Page 13 of The Beast’s Duchess (Duchesses of Inconvenience #1)

Days ticked by. Shaggy recovered swimmingly. It seemed like no time at all before he was chasing Teddy all through the castle. It warmed her heart to see him doing so well.

The words the tenant had said when they got him were never far from her mind.

The poor thing almost hadn’t made it. She would forever be grateful Christopher had let her get two dogs.

If he hadn’t, Veronica still would have chosen Shaggy.

She would not be able to leave him after hearing he was likely to die without proper care.

Now she had two dogs, and she couldn’t help but think having a playmate was a huge part of why he recovered so well and so fast. She was also glad the pair of them were friends.

had bonded so well. When Mr. Barnes had mentioned that Shaggy had been attacked by another dog, she had worried he would be scared of Teddy.

But as she sat watching the pair of them play on the floor, she felt nothing but relief and happiness at just how well they got along. If only everything else was going as smoothly.

Despite the happiness they had brought to her life, she had hardly seen Christopher in all that time. She couldn’t help but feel like he was avoiding her.

Yes, he was the one avoiding her. She absolutely wasn’t avoiding him.

There was nothing for her to be nervous about anyway. They had a good time together for a single afternoon. It didn’t mean anything.

Even if he had been so warm and friendly. So gentle and caring. It didn’t mean anything.

Even if for a moment, she thought she was seeing the same man she had met at a ball all those years ago.

It didn't matter. She had been the one to ruin that far too long ago to expect anything to change now.

At least the renovations were coming along well. Veronica threw herself into them, spending countless hours ensuring everything was going perfectly.

The least she could do was look after the castle.

She was sitting in her sitting room, going over her list of tasks that still needed to be done when the door swung open.

Daisy sprinted in with a bright grin. “I have letters for you. I think they’re from your family!”

“What?” she lit up, taking the envelopes from her. She looked them over and sure enough there seemed to be one from all of them. “Thank you for bringing me these. Can you give me a moment to read them over?”

“Of course. Please call me if you need anything.”

“I will, thank you.”

Once she was alone, Veronica opened the first one. It was from her parents.

Dear Veronica,

We will be leaving to visit you shortly. We plan on heading out on the fourteenth, you should expect us around the eighteenth.

We will be bringing your sisters with us, so ensure you have everything ready.

We expect you should be able to manage that on your own, but if you have any questions, any capable housekeeper should know what needs to be done.

They didn’t even sign off with love or send any kind of affection. That was all this was to them, a transaction, and their letter reflected it. There were no questions, nothing asking how she was or telling her how they were.

Then again what had she really been expecting? It was hardly like they had ever had an affectionate relationship. Why on earth would that start now?

With a sigh she moved onto the next one.

Dear Veronica,

I have missed you greatly since you have moved out! I feel like it has been years since I have last seen you, but that’s all right, because mother and father said we were going to come see you soon.

I can’t wait! I have so much to show you. Mother and father have gotten me so many new gowns! They all look positively beautiful. And I can’t wait to see your new home and finally meet your husband!

Are the two of you happy together?

I bet you are. Mother and father said you would be fine once you settled in, but I want you to be more than fine. I want you to be so over the moon and happy that it makes up for how much Rose and I miss you!

I’m sure mother and father miss you too, but you know how they can be. They would never admit something like that to us.

Veronica took a steadying breath. Probably because they hadn’t missed her in the slightest.

Either way, I can’t wait to see you again, though I am not looking forward to a four day carriage ride with our parents!

Love you loads,

Milly

All that left was Rose. Hers was the longest by far. It detailed everything she had missed since she moved and was filled with questions about everything she had told her in her last letter.

Most importantly, it actually contained information about her family’s upcoming visit, unlike the others which just told her it would be happening soon. Veronica was excited to see them again, but when she noticed the date she frowned.

“Daisy!” She called the maid back in from the hall.

“Yes, your grace?” the girl said, making her way inside, a bright smile on her face.

“Do you happen to know the date?” she asked, a frown growing on her face as she prayed she was wrong.

The girl smiled oblivious to her concern. “Of course ma’am, it’s the sixth.”

She sighed, setting the letters down. “That’s what I thought.”

“Why? Is something wrong?”

“Not wrong, per say,” she sighed, rubbing at her temples. “I just didn’t expect my family to want to visit so soon.”

“That has to be nice though. Are you excited to see them again?”

“Of course I am, mostly. I just assumed we would have more time to get ready. It just seems like this is all happening so fast.”

“When are they coming?”

“A little over a fortnight.”

“So soon!?” she gasped.

“I know! So you can see why I am more than a little concerned we won’t be able to get this place in an acceptable state soon enough to get away with it.”

“How much is left?”

“Quite a bit, but I suppose not all of it is essential.”

“How much of it is? What do we need to do before we get here?”

Veronica picked up her book on the estate with a sight. “Well, I want to get a few more of the renovations done before they arrive if we can pull it off.”

“Do you think that’s likely?”

“I can’t say for sure. I need to check in on a few things.” She sighed, rubbing at her forehead. “Can you go let Mrs. Carter know I’ll need to speak to her as soon as possible?”

“I will. Is there anything else I can do to help?”

“Not at the moment, but when she comes to speak with me, could you look after Shaggy and Teddy while I meet with her? There are a few things I want to check in person with her and they still have a habit of getting into trouble when they are left alone for too long, especially little Teddy.”

“Of course. I will do anything you need. I’ll go tell her you need to speak with her.”

“Thank you.”

Then she made her way from the room.

While she waited, Veronica turned her attention back to her to do lists.

Only a few minutes later, Daisy returned with Mrs. Carter. The older woman stepped in.

“You wanted to see me, your Grace.”

“Yes, I just received word that my family will be visiting in a few weeks. It's a bit sooner than we had talked about before.”

“It is, but you must be so excited to see them again.”

Veronica smiled but it felt wrong on her face. “I’m worried things won’t be ready when they get here.”

“I won’t let that happen. I will do everything I can to make sure Ashton Castle is in a state you can be proud of when they arrive.”

“Thank you,” Veronica said, her Mrs. Carter’s words offering more comfort than she would have expected. “If it isn’t too much trouble, I was hoping we could go over the renovations we’re working on and we can talk about the next steps.”

“Of course. Did you want to do this now or schedule a time later on?”

“Now would be perfect if you have a moment.”

“For you, I would find one even if I didn’t,” she smiled.

Relief washed over her. “Thank you.” She got to her feet before turning to her lady’s maid. “Daisy, I know I asked you earlier, but can you keep an eye on the dogs while we’re gone?”

“Of course,” she lit up. “You can count on me!”

“I know I can,” she smiled. “Thank you for all your hard work.”

Daisy beamed at the praise.

Then Veronica picked up her papers about the renovations then led Mrs. Carter out to the halls.

“How do you feel about our progress so far?” she asked Mrs. Carter as they walked down the hall.

“I think we have gotten a lot done for the short amount of time we have been working on it.”

“Especially given the amount of people we have working on the project.”

“I must admit, I was surprised you haven’t asked about hiring more staff in some time.”

“Yes, well, if we can manage at this size, who am I to demand that we expand?”

She smiled. “I see, and did Duke Ashton factor in to this decision perhaps?”

“I don’t know what you are implying,” she flushed. “I never even spoke to him about the matter.”

“If you had, I have a feeling he would have told you to do as you see fit.”

“And I am. I saw fit not to bring in more people at the moment if we don’t need them. It will help keep costs down.”

“Of course that makes a lot of sense, ma’am,” but there was something in her smile that made it clear that she wasn’t quite buying what she was saying.

They made their way through all the current projects, making sure everything was in order. It was only once they had established the next steps that Veronica stepped back with a sigh.

“I think that’s everything,” she nodded. “Thank you for going over all of this with me. I know you probably had other duties you should have been attending to. I appologize for pulling you away.”

She shook her head. “I’m the housekeeper. It’s my job to ensure everything is running smoothly.”

“Well, I appreciate the time and dedication you put into it.”

“And I appreciate the time and effort you put into improving the estate. I won’t lie, I was rather worried about the state the place was falling into if I’m honest.”

“I can understand why. I know you care about this place.”

She smiled. “It would be hard not to, with how long I’ve worked looking after it.”

“And you’ve done such a good job of it.”

Mrs. Carter shook her head. “I have done the best I can. I don’t know if I would say it was enough.”

“I would, and hopefully it will be easier now that I’m here to help you. I hope that isn’t presumptuous of me to say.”

“I don’t think it is. I have appreciated your efforts so far.”

“Thank you. I wouldn’t have been able to do half of it without your help.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“I do. I have never done anything like this before. I wouldn’t have had the first idea of where to start if I didn’t have your expertise to lean on.”

“I am glad to be of service.”

They continued going over preparations for a little while then Veronica sighed.

“I suppose I should try to find Christopher, let him know about their visit.”

“I think that would be wise. I doubt he would want to be blindsided by it.”

“He still might feel that way.” She frowned. “They are coming rather sooner than expected.”

“Yes, I’m afraid the post can take quite some time to arrive here. It is a bit remote.”

“That’s alright. I’m rather surprised by how much I like being this far away from everything.”

“I imagine it must have been quite a change from living in the heart of london.”

“It was. I’m still always surprised by just how quiet it can be here, but it’s rather nice. Relaxing.”

“I’m glad you think so. I won’t lie, when you first arrived, I was worried you wouldn’t adjust well.”

“I was too. Aside from the noise of the city, I was also used to the the noise of a house full of sisters.”

“Have the dogs helped?”

“Yes, they have been a blessing.” She smiled. “Well, I have kept you from your work long enough. I’ll let you get back to it.”

“You don’t need to worry. Ensuring this place runs smoothly is my job.”

Still the pair parted ways, Veronica returning to her sitting room.

Daisy was still inside, waiting for her when she returned.

“How did it go,” the maid asked.

“It went well,” she sighed, falling onto her sofa. “I just hope the visit goes well.”

“It will. You don’t need to worry.”

“You can’t know that.”

“Why not?”

“You haven’t met my family.”

“No, but I will soon. How many of them are coming?”

“It sounds like all of them, so that would be my parents and two sisters, Rose and Milly.”

“That sounds incredible. We’re going to have a full house!”

“Hardly. It’s only a few people.”

“Still, it's more company than I have ever seen in Ashton Castle in all the time I have worked here.”

Veronica’s face fell. “Sorry. I forgot just how remote this place can be.”

“It’s alright. You get used to it. I don’t know if I would know what to do with a house filled to the brim with guests.”

“I wouldn’t know how to host anything either.”

“I think you would do better than you expect.”

“Perhaps, but I doubt we’ll be getting a chance to find out any time soon.”