Chapter Thirty-Two
Theo and Chandos held hands in the coach on their way to his house.
Her initial impression was that the grounds were in good order.
The drive was well kept with no potholes.
The hedges were trimmed. It was all neat and tidy, but there was nothing to add a spark of interest. She would have to think about that.
They pulled up in front of the house, and the door opened. A slightly bemused footman stood there. “Your grace, Mr. Hoover did not expect you.”
“That’s fine.” He climbed the steps, still holding Theo’s hand. “Annott, is it?”
He bowed, “Yes, your grace.
Should I get Mr. Hoover?”
“Not yet. This is Lady Theo Vivers. She will be my duchess in two weeks. She has come to inspect the house.”
He appeared panicked. “Mrs. Swisher isn’t here, your grace.”
Theo patted Chandos’s arm. “Is Miss Jaynes here?”
“Yes, my lady.”
“Please have her join us.” The footman took off as if he was glad to leave them.
The butler and a woman in her early thirties strode into the hall. Jaynes. She had a pleasant countenance. Though, again, she appeared confused.
The butler bowed. “Your grace. I was not informed you would be bringing Lady Theo to the house. Nothing is prepared.”
“I didn’t expect it would be.” Chandos motioned to Theo.
“My love, I would like to present my butler, Hoover, and I presume this is Miss Jaynes.” They bowed and curtseyed again.
“As you know, this is Lady Theo Vivers. We will be married in two weeks.” Chandos apparently wanted to ensure the servants knew the date.
“I gather that information has not been given to you.”
“No, your grace.” Hoover appeared grim. “I and the staff wish you congratulations on your pending marriage.”
Theo looked at Jaynes. “I would like to inspect the house. Can you show me around?”
She seemed hesitant. “Usually, Mrs. Swisher would perform that task.”
“We have been told she is not here.” Theo gave her an encouraging smile. “I am sure you are eminently capable to take over for her. Am I correct?”
The servant straightened. “Yes, my lady. You are correct. Would you like to begin at the top and work your way down, or the other way around?”
“Let us start at the top.” She turned to her maid. “This is Payne, she is my maid.” Then she motioned to her footman. “This is Jones. He is my personal footman. Both Payne and Jones answer only to me. Is that understood?”
“Yes, my lady,” the butler and housekeeper said at the same time.
“Very good. Let me see what we have.”
Chandos led the way up four flights of stairs to the schoolroom and nursery.
They were filthy. That really did not surprise Theo.
Once the children were grown and no young ones were around, these rooms frequently became areas for old furniture to be stored and were not kept up.
They also needed to be renovated. “First of all, they must be cleaned.” She turned to him.
“I will send a note to the architect and decorator my family uses to remodel these rooms. I would like something akin to what we have at both Stanwood and Worthington Houses.”
“I’ve seen them, and I agree.” All the darkness would depress a child. “The broken furniture will have to go as well.”
He seemed to have the same impression of the rooms as she did. “Indeed.”
Jaynes and Payne were making notes.
“Are you ready to go down to the next level, my lady?” Jaynes asked.
“Is that where the servants’ quarters are?”
“Er, no, my lady. They are on the other side of the house on this floor.”
“I would prefer to see that first.” Theo wanted to ensure that all the servants were comfortable, especially hers. “Where are my maid’s rooms?”
“There is a small apartment that is attached to the mistress’s suite,” Jaynes said.
She glanced up at Chandos. “How often did your parents come to Town?”
“Twice a year until my father’s illness. What I don’t know is when it was last refreshed.”
Theo was not any more impressed by the servants’ quarters. “It all needs to be painted, and they need new soft furnishings.” She looked at the windows. “Since the windows on the other side will be changed, the windows here must be redone as well. Otherwise, the house will seem odd.”
Chandos glanced in the rooms and frowned. “The chambers seem too small.”
That is what was bothering her about the space. “They are smaller than the ones in Worthington House.”
“And at Kenilworth House where I was trained,” Payne said.
“It’s because the floor is shared with the nursery,” Jaynes commented.
They looked at Chandos, then Theo. “We will have to give this some thought.”
He nodded, but did not respond.
“Let us move to the next floor.” She hoped the more lived-in areas would not be nearly as bad.
As with the nursery and servants’ quarters, the stairs had no landing but descended directly from the middle of the floor. The furniture was all covered; still, it was clear that the rooms and windows were larger. “This is what I expected from the children’s level. Who stays here?”
Jaynes wrote something in her notebook. “No one, my lady.”
“Odd.” Theo did not understand the arrangement of this house.
“It is.” Once again, Chandos glanced in each room. “What if we were to make over this floor into the nursery and schoolroom? That would give us the space to make the servants’ chambers larger.”
“It would also allow us to separate the male and female servants, which is not the case now.” She looked at Jaynes. “Would that make it more comfortable?”
“Yes, my lady. The women always have to be fully dressed when we leave our chambers, but the men don’t always remember.”
Theo could well imagine that. “We could also add a bathing chamber to that section.”
Chandos nodded. “We have pipes going to a bathing chamber on the family level. I assume they could be run up to make additional bathing chambers. It was not something I ever thought to do. We could also put one on this floor.”
“That is a very good idea.” There would be plenty of room. “We may discuss it with Mr. Rollins, the architect, when we meet with him and his wife.”
They descended to the next floor and continued the inspection.
“This is the family level,” Jaynes said. “Her grace’s apartment is down here.” She pointed to the right. “The master chamber is on the other side of the floor.”
“We do not have to look at her grace’s rooms at the moment.” The time for that would come later. She smiled at Chandos. “I am very interested in seeing our chambers.”
He appeared a bit disconcerted. “Frankly, I’m not certain you’ll approve of the arrangement.”
What could be wrong with them? “Why?”
“You’ll see.” He led her to a set of rooms at the end of the corridor in the back of the house and opened a door.
“This area contains my apartment. As you see, it opens up onto a parlor, the bedroom is to the right, and my valet’s rooms are to the left.
” He grimaced. “Your rooms are at the other end of the corridor.”
“You were correct. I do not like it at all.” Theo turned on her heel, strode past other chambers to the other end of the wing and opened the door.
It was the same plan. There was not even a way for the duchess to conveniently access her husband’s bedchamber or vice versa.
“Am I correct in thinking that your mother’s rooms are next to your chambers? ”
“Yes. We could combine those two areas for our apartments.”
That would work with one possible exception. “Do you not intend that we sleep together?”
He stared at her for a several seconds. “Is that what you want?”
“I do.” Theo realized that many couples did not. Yet, all her sisters shared a bedchamber with their husbands. “I desire to sleep with my husband. Not alone.”
Chandos smiled. “I would like that as well.”
“In that case, we can have Mr. Rollins design the rooms accordingly.”
“Excellent.” Leo breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn’t thought at all about where Theo would sleep. He was ecstatic that she wanted to be with him. “The rest of chambers on this floor are for family, and the few guests that must be accommodated overnight.”
“With your mother here, we will not be able to reorganize the rooms until later.” Perhaps they would both stay in his rooms until hers were finished. She would be sleeping there in any event.
“We still have my rooms.” If he had his way, he’d move his mother into her own house immediately. He wanted to show her his bedchamber, but all she’d be able to do was look at it. His villa in St. John’s Wood was a much better place to introduce her to lovemaking.
They went on to view the other rooms on that floor and descended to the next level.
He shouldn’t have been surprised by her attention to each little detail, but he was.
Leo thought she would become bored long before they reached the kitchen and cellars.
Once they reached the main areas, she made a point of greeting all the servants she saw and asking their names.
To a one, they appeared to be genuinely surprised to see her and discover that she and Leo were to be wed.
It was probably his fault. In truth, he’d not been home much at all since they’d become engaged.
He hadn’t even told his secretary. They had reached the servants’ hall when they ran into their first bit of resistance. Swisher had returned.
The second she saw him, her jaw dropped, and an unpleasant expression entered her eyes. “Your grace, why are you down here?”
Normally, that would have been a fair question. He’d never been below stairs before. He turned to Theo. “My love, allow me to present Swisher, our housekeeper. Swisher, my betrothed, Lady Theo Vivers.”
Theo held out her hand. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you. Do I take it that you were not aware of our engagement?”
Swisher just looked at Theo’s hand for a moment before taking it. “Her grace mentioned something about it. I didn’t expect to see you for a few weeks.”