push down the emotions that threatened to bubble up. There was a pool of fear and uncertainty floating around in her body, and she wouldn’t allow herself to fall into it. Her feelings were irrelevant when it came to the duty she must fulfil for her parents. She was the way out of this mess, and she would do anything she could to make sure they were well cared for.
“He seemed like a charming young man when we last met him. He attended Vivian’s wedding about five years ago,” Lady Casey spoke up as she took a sip of her tea. Diana was surprised to hear this because her mother hadn’t spoken once about the Duke since she told her of what the Duke had written about. She watched her mother closely, wondering what other details about the Duke she might have all of a sudden remembered.
“So, he’s not an old, wrinkly man?” Diana asked. This caused her parents to chuckle as they both looked at her.
“No, my dear. The Duke is much younger than me,” Lord Casey reassured.
“And from what I can remember, he had a good disposition about him,” Lady Casey added. Diana was relieved to hear these few details about the Duke, but she supposed that she’d be learning all she needed to know in a few nights.
“I think I’ll go out to the garden and do a bit of weeding before dinner,” Diana said as she quickly drank her tea and handed the cup back to Mrs Merriweather, who continued to stand close by to offer any assistance.
“Would you like some company?” Mrs Merriweather asked as Diana rose from the settee.
“No, I shall be fine,” Diana said as she forced a smile to her lips. She then curtsied towards her parents.
Yet, before she could leave the room, Lord Casey spoke up and said, “Thank you for all that you do, Diana.” Diana looked at her father and could see the familiar sign of tears filling his eyes. She knew that she needed to comfort him, to reassure him that she didn’t feel betrayed by his choice.
“It is I that should be thanking you, Father. This is a wonderful opportunity and a perfect match. I look forward to finally getting to meet the Duke.” Diana focused on her smile, on appearing more pleasant than what she was feeling inside. Her words seemed to do the trick as both of her parents smiled at her, appearing to be pleased with her words and reaction.
She finally turned from them, letting her smile drop as she made her way out of the room. She travelled down the hallway and out the back door that led to the gardens not too far from the house. There, she sank down onto her knees and bent over a patch of lettuce, pretending to be pulling at the weeds as she instead worked hard to gain control over her emotions.
In the privacy of the gardens she wasn’t sure how to feel or act. She didn’t know if she should cry or scream. Diana wasn’t sure if she should feel relieved that soon she wouldn’t have to worry about money ever again or afraid of the type of man she was about to marry.
It would have been a different matter if she was already acquainted with the Duke, but with so much left to discover about the man, she didn’t feel comforted in the knowledge that she would soon be married to him.
The feeling that puzzled Diana the most was a sense that all her dreams and ideas of what she wanted to do with her life were now over. Not that Diana ever really thought about her future besides finding a way to stretch the last of their money, but she certainly didn’t expect to be placed into an arranged marriage. All of her older siblings had courted or been courted, had married in Town, save for Vivian who thought a country wedding would suit her the most, and then had gone on to have families and do what married people did.
Diana honestly thought that one day she would meet the same fate. She would meet someone, marry, and move far away. She never thought she’d marry in such a way that left her feeling uncertain about her future. The only thing that Diana could positively expect was wealth. She’d clearly seen that when observing the Duke’s carriage earlier that day. And unless the Duke was careless with his fortune, Diana could reasonably guess that she’d live the rest of her life in luxury far more than any of her siblings could ever imagine.
Outdoing her siblings seemed to be the only comforting thought that kept circulating in Diana’s mind as she began to work the soil and remove any weeds that would hinder the growth of her many vegetables. Diana could easily spend the rest of the day in the garden as she worked the soil, breathing in that pungent smell she wouldn’t have realized she liked if it wasn’t for her father’s current condition.
She figured that at least she had to see the positivity in it all. She’d learned a lot about housework and gardening and found that she did enjoy some of it. Now that she was about to become a duchess, she figured that she wouldn’t have to worry about chores or housework ever again. There were bound to be plenty of servants to take care of that matter.
As Diana worked tirelessly, she allowed the garden to be an outlet for her feelings. She poured everything that was coursing through her body into her work, pulling weeds, plucking leaves of lettuce that could be used with dinner, and making sure that any overgrowth was trimmed back.
She let every emotion that begged for her attention to instead be evacuated from her body through her fingertips and into the earth. She wouldn’t let what she was feeling inside control her. She’d continue to look at this arranged marriage as a way to finally be financially stable and provide a decent future for her parents.
When Diana could do no more in the garden, she collected the things that she’d plucked and took them into the kitchen through the kitchen door. There, she was not only able to wash the lettuce with a pale of water, but to scrub her arms and fingers till there was no more dirt underneath her nails. She started to think about meeting the Duke and what she’d wear. She’d wanted to appear as elegant as possible but knew that her lowly rank would also give her some leeway with her appearance.
“How are you feeling?” Cook asked once Diana brought her the freshly washed lettuce. Diana looked into her ageing face and pushed a smile back onto her lips like she’d done many times before.
“I am pleasantly exhausted from my work in the garden,” Diana honestly replied. “I think I’ll lose myself in a good book now.” Cook simply nodded as she turned back to her work over the stove to cook the roast and mix around the boiled potatoes. With having so little to work with, Cook always made the most splendid meals.
Diana left the kitchen then and made her way to her bedchamber. As she passed the drawing room, she could hear her parents talking idly about something. Their tone was too soft for her to make out the topic of their discussion, but Diana could reasonably guess that they were speaking about the upcoming marriage.
Diana didn’t bother stopping to talk to them about it but instead went upstairs to her bedchamber to change out of her soiled gown and apron and into something a little more comfortable for the remainder of the evening. Once changed, she settled down on the edge of her bed with a book she’d been reading in her idle time.
It was rare that she ever had a moment to herself to do something of her choosing, and when she did, she always liked to read. The action of reading never allowed her mind to wander, and instead, it stayed focused on the text before her. While she was reading, she could forget that reality even existed.
