Page 4 of The Duke’s Replacement Bride (The Wild Brides #6)

“ I s this it?” Caroline asked as the carriage pulled up in front of a well-appointed manor house.

Larger by half than her family’s home, it was fronted by several columns and appeared from the outside to be at least three stories high.

She could see a river running behind the house—that would be pleasant to explore—and the grounds were well-tended.

Levi raised an eyebrow at her. “Is the house insufficient for your needs?”

“No. That isn’t what I meant.” She flushed, embarrassed.

Did he always have to be so difficult? She had only intended to ask him whether they had arrived—a foolish question, maybe, for it was obvious that they had, but at least she was making an effort to carry on a conversation, which was more than she could say for him.

Did he have to be so standoffish? This wasn’t a marriage of love by any stretch of the imagination, but it didn’t need to be one of hate.

Or maybe it did. Maybe that was what Levi wanted. He got out of the carriage without bothering to address Caroline, without even turning to help her down. Caroline was so irritated that she ignored the footman offering her assistance, jumped down on her own, and stomped after Levi.

“Excuse me!” she demanded. “You can’t just walk away from me, you know.”

He raised his eyebrows. “I can’t?”

“Well—you shouldn’t! These are my first moments here in this house. Don’t you want to show me around? Do you expect me to just walk in and fend for myself completely?”

He turned to face her. “I do have a staff,” he said. “There are plenty of people who will be able to assist you.”

“Assist me—you’re my husband! Do you mean to tell me that you have no intention of assisting me? You mean to leave it up to the staff, is that it? I suppose I’ll just see you at dinner, since your only expectation of me is that we see one another at the table?”

“I’m glad you remember that,” he said coolly. “And yes, I will expect to dine with you, beginning tomorrow night—you may have tonight to yourself to adjust to your surroundings.”

“Well, that’s very generous.”

If he registered the sarcasm, he gave no sign. “Do you need anything else from me?” he asked. “Or will I be permitted to go on my way?”

“I can’t tell you what to do.”

“Well, it’s good that you realize that, at least,” he said.

And before she could stop him, he had disappeared into the house, and she knew she hadn’t a hope of chasing him down.

She stood there for a moment, looking back at the carriage and then at the door that stood open before her.

It seemed as if he wanted her to follow him in, but she didn’t feel any sense of welcome or homecoming, and for the first time, she really understood why her sister had chosen to run from this.

If he showed any warmth, any compassion—any sense of what this might mean to me and what it might be costing me—but he won’t.

He doesn’t know how to show those things.

He probably doesn’t even feel them. He has a wife, and that’s all he cares about.

I’m a thing for him to acquire, not a real person.

She shivered. It was a terrible feeling.

And now what—was she just supposed to walk up those wide marble steps and through the front door, as if she belonged here?

As if this was her home? How could she do that, when it wasn’t her home and she didn’t belong here?

How could she just walk in? It would be so awkward.

But what choice was there? She couldn’t stand outside forever. She could get back into the carriage, she supposed, but nobody was going to take her home. This was the way things were now.

She approached the front door carefully, as if frightened a beast might emerge and give chase. The only beast in there is my husband, though, and he certainly isn’t going to chase me down. I’d be lucky to have him acknowledge my existence at all!

She drew a deep breath and stepped through the door.

The foyer was massive, the ceiling so high above her that she felt as if she was still outside. In her own home, this was a darkened area, lit only by candles, but here, there were big windows allowing light to spill into the room.

“Your Grace.” A woman bustled across the foyer. She looked to be in her mid-fifties, with pale brown hair that was shot through with strands of grey. She had a smile on her face that made Caroline want to fling herself into her arms. At least someone here was warm and kind.

“I’m the housekeeper, Mrs. Mays,” the woman said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m at your service, should you require anything.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Mays,” Caroline said.

“I’m sure you’ll be wanting a tour of the house?”

“Yes, that would be lovely.” Caroline was beginning to recover from the shock of having been so abruptly abandoned by her husband.

“I’d like to see the place I’m going to be living.

” She had to admit, it was nice, and for the first time since she had arrived here, she found that she actually did feel welcome, at least by Mrs. Mays.

“It’s a real pleasure to have you here,” Mrs. Mays said. “We—the staff, that is—are all sure you’re going to be a wonderful addition to the household. It’s time we had a lady’s touch in this place. Well, you’ll see what I mean. The sitting room is a good example.”

They had been walking along as Mrs. Mays spoke, and now she threw open a pair of double doors and stepped back so that Caroline could survey the space.

Caroline frowned. “Is this room no longer used?”

“Not formally,” the housekeeper said. “But the duke so rarely has social visitors that he might as well go ahead and retire it. He has guests from time to time, but only on business.”

That made sense to Caroline—after all, her family had never been invited here, even when he had been engaged to her sister.

The room looked as if it hadn’t been touched in years.

A fine layer of dust sat over everything, and the temperature was a little bit cooler than the rest of the house.

She didn’t need to be told that no fire had been lit in this room for some time.

She turned in a slow circle, taking the place in. “I’m not sure I’d know what to do with it,” she said.

“Well, Your Grace, you wouldn’t have to do much at all.

I think your mere presence will help the staff see that they have a reason to clean this room and make it ready for proper use again,” Mrs. Mays told her.

“Of course, that will be even more true should you ever choose to have guests. I imagine you’d like to have your family to stay eventually. ”

“Oh, yes,” Caroline said, but something pinched in her heart. Prudence, where are you?

She thought back to her family’s words. Her father had said it was likely that Prudence would have gone to her aunt’s house.

He meant his sister, Aunt Beatrice, Bridget’s mother.

He had been saying that for Levi’s benefit, of course, but Caroline thought it could be true.

That was the place it would make the most sense to go.

Although Aunt Beatrice had sent her daughter to London to experience a season, she was also a believer in the idea that no one ought to be forced into living a life she didn’t want to.

She herself had married for love. If Prudence had run away to her, she could feel safe in being listened to and not being immediately dispatched home.

It was where Caroline herself would have gone if she had ever run away.

Yes, that was what must have happened. They would receive a letter from Prudence soon enough informing them that she was safe, and while everyone would be angry with her, at least they would know that she was all right.

She took a deep breath. “Yes,” she repeated. “I’m sure my family will want to come and visit once—once things settle down. It will be good to have this room ready for them.”

Mrs. Mays smiled. “Your things will be brought in from the carriage for you,” she said. “But we ought to choose a room for you so that the staff will know where to take them.”

“Choose a room? Do you mean that my room hasn’t already been chosen?”

“Oh, no, His Grace said you were to have your choice,” Mrs. Mays said. “You don’t need to worry—we’ve made up several of the rooms so that whichever one you decide on will be ready and waiting for you—you don’t need to fret about that.”

“I wasn’t worried about that,” Caroline said, but she was surprised. “Truly, I can have any room I like?”

“Not the duke’s room, of course,” Mrs. Mays chuckled. “But I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you in any of the others, so long as you are happy. Would you like to tell me a little about what sort of room you might like? And then perhaps I can help guide you to the one that would be most suitable.”

Caroline hesitated.

What she would like best of all would be a moderately sized room with a comfortable chair, a cozy fire, and a big window through which she would be able to look down over the grounds.

And something like that was almost certainly available, should she ask for it. But was that what she ought to ask for?

The duties of a wife .

The duke had asked so little of her.

She would have liked to put a great distance between them, to take a room on the opposite side of the manor so there would be no need to think about these things. But it couldn’t be avoided, and Caroline was nothing if not practical. What could not be avoided must be faced head-on.

“Which room is nearest to His Grace?” she asked. “I think that would be appropriate.”

Mrs. Mays eyed her. “There is an adjoining room to his,” she said at length. “Separated by a door that connects them directly. It is intended for a duchess, but you are not required to take it.”

“I am the duchess,” she said. “If that room is for the duchess, that is the room that ought to be mine.”

“Very well,” Mrs. Mays said. “That’s the one we’ll bring your things to, then. And I’ll take you to see it right now, if you’d like.”

“Yes, please,” Caroline agreed.

Feeling slightly shaky, she followed the housekeeper upstairs. The walk to the room seemed to go by in the blink of an eye, but the truth was that Caroline hadn’t been paying attention. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to find her way here again.

Well, she would learn. She would get to know the route to this room and learn to do what was expected of her in her role as duchess and wife.

She had done this—all of it—for Prudence’s sake. So that her sister wouldn’t be tracked down and forced into a marriage she so blatantly did not want to be a part of. No matter what came next, she would not allow herself to regret that choice.

So, when Mrs. Mays opened the door to a room near the end of the hall, Caroline straightened her spine, squared her shoulders, and went inside with her head held high.