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“Mrs.Hardy, please have a look around.If there is anything you need, just ring the servant’s bell and someone will be along to help.”Mr.Raleigh set the sack near the door but placed her reticule on a short bureau opposite the beds.
The girls were both sitting on the mattress.Elaina’s hair was being brushed, then the woman quickly started a long braid.“There you are, my sweet.Now, let’s get you abed.”
Ava saw Rose first.“Mama!”she said.She shoved her thumb back in her mouth, and with her other hand, stroked a piece of her long, dark hair through her fingers.
“Why aren’t you asleep, darling?”
“Did the man come, Mama?”Elaina asked.The doll was secure beneath her arm.
“He did.Almost like the queen’s knight, but no white horse.And we are at his house now.”Rose sat beside Ava and held her close, comfortable warmth between them.Already her eyes were closing again.
Elaina glanced at her from beneath her covers.“We can be safe now?”
“Yes, I think so.For a long time.”
“Right you are, my dear.I’m Tilly, Mrs.Hardy.”
“Good evening.”If this was the woman who would help care for her children, Rose felt comforted.Her cheery smile and warm red cheeks reflected kindness.But Rose’s joy was temporary as she remembered all the faithful servants she’d left behind at Sandhurst.
“That’s not Mrs.Hardy,” Elaina said.“She’s Her Grace.”
“I have a new name now.”Ava snuggled next to Rose.She would have lain beside her if there was room on the bed.“And it’s proper that they call me Mrs.Hardy, just like you call me Mama.”
The bed they’d brought in was dressed in sheets and blankets.A third bed.For her.Had Mr.Hardy approved?Or been the one who thought of her worry and made allowances for her comfort?Already she owed him more than a disgraced duchess could ever repay.
Then she noticed the children’s trunks.How had the servants been so efficient?The lids were opened and two of the servants were busy sorting.Rose was in the center of this busy world, but no one bothered her.She heard a hall clock, the two doleful rings reminded her of the lateness of the hour.
Raleigh shooed and hurried the maids along.Rose placed Ava on her bed, beneath her covers.Tilly bobbed a curtsy, checked Elaina again and was ready to depart.“I’ll be next door if you need anything,” she whispered.Raleigh then doused three of the candles, leaving one for her to see when she undressed and prepared for her own sleep.
“Tilly, where is Mr.Hardy’s room?”
“At the other end of the hall.The last door on the left.”
Another pitter-patter sounded, hurried footsteps that stopped at her room.“Oh, I hope I’m not too late,” another servant said to Raleigh, in between gasps of breath.
“I would say your timing is perfect, Sylvan.”
Rose felt alone, even though she was still with her drowsy children and her husband was somewhere in the massive home.
“Here is a nightgown and slippers for you, Mrs.Hardy.I had to wake the proprietress.I hope I got the right size.”The girl smiled brightly.Was there a happier bunch of servants in London?
“Who?”
“Oh, Mrs.Weddle.She owns a shop at Islington Corner.I ran all the way and pounded on her door ’til my hand hurt.But I got exactly what Mr.Hardy instructed.”
“That is very kind of you.”She had twelve trunks.Had her nightgowns disappeared?
“Don’t thank me.I am only doing what Mr.Hardy asked.And I’m happy to do so for our new mistress.”
At last, the maids and butlers and newly assigned nannies had departed.
Another start of tears and crippling aloneness caused Rose to look down at her wedding ring.For five months since Edmond had died, she had hidden behind the haughty nature of a duchess, pretending that nothing was wrong, that nothing could touch her.How mistaken she was.
Gah!She just wanted this night over.And she wanted her marriage consummated.She wanted to return to normal—whatever normal was for the new Mrs.Hardy.
Rose worked at the ties and buttons of her skirt, bodice and undergarments until she was bare.The soft night rail fit beautifully.The slippers she would wear tomorrow.
She lay in the small bed, on her side.Had she done the right thing?Should she have run off to Paris or to a Greek isle?Should she have waited to marry another titled lord or allowed her belly to give away her secret?
