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“I allowed myself to forget that Uncle Sed prepared me to assume this role one day, and then I swear that I heard Uncle’s voice telling me not to doubt my knowledge,” Lord Tom offered quietly.

“If I know Uncle Sed,” Jane said with a half-smile, the first sign of one that she had displayed since his passing, “he found a way to reach from heaven to remind you, Little Brother.”

“I agree with Jane, Tom,” Marie added. “There was a reason that Uncle Sed made us all promise that we would not mourn him for longer than three months. He wanted us, and especially you and Amy, to get on with the task of living.”

“It is daunting to be a duchess, much earlier than any of us would have wanted,” Amy admitted.

“However, I believe that God does not place a burden on our shoulders that we are not able to carry, Tom. The prospect of becoming a duchess before I was used to being a marchioness intimidated me, until Mother Sarah, my mother, and our aunts all pointed out that they would be here to help me learn. With the support they and the rest of the family provide, we will be well, my husband.” His duchess took his hand as she spoke and leaned her head on his shoulder.

“My wife and my much older sisters are all wise,” the Duke teased half-heartedly. He felt more assured of the future, but it would take longer for the weight of sadness that he felt for his second father to lift.

Longfield Meadows’ clergyman, Mr. Adgar Chadwick, was sitting in the parsonage’s sitting room with the head of the Church of England as they planned the service for the late Lord Sedgwick Bennet.

Mr. Chadwick had only received the living from Lord Bennet three years previously when his predecessor retired after over thirty years of serving both the parishioners who resided on the estate and those who lived in the nearby town of Bedford.

He had been the curate serving the Bedford All Saints church before and had been very honoured when the Duke had tapped him for the livings.

The dukedom had a third living within its purview in the town of Hemmingdale, on the other side of the estate.

The incumbent there would retire in the next year or two and the late duke had intimated that he would offer the living to Mr. Chadwick.

Now he would see what the new duke decided to do with the living.

The two clergymen agreed that they would honour the late duke’s wishes to keep the service short and simple.

It would be held in All Saints as it had more than double the capacity of Longfield’s church.

With the royal presence, the number already present at the estate, and the number of expected mourners, they had cause to believe that the church would be filled to overflowing.

Tenants and servants would be as welcome to say their final goodbye to the deceased duke as those of royalty and peers.

With the service laid out, the two men settled into a theological discussion.

When the local pastor extended an invitation for the Most Reverend Archibald Willowmere to share their dinner, he fully expected the Archbishop to politely refuse but was surprised and most pleased when the head clergyman accepted.

Dinner at the manor house was a sombre and subdued affair.

Lady Rose, for the first time since her beloved husband passed, had joined the family that evening.

All of the ladies were wearing mourning dresses and the men with their dark clothing and black armbands, which contributed to the overall mood.

No one sat at the head of the table in the late Duke’s seat nor the mistress’s as his wife had refused stating that she was, in fact, no longer the mistress of Longfield Meadows or any other Bedford property.

In deference to their late uncle and their aunt, the new Duke and Duchess would not sit in their places until after the funeral.

After dinner the ladies departed for a drawing room and Lady Rose, Lady Anne, and the two new duchesses went to relieve Winters who had sat with his master during dinner.

As the men smoked and had drinks with hushed conversation around him, Lord Tom thought about the day when Mr. Gilroy Abernathy Esq, Uncle Sed’s solicitor, had read the will.

He had been aware of the contents of the will, or so he thought.

Everything was as expected until the solicitor read the last section with regards to the ownership of Dennington Lines and the shipyards.

“My fifty percent stake in Dennington Lines and the shipyards,” Mr. Abernathy read, “is to be awarded as follows: ten percent to each of my nephews, Thomas Bennet Junior and James Bennet, the remaining thirty percent is to be split evenly and gifted to my five nieces, daughters by blood of my brother Thomas Bennet, Duke of Hertfordshire.”

So far, the final piece of the will had gone as Tom expected until the solicitor read the final paragraph.

“The funds that have been earned from my share in the shipping line and shipyards which had been saved and invested, after ten percent is set aside for the benefit of the Haven House project, is to be split in the same percentages among the same individuals as laid out in the above paragraph. I charge my nieces and nephews to invest these funds for the dowries of their daughters and to be able to give legacies to second sons and beyond. As of the writing of this final will and testament there is a little over three million pounds in holding.”

The solicitor informed them that the reading of the will was complete and was asked how such a sum was set aside, or if it was part of the assets that belonged to the dukedom.

“Your great grandfather started setting all profits from the shipping line aside as, like your grandfather, he had no brothers and carried both titles just like your grandfather,” Abernathy had explained.

“When your father was born, his father started putting fifty percent of the profits into an account designated for Lord Thomas.

The balance was added to the investment as it had been done for three generations.

“When it became clear that Lord and Lady Bennet would not have any children of their own, your uncle decided that the funds would benefit the future children born to his nieces and nephews. These funds are not in any way tied to the title as they were a separate venture. He was free to will those funds as he saw fit. Knowing that I would be reading the will, I checked the balances a few days ago and there was an additional one hundred and twenty thousand pounds that have accrued since the late duke had me write this will five years ago.”

The Duke of Bedford was snapped out of his reverie when he heard the scraping of chairs as the men stood to re-join the ladies for tea and coffee in the drawing room.

Lady Rose Bennet was vastly appreciative of the outpouring of love for her husband demonstrated when the house had been opened for servants and tenants to file past the coffin that afternoon.

There was a nonstop sea of humanity for the full three hours set aside for the viewing.

It was now the last night that they would ever share the same room, the family had gone to bed, and it was herself and her brother-in-law sitting with her beloved.

“It has only been a sennight and I miss him so much it aches, Thomas,” Lady Rose said as the ever-present tears began to fall again.

“I too miss him very much, Rose,” he rose and handed her his handkerchief.

“He knew what he was about when he made us swear that we would not mourn beyond the periods that he stipulated.” Lady Rose dabbed her eyes as she looked off into the distance. “He wanted to make sure that we all carry on living our lives and looked to the future, not live in the past.”

“He was the best of brothers, and I will miss him until God calls me home and I see him again, but until then I will do what he wants, I will live. We have so much to live for Rose,” Bennet offered gently.

“It will be hard, but I will do the same, Thomas. Four of our children are married, Jane will present us with our first grandchild this year, and unless my sister Sarah is wrong, Marie is with child as well.”

“You were so good for him, Rose. I knew from the very first time that he introduced us while I was still in my final year at Eton that he was in love with you,” her brother-in-law reminisced.

“At fifteen I did not know anything about love between a man and woman, but I did not miss the way that the two of you looked at each other. I had seen the same between my mother and father and knew that they were deeply in love, so I deduced that it was the same for you two.”

“My Sed cut a dashing figure,” Lady Rose remembered, “he was such a handsome man right up until God took him home, and the best man that I knew.” She paused.

“I remember when we were first seen in London together. I was unknown and when the jealous harpies of the Ton found out that Papa was a nobody country baronet and we were neither connected nor wealthy they started sniping. My Sed and his parents stopped it so very quickly. I was telling the ladies earlier how he silenced them and made it known what would happen, as anyone who disrespected me disrespected him and the whole family.”

“Sed told me about that, and even though I was still at school, I was willing to do anything that I could to support him. Our mother was sick at the time, so father was not able to assist, but he let it be known through his friends that when Sed spoke, he spoke for all of us.” Bennet gave her a slight smile.

“It was very fortuitous that we married before Mother Bennet and my parents were taken from us. We had only been married a year when she succumbed to her cancer. My dear mama passed the following year from a fever and Papa followed her to heaven before a twelve month was complete. It was so hard to lose both of my parents within that short of a time, but Sed supported me in every way and was my rock.” Lady Rose kissed her hand and then placed it on the lid of the coffin to send the kiss to her Sed.

Winters cleared his throat to let her Grace know that he was present. Brother and sister-in-law said goodnight to each other and went to their chambers to get as much sleep as they could before the late duke was laid to rest in the morning.

“How is Rose?” Lady Sarah asked when her husband climbed into bed next to her.

“She is as well as can be expected,” he answered. “We were talking about remembrances of Sed; I think that it helped both of us.”

“He will be missed, Thomas,” his wife said as she kissed him.

After nearly a quarter century of marriage the passion between the two was as strong as when they married, but as much as they loved each other, the grief was too great just this night for even such comfort.

As they grieved and moved forward, things would return to a semblance of normalcy, but not yet.

After dismissing her lady’s maid, Lady Rose was sitting in her bed.

The hardest thing that she had to get used to at night was sleeping alone.

From the day that they had married until her Sed got so sick, they had spent every night that they were under the same roof in the same bed.

Her husband was downstairs and would never be able to join her in bed again in the mortal world.

It took her more than an hour, but she eventually fell into a fitful sleep.

“Hello Rose,” Sed said as he took his wife’s hands.

“Sed, you passed away, so how is it that you are here with me?” Lady Rose asked, her tone conveying she was bewildered.

“I am no longer part of the mortal world, Rose, but I will always be with you, here,” he touched her heart and when he did, she felt all of the love that he had for her fill the hole his loss had created. “Whenever you want to talk to me, I will be with you here in your dreams, my beloved wife.”

“Oh, Sed, I miss you so very much. I want to be able to hold and touch you, can we do that in my dreams?” she asked hopefully.

“We can do anything in your dreams, my love. Can you not feel my hands holding yours?”

“I can, Sed, but it is not enough, I wish that God had not taken you home!” she finally said what she had been choking back for days.

“It will never be enough, my beautiful Rose, but it is better than nothing.” He soothed.

“Have you seen Heaven, Sed?” she asked softly.

“Yes, Rose, it is beyond the comprehension of mortal man. I have seen my parents and yours, and we will all be waiting for you many years from now when you join us, although in the time of heaven it will be a blink of an eye. Tom and Amy will do well, as will the rest of the family. My little brother is the head of the family now, and I know that he will do me proud. I love you, Rose, and please honour your pledge to me to live your life to the fullest.”

The dream faded into the background leaving a restful slumber for Lady Rose as she felt more at peace that she had since her beloved husband had died.