Page 9 of A Duke for Stealing (The Devil’s Masquerade #4)

CHAPTER FIVE

One Week Later

“ T hese linens shall be perfect for the festival today, Mrs. Mulberry,” Rose stated, laying down the off-white napkin embroidered with purple thistles.

“Place these and the matching table cloths on the tables outside, please, and bring out the second-best china and stemware. I want our people to feel as appreciated as possible.”

“Yes, Your Grace,” Mrs. Mulberry replied, then signaled for the maids to come forward to gather them up.

Today was the annual farmer’s appreciation festival, an event the late Duchess of Stapleton had started five years ago.

It brought all of the farmers that supplied the estate year-round together to feast on a meal with the Duchess and Duke themselves on the estate’s grounds.

It was a tradition Rose was determined to continue and succeed at.

She had sent the invitation to Everett, but he had not replied. Nor had they seen another since their argument. She was not surprised that he’d ignored her, now that he knew he could not seduce her into obeying him. She imagined that for him, it was quite a blow.

“How is the cook doing on the feast?” Rose asked, focusing on the matter at hand.

“As you requested, we hired more help for him,” Mrs. Mulberry replied. “I suspect that he is doing just fine, but I shall go down to the kitchens and ask him if you would like.”

“Please do,” Rose agreed, getting up from her seat. “When you are finished, please join me in the garden. I want to choose our flowers for the table adornments next. I also want all the wives and children to be able to have their own bouquet to take home.”

“Very good, Your Grace,” Mrs. Mulberry replied, her smile proud as she curtseyed toward Rose.

Though they’d gotten off on a rather stiff foot, Rose felt as if she were proving herself to the stern housekeeper, and she was glad for it.

A mutual respect between staff and master, she thought, was the best sort of relationship to have.

After what she went through with her mother’s poor management, Rose was determined not to have a constant turnover in staff and to ensure that every employee was settled and remained for a considerable time.

With her small book and pencil in hand, Rose walked into the garden and began to note which flowers she wanted for the bouquets. She had just stopped to inspect a rather gorgeous bunch of lavender she considered for her own rooms when she heard a high-pitched scream.

Jolting upright, Rose looked toward the sound and found Diana running in her direction, tears trickling down her bright red face and a smudge of dirt on her white lace frock.

“Diana!” Rose called, dropping her notebook.

She hurried to meet the child. Without thinking, she went down to her knees and wrapped her arms tightly around the little girl.

She stroked a hand down the little girl’s hair, trying to console Diana as her small arms wrapped around Rose’s neck.

As she’d told Everett, she’d been trying to get closer to the girls a little every day, and it had been a great struggle.

Any time she thought she was getting close to either of them, Leah would suddenly grow upset and demand that Rose leave them alone.

“Hush, sweet child, it is alright,” Rose soothed.

She pulled back just enough to pull out her kerchief and clean Diana’s tear-stained face.

“What is it? Tell me what’s wrong?”

“A- a b-bee,” Diana sobbed, “It got caught in my hair!”

“Oh, no,” Rose sympathized, “That is a horrid turn, to be sure.”

She leaned up, combed her fingers through Diana’s blonde strands as she inspected her head.

“It is gone now, though. I promise,” Rose soothed.

“I fell trying to get away,” Diana huffed through her sobs. She pointed to the rip in her stockings right above her left knee. “It stings!”

“Oh, falls are never pleasant, are they?” Rose asked, then drew the little girl in for another embrace.

“Miss Diana!” Mrs. Mulberry’s voice shrilled.

Rose looked up to see the housekeeper look most displeased at them as she approached.

“What have I told you about playing in the garden alone? Where is your nurse?” Mrs. Mulberry scolded.

Diana whimpered as she huddled deeper into Rose’s arms. Mrs. Mulberry moved to snatch her away from the embrace, but Rose quickly turned them. The housekeeper’s reaching hand bounced off Rose’s shoulder, and she looked at them with alarm.

“I shall take care of this, Mrs. Mulberry,” Rose stated politely.

Mrs. Mulberry huffed, and when she spoke next, it was as if she were straining to be respectful.

“You are far too busy to be dealing with the children today, Your Grace. I kindly suggest that you allow me to take her back inside.”

“I have time for both the children and today’s responsibilities, Mrs. Mulberry,” Rose replied calmly. “I dropped my list by the lavender bushes. Do be so kind as to find it and have the gardeners begin their cutting.”

“But Your Grace, the time!” Mrs. Mulberry insisted.

“Is on my side,” Rose replied. “This will take but a moment, I assure you. Have the flowers laid out on the dining table, and I shall be there soon to help arrange the bouquets.”

Mrs. Mulberry pursed her lips together, as if trying to cut off the words she wanted to say, and gave a dutiful nod as she walked away.

“There now,” Rose said, pulling Diana back once they were alone. “Let us take a look at you.”

With a sniffle, Diana took a step back and let Rose inspect her skinned knee.

“It is not all bad,” Rose promised once she finished. “A bit of soap and water, and you shall be back to perfection. Why do we not go inside and have your nurse clean you up?”

“But cleaning cuts hurts worse than getting them!” Diana pouted.

“That can be true, can it not?” Rose asked, giving Diana an empathetic nod, “What if I read you a story whilst your nurse bandages you up?”

Some of the sadness left Diana’s eyes, and she nodded.

Then, when Rose stood, Diana offered her her hand, much to her surprise.

Smiling fondly down at the child, Rose took her hand, and the two of them walked inside.

They soon found Diana’s nurse, and while she worked to clean and bandage the scrape, the little girl sat in Rose’s lap as she read another chapter of the storybook.

“You have come to slay me?” Rose read, making her voice deeper as she read the part of the dragon, “Foolish knight! I shall suck on your bones like those before you! You will not take the princess from me!”

Diana giggled in Rose’s arms. It was the first sign of happiness Rose had seen from the little girl, and it made her heart swell with hope.

“Are you laughing at me?” Rose asked, then tickled the little girl’s side.

“You sound terribly funny as a dragon,” Diana giggled.

Rose smiled, then tried to frown as she spoke again in a deep voice.

“I am not funny. I am ferocious. Roarrrr.”

Diana’s giggles grew louder, and Rose could not help but join her.

“I do sound a bit funny, do I not?” She asked in a way of agreement.

“Nay, Your Grace,” the nurse spoke up.

Rose raised her head to see the woman looking at her fondly.

“You are doing just fine with the parts you are playing.”

Rose gave the woman a grateful smile and a small nod.

“How is our little patient?” She asked.

“All bandaged up,” the nurse replied. “I shall fetch her a clean pair of stockings, and then she is free to go.”

“Hear that?” Rose asked Diana, giving her a little squeeze. “You can play again very soon. Is that not wonderful?”

“Would you come play with me?” Diana asked, her tone hopeful.

“Diana!”

Before Rose could answer, Leah’s voice broke through the air. Rose turned and saw the oldest twin stalk toward them, her hands curled into fists.

“What are you doing?” She demanded.

Rose looked down as the little girl slid from her lap, taking big steps away from Rose.

“I fell in the garden, Lady Rose was just helping me,” Diana meekly replied.

Leah glared harshly at Rose, then turned to her sister.

“If you are hurt, you come to me, understand?” Leah demanded. “We do not need her.”

“Leah,” Rose interjected, her tone soft, “It is alright. I wanted to help.”

“We do not need your help,” Leah stated with displeasure.

She then walked over to the nurse holding a clean pair of stockings for Diana, and snatched them from her hands.

“I shall take care of it,” Leah stated, glaring at the nurse.

“You will watch your temper, little lady,” the nurse reprimanded.

“And you will remember your place,” Leah shot back, speaking with a tone far beyond her years. “Both of you. Neither of you is our mother. Now leave us!”

“Do not take that tone with the Lady of this house!” The nurse warned, but Rose quickly stopped her.

“All is well, nurse,” Rose said calmly, then turned a steady gaze toward the girls.

Diana looked positively frightened, while Leah looked like a lioness protecting her cub. Yelling was not going to get them anywhere.

“We will leave you be,” Rose said, putting a lead hand on the nurse’s arm. “But know that we are not far if you need us. We are here for you.”

“We do not need you!” Leah shouted as Rose and the nurse left, “We do not need anyone!”

The door slammed so violently that it echoed through the hall and made Rose wince.

“Your Grace, if I may,” the nurse urged, “You must not let her speak to you like that.”

“Under normal circumstances, I would agree,” Rose replied, “However, this situation is both horrid and unique. The girls miss their parents deeply, and now they have an entire household of adults telling them what to do. I cannot imagine how lonely and poorly that would make one feel.”

The nurse looked as if she were going to argue for a moment, but then she curtseyed to Rose.

“I pray one day I have your patience and insight, Your Grace. They are honorable attributes.”

Rose gave her a kind smile.

“Let us hope so,” she replied.

Though she wanted to stay, Rose knew Mrs. Mulberry was waiting for her in the dining room, no doubt fit to be tied by how long she’d taken.