Chapter 10
“Mrs. Mills, where is my husband?” Prudence asked.
She was in the sitting room with a handkerchief she’d been embroidering clutched in her hands, and it had just occurred to her that she hadn’t seen her husband all day. That was somewhat maddening. Had she really been brought here to sit around embroidering handkerchiefs?
“I believe the Duke is in his study,” Mrs. Mills said. “He was there a few hours ago and asked for his breakfast to be brought to him. I haven’t seen him since, so I must assume that’s where he still is though I don’t know for sure. Would you like me to take a message to him?”
“And why would I need to send a message to my husband?” Prudence wanted to know. “Am I not allowed to go to the study on my own and pay him a visit if I wish to speak to him?”
“It’s certainly not up to me what anyone is allowed to do,” Mrs. Mills said hesitantly.
“I would warn you that His Grace is not fond of interruption when he is working, however. He may not take kindly to seeing you. It might be better to communicate via a messenger, and I would be more than happy to go and speak to him about anything that’s on your mind. ”
“I’ll go myself,” Prudence said. “The truth is, Mrs. Mills, I’m bored. I didn’t expect to feel this way. I thought I would enjoy the free time around here. But this house is so big and empty, and there is little for me to do.”
She set down her needlework and made her way toward the study.
For the last few nights, her secret men’s clothes had called to her. She’d ached to take them out, slip them on, and try to sneak out of the house the way she had always done before she had been married.
But every time she thought of doing it, something stopped her.
Prudence didn’t want to admit to cowardice, but she was worried about what might happen if she were caught.
At the very least, the clothes would be taken from her, and Leonard would take steps to prevent her from sneaking out in the future.
It was better to wait until she felt confident of what she was doing, even though the waiting drove her mad.
She paused outside the door to his study, wondering if she dared knock.
The thing that worried her was what might happen after she did so.
Would he let her in? There was every chance he would and that the two of them would have a nice conversation.
But he might also tell her to go away and that he wasn’t to be disturbed.
She didn’t want another argument. She didn’t want to hear her husband explain, yet again, that he wanted her to be happy here—while making no real effort to ensure her happiness.
“Did he send you away?”
It was Mrs. Mills standing behind her, and her tone was sympathetic. Somehow, it drew a true answer out of Prudence. “I haven’t knocked yet,” she confessed. “I haven’t been able to summon the courage.”
Mrs. Mills pressed her lips together sympathetically.
“Are you sure it isn’t something I can help with, Your Grace?
If you require something to entertain you, to help fill your hours, I might be of use to you.
I know that you tire of your needlework, but there are plenty of things a lady can do to pass the time—a duchess in particular. ”
That was an intriguing notion, and it was enough to turn Prudence away from the door in front of her. “What do you mean?” she asked. “Is there something I ought to be doing?”
“I wouldn’t have said ought to, but we did speak about preparing the house to receive your guests.
Maybe you’d like to spend today going around and showing me the changes you’d like to have made.
Once you feel the place is ready for guests, you can invite your family over, and that ought to help with some of the boredom you’ve been feeling—am I right? ”
Prudence couldn’t help but smile. “You’re very right,” she agreed. “Thank you, Mrs. Mills. I’m so grateful to have you here. You’ve made everything so much easier—so much more pleasant.”
It didn’t escape her notice that the housekeeper relaxed as they walked away from the door to the study. She had alarmed Mrs. Mills by claiming that she was planning to disturb her husband at his work. Would Leonard really have reacted that badly to a knock on his door?
Maybe it’s a good thing I decided not to do it if he’s going to be like that about it.
She followed Mrs. Mills back to the sitting room and began to go into detail with the housekeeper about the changes she hoped to see and how she thought they would make the manor a more inviting place, but in the back of her mind, she was still outside that study.
“This is a record of the finances His Grace has allotted for you,” said Hawkins, the butler. “And here is the ledger so that you can keep track of expenditures.”
It was more money than Prudence had ever dreamed of having control of and certainly more than she needed. “And I can do whatever I’d like?”
“Within reason, I should think,” Hawkins said. He offered her a smile. “His Grace might object if you started a circus on the grounds.”
Prudence laughed. “I’ll bear that in mind,” she said. “May I review a copy of the current household expenses to see where other funds are going?”
She thought he might refuse her or tell her that she needed to take that up with Leonard, but he simply produced a second ledger and flipped it open to a marked page. “This is an accounting of the wages the staff members are paid?” she asked, pointing.
“That’s right,” Hawkins said. His own name was at the top of the list, followed by Mrs. Mills and then down the rank of everyone else who served at Desford.
An idea came to Prudence. “I could increase everyone’s wages,” she suggested.
“You’d be under no obligation to do any such thing, Your Grace,” Hawkins said. “I can assure you that no one here is unhappy with their pay. We all earn a fair amount, and the Duke is good to us.”
“Yes, I’ve seen that,” Prudence said. “Still, I’ve been given more money than I need, and good service ought to be rewarded, so I’d like to increase pay for all the members of staff, just by a little bit. Would I note that down here?” She pointed to her own book.
“That’s right, if that’s what you want to do,” Hawkins said. “Though I might suggest discussing the idea with His Grace before you do so.”
“Nonsense, Hawkins. This money was given to me to use as I see fit, and this is what I want to do. I’ll consult with Mrs. Mills about the money I want to devote to renovations, and perhaps I’ll find someone to come into town with me to do a bit of shopping—that would be enjoyable.
In the meantime, thank you for showing this to me. I can take things from here.”
Hawkins nodded and withdrew.
Prudence went down the line and added the pay increase to each member of the staff—not much but enough that they would have something extra in their pockets at the end of each week.
She wanted them to know how much she appreciated all the help they had given her and how easy and comfortable they’d made it for her to settle in to her new life.
Once Leonard leaves, once I am able to stop thinking about him and what he’s doing all the time, I don’t think I’ll have any problems at all!
And then she would be able to leave the house in the evening, dressed however she liked, and she could go wherever she wanted, and no one would have anything at all to say on the matter.
She would make it to that moment. It would be easy. She just had to hold on a bit longer, and then the chaos of this new life would finally settle down.
In the meantime, she decided she would write to her sisters.
They deserved to know how things were going, and she wanted to alert them to the fact that she was looking forward to having them here for a visit just as soon as she possibly could.
She knew that Arabella would have told Caroline by now that Leonard intended to go to his country house, and she was sure Caroline’s opinion on that subject would be much the same as Arabella’s had been.
It would be easier to wait until Leonard was gone before trying to explain the situation to them because then there wouldn’t be anything for them to try to argue with her about, but Prudence was simply too close to her sisters to do that.
There was no way she would be able to wait all that time before reaching out to them.
She looked around for some paper then gave up and tore a page out of the back of her ledger, smiling at the thought of what her sisters would say when they realized she’d done that.
Dear Caroline, she wrote then paused and pondered. Where to begin?
Life at Desford is both more and less than what I expected it to be.
The good news is that I’ve quickly come to realize I’ll be able to be happy here, and I’m excited for what the future holds.
I’m sure by now you have spoken to Arabella about my husband’s plans, and that you have plenty of opinions to share.
Worry not, I will hear them. But in the meantime, please know that I am more than satisfied with my circumstances.
The Duke will remain with me long enough not to raise any questions.
He doesn’t want to see his brother disgraced for abandoning me at the altar—although, if I am honest, Lord Hall is such a disgraceful person that nothing that happened between the two of us could possibly make his reputation any worse than it must already be. I’m glad to be rid of him.
As for the man I did marry, he keeps to himself for the most part which makes it easy for me to go about my own business.
Today alone, I have learned that there is plenty for me to do in this big old estate, and I will be inviting you and Arabella out to visit and admire my handiwork just as soon as I feel the place is ready for me to start showing it off a bit.
In the meantime, I hope that you and your family are well, and I miss you every day.
Yours,
Prudence.
She tore out another piece of paper and penned a nearly identical letter to Arabella. With luck her words would keep her sisters from worrying too much, and the promise of a visit soon to come was enough to make excitement flicker to life within her.
And what she had written was true—there was plenty to do, and plenty to think about, in the meantime.
She had her work cut out for her, making this place ready for company, and she was intent that by the time her sisters came to visit, it would be a home she could take pride in with plenty of things for her to show off.
The sitting room was just the start. She would redo the gardens and plant her favorite flowers. She would hang new drapes. She would even have new foods brought in so the cook could experiment with fresh recipes.
Being a duchess might be more exciting than Prudence had anticipated.