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“I am fine,” she promised, squeezing his arms. “I just came to visit. Come, let us go into the parlor and sit; it is terribly warm in here.”
“Of course!” he breathed, untying his apron. “Of course, yes. But I must change, else the housekeeper will scold me again for staining the couches.”
Filled with delight, Edwina laughed and hugged him again, not minding the smudges of soot across his shirt. “I shall go in and meet you there in a few minutes. I shall call for a tray in the meantime.”
“Of course, of course,” he breathed, hurrying off.
Edwina headed to the parlor, feeling genuinely happy for the first time in days. As she promised her father, she called for a tray and went into the parlor to wait for her father. While she was waiting, Bertie popped up.
“I was on my way up to help your father, but I heard you were here and just wanted to greet you,” he said.
Edwina stood and hugged him tightly. “Oh, it is so good to see you, Bertie.”
“It is good of you to visit,” he told her, breaking their embrace. “Your father has thrown himself into his work, but he misses you terribly.”
She pressed her hand to her heart. “I have missed him as well.”
Bertie bowed quickly. “Sorry, I guess I should call you Your Grace now that you are a Duchess.”
She squeezed his arm. “It is all right. I’ll still just be Edwina to everyone here.” He smiled at her before quickly heading up to the bedrooms. Edwina sat back down, and the butler brought her a stack of letters.
“You said you would take them when you left, but since you are waiting, I thought you might like to go through them.”
“Thank you,” Edwina breathed, taking the letters from him before he bowed out again. Surprised by the number of letters, she flipped through them, scanning the seals. One from Somersby caught her eye, and she broke the seal immediately. She had almost finished reading the letter when her father came down, hastily washed up and dressed.
“Oh, my, I meant to have those sent to you,” he remarked, seeing the stack of letters. “What is with the frown?”
“I did not even notice I was frowning,” she replied, rubbing the crease in her brow. “Lady Somersby has invited me to supper to introduce me to several suitors. She proposed only a few days from today, and, of course, I have not yet replied.”
“I am so sorry, again, my dear,” he said, sitting down next to her. She took his hand. “I never meant for this to happen. You could have married someone better for you, someone you loved and who would treat you well.”
“It is not your fault,” Edwina whispered, squeezing his hand. “I chose to do this.”
“But you did not have to. Tell me, is he treating you well?” Edwina hesitated to answer.
“Tell me at once if he has hurt you,” Father said, growing impatient and concerned. “Please, be honest with me. I will help you.”
“It is not like that!” she quickly protested. “No, I think he is a good man deep down. He has been respectful, just distant.”
“You do not seem happy,” he observed. “Edwina, I know you. What is on your mind?”
“It has only been a few days,” she rushed. “I have no idea what to expect. I cannot say yet if I will be truly happy with him, or not, but we are married now, and I will make the best of it.”
He started to interject again, but a maid entered with a tray of tea and biscuits, and Edwina used the opportunity to change the subject. “What have you been working on? I see you have already gotten your workshop together.”
“Oh, not yet!” he cried excitedly. Edwina took a biscuit and nibbled at it while he talked. “I was just trying out my new soldering set up there. That was the first time I used that new set, just on a piece of scrap metal. I still want to get a billow for the fire. I am not sure that it is hot enough for blacksmithing at the moment, and of course, I shall need to shape parts for my invention.”
“Of course,” she laughed. “And what invention is that?”
“I am working on something I would call a rotating scythe,” he explained. He turned his hands around each other. “It would allow one to cut lawns and such with much more ease. Perhaps your husband would be interested in trying it on his grounds.”
“Get a working model together, and perhaps we can see,” Edwina said, smiling. “Oh, Papa. I am so happy that you are working again. You seem so much happier.”
“Bah,” he said, waving his hand. “I would rather have you home than my workshop.”
“It was bound to happen someday. I was to marry soon, regardless, and I would not have been home then. So, I am glad that out of this deal you got the funds to do what you wanted.”
“Still, it is terribly lonely.”
