Chapter Thirteen
When the carriage turned down the crushed stone drive of Arthur’s family estate in Kent, the rain began coming down harder than most of the journey from London. He’d sent word ahead to his valet as he wanted everything to be perfect when Daphne stepped down from the carriage as his duchess.
“Are you scared?” he suddenly asked.
She had been peering out the window, watching as they neared the house. Unfortunately, the rain made it almost impossible. “Scared? Me? No, not at all,” she replied. She cocked her head and laughed. “Well, perhaps just a little. This is all new to me.”
“You’ll do fine.”
“Of course I will,” she replied.
The carriage came to a stop and a footman opened the door with an open umbrella to keep Daphne out of the wet. Arthur followed, umbrella in hand, and together they climbed the few steps leading to the great front door. It was open, and Wilson greeted them.
“Welcome home, Your Grace.”
“Thank you, Wilson. May I present my duchess, Lady Daphne?”
“Your Grace,” he murmured, bowing to her.
“Where is everyone?” Arthur asked, looking around the room.
“I thought since the rain has set in, meeting the staff could be rescheduled until it’s dry.”
“I agree. It’s not only wet out there, the chill and the wind wouldn’t help anyone.”
Daphne, who had been looking about the hall, turned her attention to the men. “Was word sent to my lady’s maid?”
“Yes, Your Grace. Miss Young arrived yesterday and saw all your belongings moved into the duchess’s suite.”
“Thank you.”
Arthur placed her hand on his arm. “I’ll show Her Grace to her new chambers.”
They walked across the hall to the dual staircase.
Once they reached her new chambers, Arthur opened the door and walked in behind her.
Everything had been cleaned and refreshed.
He could tell his sister had lent her touch.
Roxanne would want to be sure her new sister-in-law was at home within the walls of her chamber.
Fresh flowers dotted various tables, and a fire warmed the room.
Arthur explained where everything was and then showed her a door. “This leads to my suites.”
“Oh,” she replied.
“My wish is for you and me to sleep there every night. The duchess’s chambers might be used for you to bathe and dress.”
“I would like that. Open the door. I’d like to see my husband’s rooms.”
He did and followed her inside. The sitting room had been cleaned and polished, and he was caught off guard at the sight of fresh flowers in his rooms. But he knew it had been done in a way to make Daphne feel at home.
“What do you think?”
“I’m impressed. I expected it to be all dark and gloomy, but it’s warm and welcoming. Does that make sense?”
He nodded. “Yes, it does.”
“I know there are matters needing your attention. While you’re doing that, I’m going to change.”
“Let me show you how to ring for staff,” he said. They returned to the duchess’s suites, and he walked her as far as a rope pull in the corner. “Pull it and someone will be here quickly.”
“That’s easy.”
“I’ll be off. If you need me, I’ll be in my study. If not, I’ll come here for you in, say, two hours?”
“That sounds wonderful,” she replied. “Oh, do you know if Sam’s been moved?”
“I believe they have waited until you returned so the bird isn’t stressed.”
“Good, because he would have been stressed coming to a new home and wondering where I was. He’s truly smart, Arthur.”
“You don’t have to try and sell me. I know Sam, and I think this was the best choice. We’ll make a point of moving him here tomorrow.”
“Only if the rain has gone. Birds like Sam don’t need the cold and damp. The moment the rain has moved on, I’ll go and oversee his move. I’ll have to find a perfect place to set his cage,” Daphne said.
“The one large one?”
“That and there’s another in my room,” she replied.
He was at her side in one stride. He leaned down and kissed her, daring to make sure it was short, otherwise they’d end up in his bed. “I’ll see you soon.”
“You can count on it.”
Arthur stepped inside his study and felt reality jolt him in the gut.
On his desk was a large stack of unopened correspondence.
He groaned at the sight. The sooner he sorted through it, the faster he’d be finished.
Sitting down, he picked up three or four letters and began to sort them.
Business and personal. Amazingly, most of what had arrived while they were gone was personal.
People congratulating them on the marriage.
Ordinarily he might wonder how word got out so quickly, but then he knew his sister had probably begun notifying friends and family as soon as he’d sent word to her.
He would set it all aside so he and Daphne might go through it together.
His business correspondence was primarily monthly bills from shops the estate used.
Nothing out of the ordinary. Any other business addressed to him were updates on a couple of projects he was involved in and another report from the coal mine, which he should have taken care of while in residence.
However, one official looking envelope he’d overlooked caught his eye.
Picking it up, he examined the outside before opening to retrieve the contents.
It was a notice from the courts informing him of the trial date for Crenshaw, the man arrested in connection with his parents’ murder.
The trial was scheduled to begin in London at week’s end.
Arthur decided when Crenshaw was arrested and charged with the crime, it would be the end of it for him.
Seeing this made it real, and once again, he was split on what he wanted to do.
Leave for London to sit in on the proceedings or let it go and wait from the comfort of his estate for the verdict.
His parents deserved to be represented by the family. The fact that Crenshaw had murdered a member of the peerage made the outcome more dire. He wouldn’t be in his new position if that fateful day had never occurred. His father would have had many more years in life.
He would leave for London in two days. That would give him time to inform his sister of his intention and for Daphne to prepare for the journey.
He couldn’t just leave her in Kent. They were newlyweds and this would be perfect; all women loved to go to London.
The shopping was premier, and Daphne would love spending time in the shops while he was in court.
Satisfied everything was set for London, it occurred to him that he and Daphne’s father had never signed off on her dowry.
Not that he intended to use it; it would be put aside for any daughters they might have.
He hadn’t even set it up through his solicitor to set Daphne up with an allowance for whatever fripperies she might want. He’d look into it while in London.
Fastidious as he normally was with everything he was involved in, it stressed him to see he hadn’t paid attention to anything for the past couple of weeks.
Pulling his cheque ledger out of a desk drawer, he began to pay the bills.
This wouldn’t take much of his time and it would be off his mind.
If he didn’t, he would be fretting over it the rest of the day.
Not paying attention to anything around him, he failed to glance up from his desk when the door opened. He still didn’t look up at the sound of soft feminine feet crossing the floor.
“Did you forget about me?” Daphne asked, her bottom lip stuck out for effect.
His head jerked up and he quickly glanced at the clock on his desk. “I am so sorry, my love. I thought to take care of some of this,” he said, motioning to all the paperwork littering the top of the desk. “I simply lost track of time.”
“I’ll forgive you… just this one time,” she replied with a wink.
She sat in one of the chairs facing the desk. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
He grinned. “As a matter of fact, there is.” He picked up a stack of unopened correspondence. “This is all addressed to us. Congratulating us, etc. Why don’t you go ahead and go through it? Once you have, we can see to it together, and I can explain who people are that you don’t know.”
“I can do that,” she said, taking the pile of letters from him.
Arthur nodded and returned to his work. He was almost finished, and eager to be done.
Occasionally he would hear her sigh or mumble something to herself as she sifted through the letters.
There was one that set her off. He caught her as she threw it down on the desk.
She crossed her arms and pursed her lips. “How rude.”
“What, what is it?”
“My parents, who else?”
He stopped what he was doing and looked up. “What did they do to anger you so?”
“Friends of theirs invited them to visit them at their estate on Wight. So naturally, Mother convinced my father it would be rude not to go. She couldn’t even wait for us to return.”
He didn’t want to take sides, but in this instance, she was right. It was rude. Daphne’s relationship with her mother and father was strained at times, but she had thought maybe there had been a breakthrough.
“I’m so sorry, my love.”
“And don’t tell me there’s some logical reason as to why they had to go at this particular time. Because there isn’t any, other than once again, she has to be the center of attention.”
“Take a deep breath and move on to the next. Don’t let her ruin your day.”
Daphne grabbed her mother’s letter off the desk and crumpled it into a ball and threw it straight into the fire. “There! Now I can move on to the next.”