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But that hurt too much to dwell on, so Anne went to her parlor to see the silver coffeepot and two biscuits set out for her, with the neat stack of leather portfolios and the day’s business within.
Just like every day.
It felt different knowing that Letty wasn’t bustling around the estate. Of all the wonderful things that she had filled the house with, the most valuable of all had been her presence. Without her, it felt empty.
Hawthorne swept in and Anne was reminded that the house was not entirely empty after all.
“To what do I owe this honor?” she asked, setting aside her pen.
“I have been thinking of our situation. You run the dukedom better than any man,” Hawthorne said. “Better than I would do myself. Can’t you continue to run things there, while I focus my attention on politics?”
Anne stared. “Wouldn’t that ruin the illusion of the duke’s power? I thought the point of your return to this house was to strengthen your case in parliament, to be known as a shrewd manager of your affairs.”
“I have decided that I would prefer to showcase my excellent taste in choosing a wife, and hand over all decision-making to you. This is your strength, Annie. You should have had the power from the beginning, and I was too foolish in Paris to realize what limits you were working under.”
“It is the ducal discretion to change one’s mind, after all,” she said. Warmth blossomed inside her. “But if I remember correctly, I think I chose you as a husband first.”
“This dukedom stands for equality, after all.” He slipped a hand into his pocket and withdrew a tiny package wrapped in a scrap of velvet. “Here.” He presented it to her with a flourish.
She peeled the fabric away and stared down at a heavy gold ring.
“It’s yours and yours alone,” he said.
She turned it over to look at it more closely and gasped when she grasped its significance.
It was a signet ring.
He twisted his own from his finger and dropped it into her palm. They were almost identical in design, studded with tiny rubies and opals, but the new ring was smaller. She slid it onto her middle finger and held her right hand in front of her, admiring it. Instead of the swirling HawthorneHby itself, this one had a gracefulAandHintertwined.
“You can sign any document as Anne, Duchess of Hawthorne, and this seal will signify that the decisions are made on behalf of us both in this dukedom. You don’t need to use the Hawthorne seal anymore and hide behind my name to approve anything. I know it’s unusual to have two signet rings in the family.” He grinned. “But I think we are rather unusual.”
It was rare for a woman to have her own signet. Anne smiled. Theywerefamily, the two of them. “Thank you for the gift. I appreciate this more than I can say.”
Her name would finally mean something besides self-preservation and condemnation of others. She owned her own place now in the dukedom. Decisions that she made would contribute to her personal legacy.
As she stared down at the ring, she felt a wave of excitement for everything that it represented. Power. Opportunity. Progress.
She had stayed in London all through the winter. Now that she had the power, she wanted to tour their holdings and put plans into action to improve and modernize each one.
But most of all, Anne wanted to tell Letty that they had won after all.
Yet what was winning without the love of her life beside her to share it?
She frowned.
“You seem bereft. Is it the absence of the charming Miss Barrow? I never seem to hear her laughter in the halls these days, and the rooms are remarkably quiet without the work crew.”
“I’m not bereft,” she muttered, then sighed.
“Come here.”
She sat beside him on the sofa.
“Take some comfort. Cry if you must.”
“I wouldn’t want to ruin your coat.”
“Its loss will be a tailor’s gain, for I shall simply have another one made to measure.”
