Page 7 of The Beast’s Duchess (Duchesses of Inconvenience #1)

Chapter Six

V eronica slammed herself inside her room, arms wrapped defensively around her shoulders. She felt so defeated and confused.

She busied herself with reorganizing everything in her room and unpacking some of the things stuff still in her luggage. Why can he not at least admit that he resents me? That there is no possibility of us ever even being friends!

Then I could focus on getting over my silly notions and move on!

She paused, and took a look at her room. Even in her parents’ house, with their meager funds, everything ran much more smoothly. At home, all of her things would have been unpacked by now, and the housekeeper certainly would not be the one helping her dress.

Even as she scoped the grounds she could see that many thing were half done, like the garden. While lush, it was wild and looked as if only one person occasionally took care of everything.

This won’t do! It is my house too! These people depend on me as much as they do on my h_ She shook her head, having trouble even thinking who he was to her now. On him...

The duke was the one coming into her life like a storm and doing as he pleased.

She would show him. If he thought she was just going to stand there and take it, accept his coldness and his buried hatred, he had another think coming.

She strode to her writing desk, pulled out a pen, and set to work.

It wasn’t hard. There was so much that needed to be done that she had no issue coming up with a list of things to tackle.

She needed to get this place in top shape if she was to invite her sisters over.

And she would. If there was one thing she would not let her husband do, it was to keep her from the only people who truly supported her through everything.

She was so caught up in the task that when she heard a knock on her door, she jumped up, smearing her already chaotic writing.

"Oh, Mrs. Carter! Just the woman I wished to see! And who is this?” She asked, addressing the woman who followed the housekeeper inside her room.

Younger than the housekeeper, she seemed a bit too old to be a maid and a bit too young for a respected position like a cook or housekeeper.

But her smile was kind and confident, and Veronica caught a reassuring hint of warmth in the crinkle of her eyes.

“Good evening, Your Grace,” she bowed. “This is Daisy, your new lady’s maid. You won’t need to have me help you dress again like you did for dinner.”

“It is my honor to tend to you, Your Grace.” Daisy dipped a curtsey.

“It is wonderful to meet you, Daisy. And thank you Mrs. Carter for taking care of that, but I assumed I would be responsible for hiring my own lady’s maid.”

It started to feel more and more like the duke cared more about controlling her environment than making her comfortable. And why would he? He made it clear he wanted nothing to do with her.

“Well, Your Grace, I think he wanted to make sure you’re comfortable. Considering how fast everything happened.”

“Very well! Actually, I wanted to speak with you about the estate.”

The woman seemed a little shocked. “Oh, of course.” She nodded for Daisy to leave them and the young woman curtseyed again before rushing out.

Veronica smiled. “I was hoping to take a look at the ledgers soon.”

“That would be something you should ask His Grace about. I am afraid I am not the one that has them, but I will let him know you wish to have a look. You should have them by tomorrow evening.”

She swallowed down her annoyance at not being able to simply have a look at the books. Even her father was not as protective of his study.

“That would be perfect. Thank you. I also wanted to ask about the number of staff here, it is such a massive estate, surely there are more than the people I was introduced to earlier.”

She nodded. “There’s me, the butler, the cook, the kitchen maid, three footmen and three maids, well two now since Daisy will be serving as your lady’s maid.”

“Goodness! That’s all? ”

“Yes, His Grace likes to keep a small household.”

She frowned. “There’s small, then there’s unmanageable. You can’t tell me you aren’t all struggling.”

She looked away. “We can manage, Your Grace.”

“But you how are you managing to keep up with twice the workload! Especially considering how much work the castle needs! Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to get to some of the repairs? From what I saw, none of them seemed terribly complicated, though admittedly I am no expert in the field.”

“They aren’t,” she agreed. “I would love to get to them, but we don’t have time at our current size. And I don’t need to tell you that the castle requires more attention than what we can currently offer.”

“Then, let me help where I can. Let me hire more staff.”

She smiled. “It’s wonderful that you’ve already taken such an interest in the estate, but perhaps you should speak to His Grace about it before you start putting out adverts for new staff.”

She frowned. “Why?”

“I’m sure he would be more than happy to agree to it since you are the one asking, but he has gotten used to having such a small staff. It might be a shock to expand it suddenly with no warning.”

Veronica shook her head, not quite understanding the other woman’s diplomatic tone. “But why would me asking make a difference?”

She chuckled, “you are his wife, and given how long it took for your relationship to come to fruition, I’m sure he wants to do what he can to make you comfortable here.”

She forced her smile to stay in place, but she was sure she did not fool the older woman.

“You do not believe that to be true?”

“To be entirely honest, no I do not. I think that there is nothing but resentment between us, and worse yet, I think that he is unwilling to even try to move past it.”

“May I speak plainly, Your Grace?”

“Please do,” she motioned to a chair for her to sit.

“Your husband is not a very talkative man, or one who enjoys sharing his emotions. And while I may suspect some things that occurred in his past, I believe it is up to him to talk about them with you.”

She took Veronica’s hand then as she continued. “I don’t think that he is even aware of everything he is feeling, but a man who resented his betrothed would not do everything in his power to marry her when he thought he was going to lose her. Even if it was his duty.”

“I am not sure I agree.”

A knock came then and Daisy entered carrying a tray with a mountain of food.

“I thought I was supposed to starve today,” Veronica sniffed.

Daisy blinked in confusion, looking to the housekeeper before asking. “Why would you think that, Your Grace?”

“It's what my husband said before he stormed off.”

The maid gasped at her words. She could see the two women preparing to defend him, and knew she had to change topics. If she focused one more second on her husband she was sure to lose her mind.

Veronica sighed, moving over to take a look at the food the kitchen had sent up for her.

Besides the generous pieces of pie, there was a small loaf of bread warm from the oven with fresh butter and herbs, roasted potatoes and garlic, and a piece of salmon.

It was far nicer than she would have expected given the state of things.

“Actually, Daisy I was wondering if you could stay a minute. I think you might be able to help me with some of the changes I wish to make around here.”

“Of course, Your Grace! I would love to help!”

She nibbled at her meal while she looked over her list.

“Is there anything that can be done to make your work easier?” Veronica asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I know the staff here is rather small, and since growing it might be a bit of a problem, I wish to focus on efficiency. Besides, I doubt helping me is your only responsibility.”

“No, I also help with general cleaning and with the cooking when it’s needed.”

“It must be a lot. What would make your life easier?”

She stole a glance at Mrs. Carter, who smiled encouragingly. “Well, if you would really like to know, this place is rather spread out. I know a lot of newer houses have passages the servants can use to get around better.”

“Do you think something like that would be feasible to do in a place like this?”

“I can’t be sure. I don’t even know what would need to happen to add such a passage.”

“I suppose we could always add a doorway, allowing for rooms to connect with a larger number of other rooms instead of just hallways. Or even keep the cleaning supplies closer to the areas that need them, so you don’t have to carry as much. Is there anything else?”

“A lot of the drapery and upholstery on the furnishings needs to be replaced.” offered Mrs. Carter, “The girls do their best to keep them nice, but they are very difficult to clean, so we could get new ones.”

“And maybe even try to see if there is a new mechanism for taking them down and putting them back up again! That would save hours!”

They continued on till the sky had darkened and most surfaces were littered with papers full of notes and ideas. And by then it was time for Mrs. Carter to leave and for Daisy to prepare her for bed.“Daisy,” she started. “I do apologize if my talking about the duke earlier made you uncomfortable.”

“Its alright. I’m sure you had a long journey and must be rather tired. That was what His Grace said when he asked Mrs. Carter to prepare a tray for you to take in your room.”

“Is that what he said?”

“Yes,” she blinked in confusion. “He said that was what you told him. Why? Is something else wrong?”

“No,” she said a bit too quickly. “Of course not. It has just been an incredibly long day and I need some rest.”

“I’m sure! The pair of you have been betrothed for so long! It must have been a relief to finally be together.”

Veronica tilted her head to the side in surprise. “Has he mentioned our engagement before then?”

“Of course he has!”

“When?” she asked too quickly.

“Pardon?”

She shook her head. “It was nothing. Forget I said anything.”

Daisy grinned. “I Heard him talk to his best friend about you once.”