Chapter 13
Welcoming Home
Arabella was still watching as the last of the few guests made their way to their carriages, with the last one being the vicar, who wished them both a happy marriage and healthy offspring.
And suddenly it was just them. The Duke, her, and Winnie further back.
Arabella felt… transitioned. This morning, when she entered the estate, she came as her father’s daughter.
And just like that, she was simply relocated to a new household, a home she didn’t really know, and was asked to not only live there but also manage it.
“Let us go inside,” the Duke said coldly. “It looks as if it might rain.”
He offered his arm. Arabella was surprised that he initiated even this appropriate touch, but she decided to go along with it and wrapped her arm around his. The walk from the church to the main house was not very long, but still it felt like a passage.
Arabella could hear the gravel under her wedding slippers while her gaze was fixated on the house looming in the distance.
It was, by all means, a very beautiful and elegant house.
It was perfectly symmetrical at every angle, and its honey-coloured stone facade still held that sweetness even under the grey sky.
If it were in any other circumstance, Arabella would have joyously examined the delicate architecture.
They went up the marble steps, the house now looming over them. The high sash windows felt like eyes that were watching her, judging the new mistress of the house. Arabella decided to ignore that annoying feeling that told her she was undertaking a task too hard to fulfil.
They reached the entrance. Arabella took a moment before she stepped inside. Gerald looked down at her, sensing her hesitation.
“The staff is awaiting you,” was all he said, as if this particular information would help her calm her nerves.
She decided that she had every right to be this emotional, but at the same time, it was not helpful. What she really wanted now was a bit of privacy, to be away from eyes looking at her, judging and measuring her. She took one step inside.
It wasn‘t the first time that Arabella found herself in the Albury Estate. But riding like crazy in the middle of the night, covering her face as best as she could, and rushing up the stairs, following a very stunned butler, didn’t warrant the attention to detail that one would expect when entering a house for the first time.
So now, it was as if she was seeing this place for the first time.
Otherwise, she would have noticed the impressive black-and-white marble floor and looked up at the double-height ceiling looming over her.
And if her heart were not thrumming in her ears like it did last time, she would have heard his steps echoing in the massive entrance as they did now.
The moment she was inside, an elderly woman with a kind face and grey hair streaking her auburn approached them immediately. She had deep brown eyes and held her body with such authority that it told Arabella she was managing their house.
“Congratulations, Your Graces,” the woman said with a voice as sweet as honey.
“Thank you, Mrs. Hayes. May I introduce to you the Duchess of Albury, Arabella Warren?”
The woman curtsied deeply in front of her.
Arabella realised that she had to get used to this attention and this kind of protocol when it came to her station.
But it would take some time. Only this morning, not even her own staff would bow at her when she was still a Marriott.
But now, as a Warren, she would definitely be treated in a completely different way.
“Your Grace, I am truly happy, and I hope to serve you as best as I can, the same way I did His Grace for all these years,” Mrs. Hayes said.
Arabella tried to find even the slightest hint of irritation in her voice.
After all, she had been the unofficial mistress of the house in the absence of a Duchess.
And now here she was, green, too inexperienced, not at all trained to take care of such a massive estate.
But Mrs. Hayes seemed genuinely happy to enter this ancestral home with her.
“I am sure, Mrs. Hayes, that you will be by my side the same way you served His Grace. After all, I will need your invaluable help.”
Mrs. Hayes seemed quite happy with this. She gave Arabella her most open smile, and the future became infinitely better. The rest of the staff, from aged gardeners and caretakers to cooks, were forming two lines, creating a small corridor of humans welcoming her into her new house.
Most of them were curious, trying to understand what the new mistress was going to be like. She expected the staff to be scared and aloof, since they had been employed by the Cruel Duke, after all. But she saw none of those things, just curiosity and anticipation.
“This is a very beautiful place, Miss Arabella,” Winnie said by her side.
“You are going to be calling her ‘Your Grace,’” Mrs. Hayes reminded her.
Both Arabella and Winnie stood still. But then the housekeeper gave her a smile, a big, genuine smile, and her maid relaxed.
“It is going to be difficult to get used to at first. It seems that you have been with Her Grace for many years.”
Winnie relaxed upon hearing those words. Arabella had forgotten that it was the two of them who had to move after the wedding. If Arabella came here as the new Duchess, Winnie didn‘t have privileges adjacent to her station.
“Perhaps I could give you a quick tour of the house,” Gerald said by her side.
Arabella realised she hadn’t released his hand yet. She was holding onto it, still thinking that maybe it might help her calm her nerves. She looked up at him and read something that could have been understanding when his butler rushed in.
“Your Grace, there is an urgent missive for you,” he said and presented him with a letter on a silver tray.
Gerald took one look at the crest and then turned down to her.
“It is a letter from Lord Pembroke. I must see to it at once.”
And within the first hour of their marriage, Gerald released her arm and disappeared into his study, leaving her alone in a new home with people that didn‘t know her and whom she didn‘t know.
For better or for worse, Gerald was the only person connecting her to this house.
And she thought she would get a glimpse of who he truly was during this little tour of the house.
One learns a lot by letting people show the place they lived and grew up.
But his actions also spoke volumes. No matter what the occasion, business would always come first. And since the…
business between them was concluded, it was only logical he would continue with the rest of his day.
She filed that information and set aside her own feelings.
She was getting the notion that she would have to do the latter a lot from now on.
“If it is your wish, Your Grace, we can continue this tour together,” Mrs. Hayes said.
Arabella turned to her with the most patient and brilliant smile she could muster. If Mrs. Hayes was surprised by the Duke‘s behaviour, she didn‘t show it. But Arabella could tell. They may not be afraid of him, but they were used to his coldness.
“I would very much love to see the rest of the house. Thank you very much.”
And so Arabella followed the housekeeper and was introduced to the rest of the staff.
For this massive estate, a great deal of people were needed to keep it in good condition.
They all seemed well fed, and their clothes were new, soft, and expensive.
Arabella approved, at least, of his treatment of the people working for him. It also said a lot about the man.
“If you would follow me, Your Grace, to the drawing room,” Mrs. Hayes guided her.
They entered the room, and Arabella was dwarfed by its massive size.
The drawing room was so big and so tall that it might have fitted her whole house.
It had big windows that let so much light in, reflecting on the pale blue walls.
Even the weak sun of the day was reflected on the gold trim on the walls and furniture.
“We rarely use this room,” Mrs. Hayes said with joy, “but now with Your Grace here…”
Arabella did not need the rest. The Duke did not entertain. The staff had grown accustomed to quiet corridors and unused silver. A house this large had been holding its breath for years.
“It is a beautiful room,” Arabella replied softly. “It would be a shame to see it stand empty.”
The housekeeper’s eyes brightened at this and nodded before continuing the tour.
The tour continued: gallery, morning room, music room, each space grander than the last. Arabella listened attentively, asked polite questions, and committed names to memory.
She would not appear overwhelmed. It was after quite a while that she was finally led to the Duchess’s wing.
“You have five rooms at your disposal, Your Grace,” Mrs. Hayes said with pride as she led her down the corridor. “The bedroom, the dressing room, a study, a sitting room, and a bathroom, of course.”
Arabella tried to keep her jaw in a respectful position.
Going from one room to five was something that she didn’t anticipate.
Even after all this tour of the house that was now also hers, the massive estate that was shown to her nonchalantly by the Duke, only now did the realization of her station dawn on her.
And then it went to a complete crescendo when she entered the bedroom.
The bedroom swallowed her whole. High ceilings draped in pale silk. Tall windows overlooked the eastern gardens. A vast canopied bed at the center, its curtains tied back. The windows looked upon the eastern garden and as far as the lake.
“We had the peonies from the wedding brought here,” Mrs. Hayes said as Arabella took in the room.