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A rabella woke in the morning with renewed determination. This might be an odd and unexpected situation, but she was determined to make it work, and nothing would stop her.

She would have dinner with the Duke tonight.

But before she did, she would spend the day acquainting herself with the household so that she would be ready to take on the expectations that would be placed upon her now that she was a duchess.

She was ready for it, she thought. How difficult could it be to manage the Duke’s household?

She had been managing her own family’s affairs for years now, caring for her sisters when her parents hadn’t been able to bring themselves to do as much.

The first step was to track down the housekeeper, and that turned out to be far easier than she had anticipated. The woman was waiting for her in the hallway outside her chambers when she awoke. She greeted Arabella with a smile that was polite if not particularly warm.

“Your Grace,” she said. “I trust you slept well?”

“Well enough,” replied Arabella, who had not slept a wink. She had lain awake all night trying to decide how she was going to approach the things she meant to do today.

“My name is Mrs. Billings,” the housekeeper said. “I have instructions from His Grace to provide you with anything you need today.”

“Is he not at home, then?”

“That’s right. He has gone out to tend to some business.”

Arabella nodded. She hadn’t particularly expected to see him at all during the day though she hoped he meant to keep to his promise of having dinner with her tonight. “In that case,” she said, “I would love to begin with a tour of the estate.”

“Of course. It would be my pleasure.”

Mrs. Billings led her down the hall, pointing out various rooms as they passed. This part of the estate seemed to be given over to guest rooms which Arabella took note of after the third one they had passed.

“That’s right,” Mrs. Billings said. “This is the guest wing.”

“My quarters are in the guest wing?”

“Your quarters used to be reserved for the most honored guest at any function,” Mrs. Billings said. “I suppose His Grace will have to designate another room for that purpose now. Yours is the best in the whole manor, apart from the Duke’s of course.”

Arabella nodded. She hadn’t intended to complain, and she hoped she hadn’t sounded like she was. It was just interesting to think that the room that was to become her home had once been just another guest accommodation.

“This is the conservatory,” Mrs. Billings said, opening the door to a room that contained a large pianoforte and had several massive windows looking out over the grounds.

“This is beautiful,” Arabella said. “I may come back here once we’re finished with the tour. It seems like a wonderful place to spend some time.”

“You may do as you wish,” Mrs. Billings said. “His Grace instructed the staff that you were to be permitted access to whichever part of the house took your interest.”

“Really?” Arabella was surprised. “I thought he might wish to confine me more than that.”

“No, he was clear enough about his wishes,” Mrs. Billings told her. “He stressed to us that this was your house every bit as much as his and that he wanted to make sure you were treated accordingly.”

“That’s… generous,” Arabella said. “I didn’t expect such generosity from the Duke.”

“I think he takes this marriage seriously,” Mrs. Billings said. “I think he wants you to feel welcome. Accordingly, those of us on staff will do our very best to make sure that happens, so please let us know if there’s anything we can do to make you more at home.”

“Thank you,” Arabella said. “I’ll certainly do that.”

She turned away from the conservatory and toward another door. “What’s in here?” she asked.

“Oh, that’s the Duke’s study,” Mrs. Billings replied. “There’s nothing to interest you in there.”

But Arabella was interested. She reached out for the doorknob.

“Your Grace,” Mrs. Billings objected. “Truly, I don’t feel that you ought to be in the study. The Duke is very particular about it.”

“But you told me that he said I was to be allowed to go anywhere I liked, I thought?”

“Well, yes, he did, but I’m not sure he meant…”

“I’d like to see the study,” Arabella said firmly.

“Don’t worry, Mrs. Billings. You won’t be in any trouble.

He said that I could go anywhere, and you’re only following instructions.

If there is trouble, I’ll take responsibility for it.

I’ll tell him you tried to warn me off, and I wouldn’t listen. ”

She went into the study before Mrs. Billings could attempt to dissuade her any further.

At once, she saw that this place was a sanctuary for her new husband. There was a half-empty bottle of alcohol on the desk—she wasn’t certain what kind—and a ledger sat open as if he had quit in the middle of working on his books.

Curiosity overcame her. She sat down at the desk.

“Your Grace,” Mrs. Billings said, “I’m not sure that you ought to be looking at the books.”

“Oh, I’m only giving them a quick glance,” Arabella said. “I’m curious about their contents, that’s all. I’ll discuss this with the Duke when he returns home—it’s not my intention to do anything behind his back. You don’t need to worry about it.”

“Very well,” Mrs. Billings said though she still looked doubtful. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“I would greatly appreciate a cup of tea if you wouldn’t mind fetching that for me.”

Mrs. Billings nodded and withdrew, leaving Arabella to look over the books in peace.

She flipped through the pages, frowning.

She had plenty of experience with ledgers like these—how often had she snuck into her father’s study to look at his, to try to find out just how bad their finances were?

Things were certainly not as dire here as they were at home—in fact, they weren’t dire at all.

She could see that the Duke was a wealthy man and that he would likely never want for anything.

And yet, the books were lazily kept. There were several places where a number simply hadn’t been filled in, as if the Duke had gotten halfway through the task and then given it up. And the sums seemed to go down over time. Were they losing money?

How could they be losing money? She had thought the Duke was someone who was more conscientious about his finances than that. Wasn’t he a wealthy man? Well, that wasn’t a question—she could see from his ledgers that he was.

But this was the same financial behavior that had landed her father in such trouble. It wasn’t about how much money you had to begin with—it was about how you managed that money.

Suddenly the fact that the Duke had so readily agreed to take on Arabella’s father’s debts seemed sinister instead of generous.

Would he just agree to every financial opportunity that presented itself?

How far would he go? Would she one day find herself living in poverty again, the way she had with her family?

And then what? Not only would there be no money for her and the Duke, there would be none to send to her parents. None to help provide for her sisters.

This was not what she had bargained for when she had agreed to this marriage.

She felt a sick churning in her stomach.

She didn’t like to think that she had only married the Duke for his money—and she knew that she hadn’t.

It had also been about security, about reputation.

But there was no pretending that money hadn’t been a factor in her decision.

The knowledge that he would be able to provide for her sisters had gone a long way toward making her feel good about this arrangement, and now that certainty was gone.

With a swooping sensation, she realized that she wasn’t meant to have seen this anyway.

In spite of the fact that the Duke had indicated she could go wherever she liked in the house, she knew that Mrs. Billings was correct—he wouldn’t have intended her to come into his study and go through his books.

What did that mean? Would she be able to confront him about what she had discovered, or was she going to have to pretend that she hadn’t seen this at all?

She rose to her feet shakily. A part of her wished she hadn’t seen it.

If there was nothing she could do about it, what was the point?

It wasn’t as if she would be able to make him change his ways, and she had no control over the household finances herself.

The only thing she had any chance of being able to impact was the money being sent to her family—she could tell him to stop those payments.

But Arabella knew she would never do that.

Even if it meant they went bankrupt, she would not withhold money from her sisters.

“Are you all right, Your Grace?” Mrs. Billings said as Arabella stepped back into the hall. “I have the tea you requested—but you look quite pale. Are you ill?”

“I’m not ill,” Arabella replied. “But I am a bit tired. I think I’ll take that tea in my room if it’s all the same to you—you won’t mind bringing it there for me, will you?”

“Of course not, Your Grace.” Mrs. Billings turned and led the way. “Shall I send for the Duke? Do you need him to come home and see to you?”

“Oh, no, nothing like that,” Arabella assured her. “Truly, Mrs. Billings, I just didn’t get enough sleep last night. That’s all this is. It was an unfamiliar new place, you see, and I’m having a bit of trouble settling in. It was to be expected, I think.”

“Of course,” Mrs. Billings said as they reached Arabella’s room. “Is there anything I might do to make your quarters more comfortable for you?”

“Nothing at all. I’m perfectly all right,” Arabella said. “I’ll have this tea and then perhaps a nap. I want to make sure I’m refreshed for dinner tonight, since it will be my first real meal with my new husband.”

“I’ll send Polly along to check on you in a few hours, then,” Mrs. Billings said. “And if you need anything from me in the meantime, you may alert any member of the household staff. They will know where to find me.”

“Of course. And thank you so much for all your help,” Arabella said.

She went into her room and closed the door. For a moment, she just sat on the side of her bed, thoughts whirling in her mind.

What was she going to do with the information she had discovered?

Maybe nothing needed to be done at all. After all, it wasn’t as if the Dukedidn’t have plenty of money. Even though his sums were going down, perhaps it wasn’t really a danger.

It was just that it was so irresponsible.

And after the way she had been brought up, after watching her own family struggle as much as they had with money, it was impossible for Arabella to take this sort of thing lightly.

For heaven’s sake, he wasn’t even keeping good track of his finances.

His ledgers were a mess, and it was impossible to say where all the money was going!

She doubted whether the Duke could have explained it himself.

She longed to confront him and to ask him to account for it.

She also knew she had no right to do any such thing.

She let out a long sigh. She was just going to have to find a way to be at peace with this. It seemed the only way forward. But she didn’t know whether she could do it.