Page 27 of A Counterfeit Engagement

The carriage drew up to the Haverly townhouse late in the evening. Jonathan rather hated to wake Sophie, who was curled into him, her head pillowed on his shoulder.

Gently, he shook her. “Sophie, wake up. We’re home.”

She sat up with a yawn. “We’re here? Oh, thank goodness. I shall be glad to leave the carriage and stretch my legs.”

“As will I,” Jonathan agreed. He opened the door and stepped down, holding his hand out to assist Sophie. Taking it, she jumped to the pavement as lightly as though she had not just been awakened from a sound sleep.

Suddenly, the front door shot open, discharging Sarah and Isabel. Their swift run to the carriage made up for its lack of elegant propriety with its abundance of sisterly affection.

Jonathan picked up Sarah in a tight embrace and swung her around him, making her giggle. “Oh, it is good to have you back!” Sarah gasped.

Isabel released Sophie from her tight hug and laughed. “Sophie, just look at what we have missed in not having a brother! Doesn’t it look wonderful?”

“Well, you have a brother now,” Jonathan announced playfully. He caught Isabel around the waist and swung her in a circle, too, though with a bit more care than he had caught up Sarah. She laughed heartily.

“I am glad, indeed, that our family is twice the size it used to be,” Sophie said warmly.

“As am I,” Jonathan agreed. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her tight. “It is a rather chilly evening. Had we not better go inside?”

Sarah gasped. “Sophie has not even been over the house yet! Come, Sophie, Isabel and I will show you everything.” She grabbed Sophie’s hand, and the three ladies hurried inside, leaving Jonathan grinning at their hasty retreat.

Ned the coachman had finished unloading their luggage and handing it off to a team of footmen. He chuckled quietly. “If you’ll forgive me being so bold, my lord, you chose well with that one. You’ll always have a happy family, t’be sure.”

“Thank you, Ned,” Jonathan murmured, strangely moved by the simple praise. “I hope you’re right, indeed.”

“I’m a good judge of character, I am,” Ned went on. “The missus and I have been married going on twenty years now, and not a thing would I change.” With a snap of the reins, he set the horses into motion. “Good night, my lord.”

“Good night, Ned,” Jonathan said, and followed his lady into the house.

“Welcome home, Your Grace,” said Mrs Jennings, the housekeeper, with a curtsy. “Shall we go over the house now, Your Grace?” she asked Sophie.

“I should like that,” Sophie said decidedly, and the party set off.

With a little hesitancy, Mrs Jennings turned to her. “I have assigned a lady’s maid to you, Duchess. My niece Emily is a very good girl, and prodigiously talented in arranging hair. But of course you shall choose another, if she does not suit you.”

“Thank you, Mrs Jennings. I am sure Emily will suit me perfectly. I am grateful that you have thought of it.”

“A pleasure, Your Grace.” After appending a smile and a quick curtsey to her remark, Mrs Jennings led them up the grand staircase. “I thought we would leave the attic for another day, if it meets your approval. It is rather late already.”

“That it is, Mrs Jennings,” Sophie agreed. “Indeed, let us save the attic for another day.”

“Then we’ll go to the third floor and work our way down from there,” Mrs Jennings announced. “There are four bedchambers there, two on either side of the stairs.”

“My room is on the left,” Sarah announced. “And once the lease on your house is up, Isabel and I are determined she shall have the room next to mine.”

“The duchess shall decide who has which room, Lady Sarah,” Mrs Jennings told her firmly. “You have lived in this house for many a year, but it is your brother’s wife who takes precedence.”

“I know, Mrs Jennings, I should not want to take precedence of Sophie,” Sarah said impatiently. “But wouldn’t it be delightful for Isabel and I to be next door to each other?”

Sophie laughed. “I am sure I shall have no objection.” They reached the head of the stairs, and Sarah led them into her room.

It was a bright, tidy space, with a fine window and a bouquet of flowers on the dressing table.

The furniture was simple in design, but made of wood carved by a skilful hand and polished as smooth as glass.

A stack of three books next to the bed announced Sarah’s active membership in one of London’s lending libraries.

“It is lovely, Sarah,” Sophie said, looking around.

“I could tell it was your room at a glance.” They moved on to the room next door, which Sarah intended for Isabel.

Sophie could easily tell how much Isabel wanted it for her own.

The room was not as newly fitted as Sarah’s.

Though it was a fine guest room, it lacked the freshness and personality of a family room.

Slowly, Sophie turned around in the centre of the room, taking in each detail.

Her sister was biting her lip, clearly keeping her sisterly petition unspoken before Mrs Jennings.

Otherwise, Sophie had no doubt, she would have been earnestly entreating her for the use of the room.

“This has been a guest room for many years, though it was His Grace’s room when he was a boy. It was redone when he moved into the lord’s bedchamber, but I think it’s hardly been touched since,” Mrs Jennings explained.

“I thought it looked a touch outmoded,” Sophie said. She couldn’t bear to tease Isabel any longer. Turning to her sister, she asked her, “How shall you like this for your room, Isabel?”

“Oh, how wonderful!” Isabel gasped. “Just think, Sarah, to be one door apart from each other!”

Sophie laughed. “And a whole flight of stairs away from your big sister. We shall have such fun redecorating for you, Isabel!”

Isabel and Sarah both started talking at once, speaking over each other in their haste. Sophie could hardly follow, though neither of the two younger women seemed to have any trouble.

“Let us leave them to their fun, Mrs Jennings, while you show me the rest of the house,” Sophie suggested.

“Yes indeed, Your Grace,” Mrs Jennings said, and led on. The two bedrooms on the other side of the stair were similar to the one that would be Isabel’s — fine guest rooms, though a bit impersonal. Sophie could easily imagine one being redone for her mother.

The two women went down to the second story.

Mrs Jennings began by leading her to the largest and finest bedchamber — the ducal suite.

Jonathan’s room was spacious and airy. A large fire kept the air warm even in the January chill.

Sophie looked at the noble old four-poster bed, wide-eyed.

It was very large, indeed. And she could so easily imagine Jonathan taking her up in his arms and…

Mrs Jennings opened a connecting door. “This is the duchess’s bedchamber,” she said. Sophie chased away her errant thoughts and did her best to pay proper attention. She followed Mrs Jennings through the open door.

“It looks as though it has been left alone for a long time,” Sophie said, her voice hushed.

Mrs Jennings looked at her sympathetically. “Indeed it has been, Your Grace. Nothing has been done to it but cleaning, ever since the duke’s mother passed away.”

The room was indeed clean, but not much more could be said for it. Its furnishings were badly outdated and somewhat worn. The paintings on the walls were indifferent in quality and gloomy in tone. Sophie had the sense that it had never been a truly cheerful room, even when occupied.

“If you’ll forgive my saying so, you should have this place redone as quick as anything. It has lovely bones. It can be a happy place. Just you wait and see.”

Sophie smiled at her. “I am sure you are right, Mrs Jennings. Once I have consulted with the duke as to what he would like done, I shall begin making it more to my tastes right away.” They stood looking at the gloomy chamber for long moments, both lost in their thoughts.

Sophie wondered if Mrs Jennings was remembering the woman who had once lived here, lost so many years.

The last Duchess of Belford, Jonathan and Sarah’s mother.

There was a soft knock on the open doorframe. “Hello, Duchess, Mrs Jennings,” Jonathan greeted them. “May I join the tour?”

Sophie held out her hands to him. “Of course.”

“Will you kindly make over this space, Sophie? It needs it rather badly.”

She laughed. “I would be happy to. The windows are delightful. I must have a sitting area in their light.”

“I look forward to seeing what you make of it.” Jonathan squeezed her hands, then tucked her arm under his. “Please go on with the tour, Mrs Jennings.”

“Yes, Your Grace,” Mrs Jennings said respectfully. She led them away from the lord and lady’s bedchambers and on to the rest of the second story. They peered in briefly to the music room with Sarah’s favourite piano, but as Sophie was already familiar with it, they did not stay long.

The last rooms on the second floor were the library and Jonathan’s study.

“This is a dangerous room, indeed,” Sophie said absent-mindedly, looking over the shelves. “If I am ever missing or late for an engagement, you will have to come looking for me in here. It would be entirely too easy to lose track of time among all these books.”

Jonathan laughed. “One day, we must go to Nathan’s country estate. His library there outdoes this library, or even the library at my own country house, as the sun does the moon.”

“Oh?” Sophie inquired eagerly. “Does it have stairs that slide along the shelves? I have always loved them.”

“The very same,” Jonathan confirmed. He paused a moment. “On second thought, I believe I must have the library in our manor redone, so that it may have them as well.”

“Jonathan, how you spoil me,” Sophie said laughingly. “You must let me see your library first, and then I will decide if any alterations are to be permitted. It may be that it is already too perfect to admit them.”

Jonathan raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. “My darling wife, it is an excellent library, but I will never now be satisfied with it until it has stairs that slide along the shelves.” He gestured to a small connecting door at the far end of the library. “Let me show you my study.”

Their small party moved through the door into Jonathan’s workspace.

Sophie studied it thoughtfully. “It looks so much like you, somehow,” she said at last. “You must have redecorated with great care.”

“I am fond of it,” Jonathan admitted. “But it has grown late. Perhaps we might go to bed now, and save the rest of the tour for tomorrow. I shall be delighted to show you the gardens at the back of the house, but not tonight.”

Sophie nodded. “I am sure we would all like our rest. Thank you, Mrs Jennings. Let us finish our tour tomorrow.”

Mrs Jennings curtsied respectfully. “Yes indeed, Duchess. I bid you goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Mrs Jennings,” they chorused, and directed their steps back towards the stairs.

“Do you know, Sophie, I have just had a rather pleasant thought,” Jonathan said. “With the duchess’s bedchamber in such a gloomy state, you will have no choice but to spend the night with me.”

Sophie laughed happily. “A trial indeed, Jonathan.”