Page 13 of A Deal with an Artistic Lady (Marriage Deals #2)

‘Will you join me in the library, Hannah?’ Caleb asked as he stood from the dining table. Anne looked almost offended and Emmeline’s eyes sparkled as she witnessed her brother displaying warmth toward his new wife.

‘Oh – thank you. That would be wonderful,’ Hannah accepted and pushed her chair back. She looked to the Dowager Duchess with a slight nod as she passed, only to be glowered at in response.

Caleb led the way across the hall and held the large, mahogany door open for Hannah to enter. She ducked into the library and was once again enamoured by the change of atmosphere. From the draughtiness of the echoing hallway to the warm silence within the library. As the door closed behind them, it felt like a new little world only they could inhabit.

Hannah wondered why, specifically, he had brought her here; if there was a particular book he wished to discuss. But Caleb did not utter a word. He slowly paced the length of a bookshelf, running his finger along the spines of the volumes as he passed them. Hannah simply watched – she would not start picking out books uninvited.

His movement cast shadows dancing across the room in the warm glow of the flickering candlelight and Hannah breathed in the comforting scent of leather and old paper. It was no wonder this was Caleb’s favourite place.

Hannah wanted to respect Caleb’s silence and remain peaceful, but she also wondered what was expected of her. She was about to ask when Caleb’s hand came to rest on a very large, heavy-looking tome bound in a beautiful casement of thick, tan leather. He used both hands to dislodge it from the neighbouring books and blew away a light covering of dust from the top.

‘Look here,’ Caleb requested and Hannah crossed the room, eager to see what he had selected. As she arrived at his shoulder, she took a sharp intake of breath, noticing the ornate cover and gilded lettering that read A Rare Collection of Renaissance Art.

‘Oh!’ Hannah exclaimed involuntarily. Caleb turned to take in her expression and saw there a sparkle in her eyes – she lit up at the appearance of the book.

Caleb handed it to her and as he did so, their hands briefly brushed past one another. Hannah caught her breath and Caleb’s eyes flickered up at her with a sincerity she had never seen before; there was an awareness that neither of them would articulate but both were acutely conscious of its presence.

Hannah gratefully took the large book into her arms, cradling it with care. Delicately, she lifted the front cover, her fingers trembling slightly. The beautiful specimen of literature opened at a page depicting the Last Supper. Hannah took her time studying each small, detailed face and felt Caleb step forwards and lean in over her shoulder to see more clearly.

‘Here-’ Caleb leaned across and turned a couple of pages, clearly familiar with the book and aware of where to find the image he hoped to show her.

He was so close to her that she could feel his warm breath upon her cheek and she breathed in the intoxicating scent of his cologne; a subtle mix of sandalwood and citrus. All her senses were on alert, feeling him in such close proximity. The atmosphere felt charged, yet Caleb seemed so relaxed.

He located the desired page and smoothed it down with his hand, for Hannah to see.

The image was of a library; it was a warm glow of orange illuminating rows of heavy leather-clad books. In the foreground was a richly-coloured rug upon a wooden floor and up above was a stained-glass window, casting glorious colours that pooled on the floor.

‘This is a page I spent many hours marvelling at, as a child. I wanted to live inside this picture,’ Caleb whispered, his words deep and low at her neck as he bent over the book.

‘It’s glorious,’ Hannah agreed. ‘But you already have your own beautiful library.’

‘I am privileged, I know. As a boy, however, this library belonged to my father and access was not readily granted. This library-’ Caleb indicated the picture in the book ‘was my ideal library. Inside my head, I invented a whole world around it…’

‘I expect the reality never quite matches up to the dream…’

Caleb paused. ‘Sometimes, it can exceed it…’

Hannah turned to look at him and his face was only inches from her own; much closer than she had anticipated yet he did not move away.

His eyes shone with a depth and vulnerability that was new. Hannah felt curious that this man could keep demonstrating something unexpected.

‘Do you notice,’ Caleb drew her attention back to the page ‘how the cosy lighting of the library contrasts the cold light from the window? And if you look closely – you can see delicate flakes of snow falling outside the stained-glass window…’

Hannah leaned further in to ascertain if this was correct.

‘I say! There really are!’ she exclaimed.

‘Doesn’t the suggestion of cold outside further heighten our joy at the intimacy of the warm library?’

Enriched by the soothing tone of his deep, content voice, Hannah allowed herself to slightly lean back toward him. Their shoulders touched and the contact sent an invigorating shiver down her spine.

Hannah turned to smile up at Caleb. ‘It does,’ she paused, looking up into his face as she collected her own thoughts on the art piece. ‘I believe the artist-’

But at that moment, the tranquillity was broken as the library door creaked open, revealing Anne standing in the doorway.

Hannah and Caleb sprung apart and the large book nearly fell from Hannah’s hands. Caleb reacted quickly and his instincts saved it from falling. As Hannah exhaled in relief, their eyes met in a moment of understanding.

Anne’s eyes twitched between the two of them, suspiciously.

‘Caleb. A word, please,’ his mother requested, though they both knew a request from Anne was a demand and no mistake.

Caleb looked at Hannah apologetically and she meekly nodded, accepting she would need to leave. She held the book tight against her chest and left the room with her head bent low as she passed her mother-in-law.

Caleb sighed with frustration as Hannah exited and his mother stepped into the space, closing the door behind her.

Anne’s slow footsteps were intrusively loud as she walked toward her son.

‘I do not like what she has done to the parlour room,’ Anne declared.

‘She? Are you referring to one of the maids?’ Caleb knew exactly to whom she was referring but did not like her tone.

Caleb thought it preferential to hear his mother’s whole side of the story and take him back to basics so that he could judge from an informed perspective.

‘Hannah. The parlour room you apparently granted her full access and permission to do with whatever she wished .’

‘And has she?’ Caleb asked jauntily.

‘You know she has!’ Anne shrieked at him.

‘On the contrary, I have not visited the parlour room since the day I gifted it to her. It is her private space and I have no authority to meddle. Tell me, if you have taken the liberty to visit, how is she utilising the space?’

‘She has converted the parlour into an Art Studio! ’ Anne spat the last couple of words, with disgust.

‘How interesting,’ Caleb nodded fondly.

‘It is unsightly and unseemly of a Duchess to be painting ’ Anne declared.

‘What would you have her do with the room?’ Caleb asked, quite genuinely.

‘She should sit in there to read and when she vacates the room, it is considerately available for other members of the household to use. I should like to be able to host friends and visitors in that room.’

‘But Mother, you never have.’

Anne looked at him in shock ‘But of course I have!’

‘I considered all four parlour rooms and am aware that you often take tea in two of them and in the other you read and sew. You have never frequented the parlour room on the ground floor back corridor, which is why I selected this one for Hannah’s exclusive use. If she chose to turn it into a stable area and breed chickens in there, I should be happy that she had found an activity to please her and occupy her time.’

‘That’s preposterous!’

‘Quite. Chicken breeding would be obscene in the house,’ Caleb nodded with a smile. ‘Whereas an Art Studio where a lady can express her creativity through painting is not preposterous – not in the least.’

Anne harrumphed, frustrated that her son would not fall in line with her opinion.

‘She could scandalize the Ton, Caleb!’ Anne hushed her voice as if somebody might hear this dirty secret.

‘A Duchess should be partaking in leisure pursuits that are fitting to her status. She should not be messing about with oils and colours that will sully her fingers and clothes! Is she a child?! If you insist upon this girl being your wife, it is your duty, Caleb, to correct her misconceptions about what is proper and acceptable behaviour for a Duchess!’

‘ Correct her, Mother?’

‘Yes!’ Anne’s eyes flamed with fury.

‘I do not believe Hannah’s occupation is incorrect and I will not be rectifying anything concerning how she chooses to spend her free time.’

‘You are insufferable, Caleb!!’ Anne snapped. ‘Such selfishness and stubbornness!’

‘Mother, I must have learned it from somewhere…’

The Duchess stamped her foot with barely repressed rage.

‘You do not seem to understand that she is stepping out of the acceptable boundaries from which a Duchess must uphold status and presence. If she brings shame on the family, it will be you who is held responsible. Is that what you want, Caleb? I insist you inform her she must transform the parlour room back to its former state or otherwise prepare it as a quaint sewing room or sweet place to read. I will not have her practising such scandalous activity in the Montwood household!’

Caleb took two steps toward his Mother and engaged a calm, controlled voice as he told her.

‘Hannah is the Duchess I have selected. Hannah is also an individual person and I will not quash her passions or talents to squeeze her into an acceptable box to please society. Frankly, Mother, whatever Hannah chooses to do in her parlour room or in her own time, is none of your business.’

Anne’s jaw dropped and Caleb stepped around her, exiting the library and closing the door behind him with a neat click.

The Dowager Duchess stood frozen to the spot, her face flushed with anger and indignation as she processed the realisation that her son could no longer be called to heel. She used to have such influence over him, but now he was a man and was choosing an alternative path. He had displayed a defiance she had never witnessed from him before – and it originated from the introduction of Lady Hannah Haworth. Before she had come into his life, he would never have stood up to his mother in such a way. Anne seethed and felt vitriol toward Hannah which was now even stronger than it had been before.

She felt so angry at her situation in life. Her father had promised her to the Duke of Montwood when she was too young to have experienced any sort of living. They were thrown together against her will and she felt so bitter about it. Her husband had doted on her, which was irritating. He would bring her gifts to placate her, which made him look weak and pathetic. He instructed staff to furnish their home lavishly to make it comfortable for her but it was to his taste and not hers. He would try to be funny and his desperate efforts agitated her. The more time she spent around him, the more she was reminded that their partnership was merely satisfying a contract and if she had her way, she would be free of him and the constraints of his grand house.

When he had died so unexpectedly, she was conflicted – but she did not miss him. She was suddenly emancipated but found that she no longer wanted the freedom. She now had the power she had always lacked. She was the Dowager Duchess; the leader of the household finally and she had sovereignty over all the staff, guests, and her children. The supremacy was intoxicating and with her renowned temper, people revered her with obedience.

Only now Caleb had grown and garnered thoughts and morals all of his own. This compromised Anne’s superiority and she revolted against it. She didn’t want the shame of an annulment or a divorce within the family, but Caleb also had a surprise coming to him if he underestimated his mother and thought she was going to make this easy for him and his new wife. He had deliberately gone against her advice and married Hannah despite her foreboding and he would have to endure her acrimony as a result of his defiance.

Caleb strode away from the library toward his office, with a fierceness in his energy. He was outraged at his mother for her audacity in prescribing how his chosen Duchess; the new lady of the house, should behave. Additionally, it angered him that his mother could be so manipulative as to attempt to turn him against Hannah. He felt as though he were breaking free from her coercion – after a lifetime of performing to please her, he felt he could finally break free of her ordinance. Hannah’s appearance in his life had shown him that his mother’s regulation was not always correct and that he did not necessarily need to always adhere to her command. It was yet another moment of revelation; that Hannah was healthy for him – she was helping him to evolve, even without trying.

The moment he and Hannah had shared just before his mother’s unwelcome intervention, was intimate, warm, and personal. He had never anticipated such a connection with the woman his father had chosen on paper.

Caleb shook his head; he had never believed in marriage as an affectionate bond. Hannah was supposed to be part of an arrangement – developing feelings for her would only complicate the situation and distract him from his time when he was due to be tending to business.

Yet he could not deny that she piqued an interest in his mind and intrigued him emotionally. He had bargained for a woman in his space that he would be required to adjust to. Never had he considered that he would be taking in a woman to share his everyday world with; to welcome into his thoughts and share his deepest feelings. Yet he felt an urge to do so and, similarly, he felt a reciprocating desire from Hannah.

One thing Caleb knew for certain was that Hannah had an enemy in his mother and it was not Caleb’s duty to correct Hannah, as Anne had so wickedly suggested, but it was his duty to defend Hannah; to protect her and ensure she could thrive in her new role.

Caleb went into his office, locking the door so that his mother could not disturb him and further disrupt his thoughts. He poured a brandy to calm his nervous system and opened up some paperwork he needed to review regarding the proposed corn laws.

He read the first two sentences thrice; each time his mind wandering to how Hannah’s eyelashes appeared so long in the candlelight of the library; how sweet the skin of her neck smelt as he bent low to look at her book and how her smile had made something in his chest jump to attention.

Caleb slammed down the documents in frustration. This was why he didn’t need a wife to distract him. But when he considered his life just one week ago, he realised that he was happier with Hannah in his life than he had been without her.