Page 9 of Duchess By Accident (The Matchmaker’s Scheme #5)

Chapter Nine

“ T hank you, Mrs. Hawthorne. You have been a most wonderful help.” Natalie smiled at the housekeeper. “I am sure I shall rely most heavily upon you as I step into my role as mistress of the house.”

They had arrived at Blackwood Castle earlier that morning. Natalie had half expected the Duke to delay their departure given the length of the wedding revelries, but a maid had bounded into Natalie’s room at six in the morning to tell her that she had an hour to get ready.

As soon as she had arrived, the Duke vanished and left her in the hands of Mrs. Hawthorne who had spent much of the day introducing Natalie to the rest of the staff and giving her a tour of the estate.

“The previous Lady of the House, God rest her soul, did not take an interest in such things, she preferred to focus on her own hobbies and indulgences.” A look flashed across the housekeeper’s face that Natalie could not quite recognise, and Natalie wondered why the previous Duchess had been so uninvolved in the running of the house.

Perhaps the Duke did not let her. Natalie almost said as much aloud, but before she could, Mrs. Hawthorne said, “I have grown accustomed to managing things in my own way. With His Grace’s permission, of course. Ensuring everything is done to the highest standard.”

Natalie saw a slight tension to the woman’s shoulders, heard a cold edge beneath the professional veneer of her voice.

You need the staff on your side – if you do not have that, then you have no hope. The lesson her mother, her sister-in-law and her sisters had all tried to impress upon her, and here she was already failing.

Natalie forced herself to smile brightly. “I have no intention of undoing your hard work. I simply want to do my best to be the Duchess the estate deserves, and to support young Melody.”

As soon as Natalie said Melody’s name, Mrs. Hawthorne’s expression softened, a sadness stealing over her face. “Of course, Your Grace. And I will do all that I can do to be of assistance. I shall send the records you requested to your drawing room.”

“Wonderful.” Natalie glanced at the grandfather clock. “I thank you for your time, Mrs. Hawthorne, but I must prepare for dinner. Would you be able to fetch my maid?”

“She is already waiting for you.” Mrs. Hawthorne opened the door to Natalie’s room, and curtseyed. “Good day, your Grace.”

“Good day, Mrs. Hawthorne.” Natalie inclined her head towards the woman before slipping into her bedroom.

The familiar face of her lady’s maid Julia greeted her. Natalie slumped into a chair and rubbed at her temples.

“I feel like my head might burst, Julia. There is so much to take in. Even with your very helpful list of names and descriptions.” Natalie fished a folded piece of paper from her glove that she had used to learn the names of all the staff before she had arrived.

“I am sure you will get to grips with it all in time, my lady. I mean, Your Grace.” Julia frowned. “That will take some getting used to.”

“You need not bother with such formality while we are alone.”

“I am worried that I might slip up in front of the others, and if I do…”

“It would reflect poorly on me. Very well. I suppose I should get changed for dinner. Where are my evening dresses?”

“They are not here.”

“What do you mean?”

“It seems there was some kind of a mishap with some of our luggage, and your evening dresses have been taken to be washed.”

“Then what exactly am I supposed to wear?”

“The Duke apparently had the foresight to have several dresses commissioned for you, based on your measurements from the modiste.” Julia gestured to a nearby cupboard.

Natalie strode towards it, flinging the doors open and saw a note fastened to a midnight blue gown. She opened it and read.

Little Thief, I believe this point goes to me.

“We shall see about that.” Natalie glowered at the note and let her eyes drift across the dresses in the cupboard, finding a familiar white one. “I know exactly what I am going to wear.”

An hour later, Natalie swept into the dining room. She had debated being late, but saw no reason that Melody should be caught in the crossfire of her battle with the Duke. As she walked into the room, she saw the girl sitting beside her father.

“Good evening.” Natalie smiled at Melody. “It is good to see you.”

“You are wearing your wedding dress.” Melody frowned.

The Duke’s head snapped towards her, and Natalie saw his eyes narrow even as he swallowed. She beamed at him, her eyes full of triumph.

“I am. I had not planned on wearing it again so soon, but, well,the rest of my attire was met with an accident and it seemed a shame not to use it as an excuse to wear this lovely dress again.” Natalie addressed her words to Melody, deliberately looking away from the Duke. “Besides, I had hoped to keep it for special occasions, and what could be more special than our first dinner together?”

“I could not agree more.” The Duke’s voice was full of quiet amusement. “Please take a seat. Yates, you may lay the food on the table.”

Natalie sat down beside the Duke, opposite Melody. The Duke served his daughter first and then Natalie. As the Duke went to serve himself, Natalie began to eat.

The sound of cutlery clinking against china was eerie to Natalie. She was used to the chaos of Emberly castle and her numerous relations chattering and misbehaving.

She cast about, trying to think of something to say to break into the awkward silence. As she did, she glanced at Melody and realised that the food on her plate was almost untouched.

“Would you like something else?” the Duke asked, his voice soft.

Melody shook her head. “No. This is fine.”

Natalie waited for her to take a mouthful, but she did not. Something inside her heart twisted and as Natalie looked at Melody’s small frame, she wondered just how long she had not been eating.

“You know, peas are one of my favourite foods.” Natalie said, loudly.

The Duke raised an eyebrow at her, but she ignored him, instead focusing on Melody. “Would you like to know why?”

Melody’s eyes flicked to her, and she shrugged. Natalie decided to take that as agreement. She broadened her smile, ignoring the pin prick of worry spreading through her, and leaned towards Melody.

“Because they are the most fun.”

“Fun?” Melody canted her head towards her. “How can peas be fun?”

Natalie sensed she had caught the child’s interest and gave her a conspiratorial wink. “Anything can be a source of great joy and amusement if you know the right game.”

“Game?” Melody bit her bottom lip, but Natalie saw a spark of excitement in the girl’s eyes.

She smiled. “Indeed. Peas are excellent for playing Catapult.”

Melody’s eyes widened and then she frowned. “What is Catapult?”

“Oh, it is one of my favourite games, my brother and I used to play it all the time as children, though…” Natalie pursed her lips thoughtfully, and affected an air of shyness. “Maybe you will think it is silly.”

Melody leaned forwards, and Natalie had to hide her smile as she saw the girl’s eyes light up. “I promise, I will not think it is silly.”

Natalie gave Melody a serious look. “But you do not know what it is yet. You may well think it a silly game. Perhaps… Perhaps I should not have brought it up at all.”

“Well, if I think it is silly could we still play? I promise I will not laugh.” Melody said, her voice earnest and somber.

Natalie paused as though considering this and then nodded. “Very well. But I think we should make sure your father plays as well. Or he might feel left out.”

“I-” the Duke began, his eyes narrowing but Melody interrupted, “Father will play. He likes playing games with me.”

“Wonderful!” Natalie clapped her hands together, and resisted smirking at the flash of irritation on the Duke’s face. “Now, the rules of Catapult are quite simple. The goal of the game is to finish all the food on your plate.”

“That does not sound very fun.” Melody’s brow furrowed.

“Ah, but you see, you cannot eat in the normal way.” Natalie grinned broadly and grabbed a spoon. “Now Melody, would you like to be my assistant for this little demonstration?”

“What will I need to do?” Melody asked.

“Open your mouth as wide as you can. Then I will try and get this pea into your mouth by flinging it from my spoon.”

Melody looked at her father, who nodded and she opened her mouth. Natalie placed a pea in her spoon, took aim and flung it towards Melody. It sailed into her open mouth and Melody’s eyes widened. She swallowed and grinned at Natalie.

“Thank you, Melody. That was perfect.” Natalie clapped. “Now, to play the game you must keep your mouth open unless you are chewing or swallowing your food. After all, there must be a little decorum.”

“Little being the operative word.” The Duke muttered under his breath.

Natalie ignored him. “Now, if food hits your face and lands on the table, you must eat it. If your mouth gets tired and you need a break, and do not want food flung at you, you must take the biggest mouthful of food from your plate and eat it. Do you understand?”

“What if the pieces of food are too big to fit in someone’s mouth?” Melody gestured to the slices of meat on her plate.

“It is the same – if you do not want food flung at you whilst you are cutting up the pieces, you must take a big mouthful and eat it.” Natalie tapped her lip thoughtfully. “Which reminds me, you cannot fling food with a mouthful. You must swallow and then fling. Otherwise, you are liable to choke. We introduced that rule after Peter, my brother, turned blue from inhaling an artichoke.”

“This game sounds like it is going to get very messy.” Duke Blackwood looked pointedly at Natalie’s wedding dress.

“Well, perhaps I shall have to allow you and Melody to have all the fun.”

“Oh, I should hate for you to miss out on such an excellent game.Yates, fetch a large blanket from the drawing room. My dear wife can wear it as a bib, and protect her dress.”

“Why not fetch one for my dear husband as well, Yates? I should hate for him to ruin his shirt.”

“Should I get a blanket? I do rather like this dress.” Melody asked, looking worried.

“I shall fetch enough for all of you.” Yates inclined his head, and returned several moments later with blankets for each of them.

Natalie tied hers around her neck with as much dignity as she could muster, grateful that her sleeves were short and puffy. She removed her gloves without thinking, and caught sight of the Duke smirking at her.

She blushed and then turned to face Melody. “Are you ready?”

Melody nodded.

“On the count of three. One, two, three!” Natalie cried, loading her spoon and flinging a large pile of potato at the Duke.

It hit his face with a satisfying squelch sending both Natalie and Melody into fits of giggles. A fit that ended for Natalie when the Duke sent a well-aimed piece of meat into her open mouth. The table descended into uproar and the noise was comforting.

Natalie was surprised to see this side of the cold and controlling man. He is so soft with her. He laughed and indulged his daughter, cheering when she managed to get food into someone else’s mouth.

Although the game created a lot of mess, Natalie was pleased to see that Melody ate a good portion of food. And when the game ended, she was full of smiles.

“You should get cleaned up before bed, little one.” The Duke wiped a smear of potato off Melody’s face.

“Yes Father.” Melody nodded and then glanced at Natalie. “I am glad you are here.”

“As am I.” Natalie answered, and to her surprise she found she meant it. “Have a good sleep and may you dream of sweet and pleasant things.”

Melody nodded and left the room. As soon as she did, the Duke turned to Natalie and all warmth and humour slowly melted away. His grey eyes were appraising as they searched her face.

“You certainly have some unusual pastimes.” The Duke wiped his face, flicking an errant bit of roast onto the table. “Is this to become a regular dinner time feature?”

Natalie swallowed, but refused to look away. “If it means Melody eats, then yes. After all, is that not why I am here?”

“Do not pretend that was solely for my daughter’s benefit. I am sure you delighted in making me act the fool.” The Duke replied moving towards her.

“My primary concern was for Melody. The fact that it happened to dent your dignity was a happy coincidence.” Natalie gave him a wicked smile, trying to ignore the way his cologne made her head swim. Focus! “Besides, you could have refused to play.”

“I could have, but there is precious little in this world that matters more to me than my daughter.” Duke Blackwood said, his voice full of tenderness.

“You would do anything for her.” Natalie said without thinking.

He nodded and a corner of his lips quirked upwards. “Do not let my love for my daughter put any ideas in your head, little Thief. I am only a man, after all.”

Natalie let her voice become as sweet as honey and batted her eyelids at the Duke. “Then I shall stop looking for horns and a tail.”

He chuckled and reached forwards, his finger lightly caressing the side of her face. Her breath caught, and she stiffened. He deftly swept a smudge of gravy that she had missed from her cheek.

His eyes glittered. “If that is all, I will take my leave of you.”

Natalie shook her head, willing sensible thought to return to her as the man turned and began to leave the room.

She called after him, in a voice calmer than her swiftly beating heart felt, “Actually, I was planning on discussing this with Mrs. Hawthorne once I have seen the household ledgers and such, but I thought that perhaps a little redecorating might be of benefit.”

Duke Blackwood paused in the doorway, turning towards her. “There is no need to redecorate. Everything is perfectly functional. I will see you at dinner in two night’s time.”

Natalie arched an eyebrow at him. “Are we not supposed to be on our honeymoon?”

“Are you so in want of honeymoon activities, wife?” He canted his head towards her.

Natalie’s cheeks flushed and she gritted her teeth. I must not let him get to me. “I simply meant that it would look rather unusual for a husband to depart on business so soon into his honeymoon. You know how the ton can get.”

She may not have wanted this marriage, but she did not want to give the ton any more ammunition against her. The Duke leaving would be sure to set idle tongues wagging.

He nodded and a look that Natalie could not quite place crossed his face. “I do. Do not worry, little thief. I am not leaving the castle. I am just getting back to my life. Just because I am married does not mean anything has to change. We have an agreement, after all.”

He made a dismissive gesture and left without another word. Natalie stared after him. Why do I want to follow him? She furrowed her brow. It was clear the man was not planning on spending any more time in her company than was necessary, and she had no wish to spend any more time in his. But why did the thought of him ignoring her irk her so?

“If you are finished, your Grace, might we clear the table?” Yates asked, bringing Natalie back to the present.

“Oh, yes. Of course, Yates. I am sorry for the mess.” Natalie gestured to the scattered food around them.

“There is no need to apologise. Lady Melody ate, and that is worth this mess and more.” Yates smiled. “It was good to see her laugh once more.”

He left and Natalie felt a warmth spread through her. The raucous dinner had made her feel at home, and the ache for her family eased somewhat.

She thought over the Duke’s parting words. Just because I am married does not mean anything has to change. Duke Blackwood had been pulling the strings, and clearly was intent on continuing to pull hers.

“Well, we will see about that.” Natalie whispered as an idea formed in her head. “I think it is time to meet fire with fire.”