Chapter 15
" H e has not abandoned you, I assure you," Emma promised Dorothy, as they took tea before beginning their work.
"He vanished yesterday, and has not told me personally where he has gone. What else could he possibly have wanted to do?"
"Why are you upset about that?" Cecilia asked. "You knew that this marriage would not be a love match. He has left you well taken care of and with complete control over what becomes of the household. If you ask me, that is quite the perfect situation."
"Perhaps it is for you, but I would rather see my husband than not know where he is and how long he will be away for."
"Dorothy, you must not think like this," Beatrice said gently. "I know that this is not something that you expected, but it could have been urgent."
But Dorothy knew better. They had enjoyed each other's company, and she had thought that they were coming closer to one another, but he had pulled away at the last moment and left her behind.
She knew that marriages would have difficulties, especially ones formed in the way that hers had, but she thought that they understood one another, and the fact that he clearly did not think the same upset her greatly.
"So," Emma said, trying to brighten things, "you have asked us here to redecorate?"
"You cannot in your condition, I forbid it, but yes. I plan to change everything about this place, as I wish to make it a home that I wish to live in."
"It is the right thing to do," Emma nodded. "It is awfully dark."
"The late Duke liked it this way, but I cannot stand it. I would like to make it more to my tastes, even if they are not fashionable by any means."
"So the three of us shall be doing it?" Beatrice asked. "We are not exactly the best for this."
"I can help," Emma protested, but that was quickly stopped by the three of them.
She would soon give birth, and as it was she walked with difficulty. Dorothy planned to have her seated with them as they worked, as she did not want her to feel excluded. Not only that, but she would help greatly with advice as someone that had already changed her own household in a few ways.
"Well then, there is no need to dawdle," Cecilia said brightly, jumping to her feet and then helping Emma. "Come, let us make this a beautiful home worthy of a duchess!"
The servants, including Mrs. Herrington, were also set to work.
Dorothy expected the work to be completed in two days, and it was to be intense.
Thankfully, her friends enjoyed a challenge, and by the end of the first day there was no longer any paper on the walls.
Already, more light entered into the rooms and made everything look even bigger than it already was.
Paints and papers had been placed in the correct rooms, and as they ensured that it had been completed, Dorothy gave them a tour of the household. When they came to the dreaded west wing, Cecilia began walking toward it and Dorothy called out to her to stop.
"What is it?" she asked. "Are you hiding gifts for us in there or something?"
"We cannot go there. It is forbidden."
The ladies looked at one another for a moment, and then back to her.
"It is your home," Beatrice said, confused. "There should not be anywhere in your home that is forbidden."
"I know, but it is what my husband has told me and I do not want to disobey him. Whether I like it or not, it was in our vows that I would obey him in every way, and so I will."
"That is absurd," Cecilia argued. "Besides, he told you not to go, but he never said such a thing to me. Nor Emma or Beatrice, for that matter."
"Cecilia, please. I know that it is strange, and that you do not like it, but it would make me feel so much better if you listened to me. It is all well and good that you wish to see it, but you will not be left with the consequences of it."
At last, Cecilia seemed to reconsider what she was doing. She nodded slightly, though concern was still clearly etched in her features.
"You should not be afraid of your husband," she whispered, as they walked slightly ahead of Emma and Beatrice. "You should wish to please him, I will not tell you not to do that, but you should not fear consequences with him."
"It is not out of fear, but respect. He has given me a good life here, I assure you.
I have my freedom, for the most part, and he allows me to do whatever I please with the garden, and when we do talk he is very kind to me.
I have very little to dislike, even if the few things that I am unhappy about are important. "
"Then when your husband returns, you are to tell him this. You must not cower, especially if you have no reason to fear him."
"I do not cower."
Cecilia raised an eyebrow at her, and Dorothy did not try to push what she had said.
The truth was that she did, to anyone that told her what to do.
Even Cecilia, someone she had known for a long time and was a friend to, only had to look at her and she lost all ability to argue.
She wanted to be fearless and bold like her friend, but it was not who she was.
She was gentle and soft, and though that gave her strengths she could not deny the inherent weakness in it.
"In any case," she continued, "I will speak with him. I would at least like to know where he has been. My housekeeper tells me that he is in London, for business purposes, but I had seen him the night before and he did not mention it. Surely business does not require emergency visits?"
"They may well, and from what I have heard he is still trying to fix what his brother broke."
Dorothy paused. She was not aware that he had a brother.
"Has he not told you anything?" she asked. "Truly, wonders never cease."
"Perhaps he believes that my father has already told me about him?"
"Or perhaps there is something shameful that he is keeping from you? I would wager that it has something to do with that wing."
"Then it is just as well that ladies do not wager. Cecilia, you are a wonderful friend to me, but I do not want to hear about any of this. I simply want to fix my household, and I would very much like to begin with my hideous room."
"It is not so hideous anymore," Beatrice noted. "You have removed that yellow now, so it is already looking much nicer."
"It will be perfect when it is green. I cannot believe that I shall at last be rid of this dreadful color for the rest of my life."
"But what if you have a child that likes it?" Emma quipped. "Surely you will not say no to such a precious little thing?"
"I most certainly will! I shall enforce a strict rule on what colors they are permitted to wear. Pink, green, blue and purple will be the only ones allowed, if not brown or grey or white."
The ladies all laughed together and then began the work. It was not perfect, but when it was done Dorothy stood back and breathed a sigh of relief. It was calm at last, and precisely what she wanted.
"We have done a lot in such a short time," she said to nobody in particular. "It is not finished, but it is a start."
"The staff will have it ready," Beatrice assured her.
"Good, then in the meantime we have something else to do."
They left for the glasshouse, and the ladies gasped at it.
It was enormous, Dorothy knew that, but it would have been quite a shock to those not accustomed to seeing them.
The only other one that they would have seen was that of the Duke of Pridefield, whom they had stayed with the year before.
He had an orangery, and Dorothy had so loved the fruit in there.
She hoped to grow the same thing in her own, but for that to happen they would have to have it changed greatly.
"Do you honestly plan to rejuvenate this yourself?" Emma asked.
"No, I have requested a specialist for it. He should arrive later today. I would have liked to do it alone, but it is too great a risk. My husband adores plants like I do, and so it is for the best that we have the best possible glasshouse for our garden."
"Then I cannot wait to see it. You know, your husband might not be what you envisioned, but I am so pleased that he shares in your passion."
"As am I," Beatrice agreed. "I do not believe that I shall be so fortunate, as I could not tell you a single man that enjoys baking."
"No," Dorothy quipped, "but there are many gentlemen that would highly appreciate the goods that come from it."
"Oh, yes! I almost forgot that I brought something for us all. Your housekeeper took it to the kitchens."
Having shown them the gardens, Dorothy took them back to her favorite drawing room, one that they had made a pale blue. The treats arrived, several small cakes covered in pink icing.
"Is this your way of telling me you believe that I am to have a little girl?" Emma asked, smiling into her cake as she bit it.
"No, in truth I believe that you will have a boy. I simply like pink."
"As do I," Dorothy agreed, lying back and looking at the new room.
Everything in her household had changed entirely. It was unrecognizable from the dark and dreary manor that it had been two mere days before. Her time with her friends was coming to an end, as she did not want them to be there when her husband returned but she did not know when that would be.
It was not that she was afraid of them meeting the Duke, but rather she knew the conversation that the two of them would have when he returned, and she wished to have it sooner rather than later.
There was so much that she wished to know, and so much that she knew he was hiding, and she did not know that she wanted her friends to be there when she learned of it all.
When the time came for them to leave, they each embraced her tightly.
Cecilia's was the tightest of all, as it always was.
She was an opinionated lady, but she cared fiercely for everyone she knew and Dorothy had always been especially important to her.
She had had gowns made for her, defended her in times of need, and been the one to push her to do what was right, rather than what would lead to the least conflict.
Dorothy wished that she would one day find happiness with a husband, but she had decided it was her life's path to be a bluestocking, and there was no changing her mind there.
Beatrice was hoping to marry, and Emma was happier than ever with her own husband, and Dorothy wished that she could feel that way; excited and content. She would tell Morgan that when he returned.
It just so happened that that was the following day. She went to see him, briefly ignoring all of the things she wished to say to him.
"You are home!" she greeted warmly. "How have you been?"
But he was looking around the household, his gaze distant.
"Dorothy," he said quietly, "what have you done?"