Chapter 10 #2
“I look forward to it, Your Grace. It is good to have a Davenport duke once again in residence at Thornwycke Hall.”
“And his charming duchess,” Mr. Carver, the estate manager, called out gleefully to Tulip as he hurried out of the house toward them, all smiles. “Bless my soul! It is good to see you, Tulip…I mean, Your Grace.”
“Mr. Carver!” Despite the gesture being completely outside of proper protocol, she gave him a hug. “It is so good to see you, too.”
“Imagine my surprise when I learned you are the new Duchess of Davenport. Blow me over with a feather, said I to your aunt and uncle. But I could not be happier for you.”
However, his voice sounded a little hollow.
No doubt, he was more worried than happy because he did not know Alex yet and had only the prior dukes and their horrible behavior to guide him.
Tulip knew everyone would come to admire Alex in time.
How could they not?
Tulip introduced Mr. Carver to Alex.
“We’ve corresponded a time or two,” Alex said with cordiality. “It is good to finally meet you.”
“In truth, we’ve met before. I don’t expect you would recall, for I had not been working here long when you were a little boy.
But I remember you well, though. Clever child you were.
A pleasure to serve you now, Your Grace,” Mr. Carver replied with apparent sincerity and a dollop of caution, no doubt because all the other dukes had turned out so poorly.
Then Ernfield and Mrs. Granger introduced them to the rest of the staff, most of whom appeared to be dutiful and friendly.
Tulip recognized several maids and footmen because their families lived in Burnham and they all attended the same house of worship as the Hesters.
She hoped their familiarity with her mother’s family would help rather than hinder her and Alex as they settled in.
“Tulip,” Alex said quietly, “you seem to be at ease here. May I leave you in Mrs. Granger’s hands for a while?”
She was surprised by the request, but nodded. “Yes, of course.”
“Good.” He asked Mr. Carver to join him in the study. “There is a study in this house, is there not?”
“Yes, Your Grace,” he replied. “I took the liberty of bringing all the estate ledgers over here yesterday and setting them on your desk. They are ready to be reviewed at your convenience.”
“Oh, I think now is convenient.”
Mr. Carver frowned. “Do you not wish to settle in first? Or have a tour of the house before we roll up our sleeves and get to work?”
“No, I’m fine.” Alex turned to Tulip. “Let Mrs. Granger show you around the house while I am holed up with Mr. Carver for the next few hours.”
She stifled her surprise once again, wondering why he would desire them to be apart for any length of time so soon upon their arrival. “All right.”
He next turned to Mrs. Granger. “Is our bedchamber ready?”
“Yes, Your Grace. Both the duke’s quarters and the duchess quarters are in readiness.”
He turned to Tulip, his eyebrow arched. “Set us up however you wish.”
“The duke’s bedchamber is probably the largest and likely to have the best views. I’ll have our belongings brought up there. It should be easy enough to move things around if we decide on any changes.”
He nodded and strode into the house with Mr. Carver.
The housekeeper cast her a sympathetic smile. “It is obvious you are newly wed and much desiring to remain in his company. I felt this way about my husband throughout all the years of our marriage.”
“Oh, then you are actually married?” She knew it was common for housekeepers to adopt the ‘Mrs.’ for purposes of respectability no matter whether they were spinsters or married ladies.
“Widowed early on,” the woman explained with an obvious wistfulness to her voice and perhaps some resentment that her beloved was taken from her so soon. “Five years of wedded bliss before I lost him to a wicked fever.”
“I am so sorry,” Tulip said with genuine sympathy.
Mrs. Granger cast her a sad smile. “I started here shortly after he died. Work was a necessity if I was to survive in this world. Shall we go up to the bedchambers first? And then I will show you around the rest of the house. Are you thirsty, Your Grace? Or hungry? Shall I have refreshments brought up to you? And what about His Grace?”
“No refreshments necessary for either of us. We stopped at a nearby coaching inn for a bite to eat less than two hours ago. We were not certain of the preparations made in expectation of our arrival.”
“Ah, you thought we might all be slovenly and lazy.”
Tulip winced. “We hoped this would not be the situation, but did prepare ourselves for the worst.”
“I think you will find us to be a very good staff. We are all pleased to welcome you here. Mr. Carver has had nothing but nice things to say about you.”
“That is good to hear. He will come to admire my husband, as well. You all will, once you get to know him. He is incredibly intelligent and a very hard worker. I would not be surprised if he had this estate flourishing before the year is out.”
Mrs. Granger regarded her dubiously. “I hope you are right. The prior dukes did quite some damage through their neglect and wastrel ways.”
“Were you here through all four of the last dukes?” Tulip asked.
She nodded. “Yes, most of us were.”
“You must have been only in your mid-twenties when you started here.”
“Late twenties,” she said with a sadness in her eyes.
“I was desperate to find work and had to take whatever position I was first offered. It happened to be as housekeeper here. I was hired because I was pretty and for no other reason. It had nothing to do with my competence or years of experience. In truth, I had almost no experience. But I was eager to learn and caught on quickly. I think His Grace’s grandfather, the old duke, was pleased with my services and appreciated seeing a smiling face. ”
A forced smile, Tulip imagined, because she must have been grieving the loss of her husband.
But one required food and shelter even while in the midst of grief.
Only the wealthy could afford to sit home and mourn without such life-threatening concerns.
Tulip had to admire the woman for showing strength despite her sorrow. “And what about the succeeding dukes? What were they like?”
Mrs. Granger’s smile faded as they walked upstairs to the bedrooms. “They were a difficult bunch, I will admit. I did my job and tried to stay out of their way as much as I could. Some of the things that went on in this house are too shameful to speak of aloud.”
“I heard rumors,” Tulip murmured. “Gossip was rampant in Burnham. That’s where I grew up and lived for most of my life.”
Mrs. Granger sighed and shook her head. “Well, it is not my place to speak ill of the dead. I served them as dutifully as I served the old duke. It wasn’t always easy.”
“I think you will find my husband to be honest and fair. There won’t be any such nonsense going on now that he is the duke. He is respectful of others, and a very good man.”
They entered the duke’s suite of rooms that at first glance appeared quite grand and impressively furnished. However, on closer inspection Tulip noticed the curtains were fraying and the walls looked as though they could use a fresh coat of paint.
The bed and the bed linens appeared to be in good shape, however.
Indeed, the linens looked new.
Mrs. Granger smiled when Tulip mentioned it. “Yes, we tossed out all the old ones, the mattress included, and purchased new. We thought His Grace would appreciate it and understand the reason for the added expenditure.”
“Oh, he will,” Tulip said, knowing Alex would burn down this entire place if given the choice because he blamed the old duke and his father for destroying his mother.
As far as Alex was concerned, they tainted everything they touched.
She walked to one of the windows to peer out. “The view is magnificent, Mrs. Granger.”
“Yes, quite beautiful,” the pleasant housekeeper agreed.
There was an expansive garden that sloped toward the waters of the Bristol Channel glistening in the distance.
The shrubbery beside a willow tree in the garden’s corner seemed a bit overrun.
It encroached on the flower beds and pebble pathways, but a little pruning would easily fix that problem.
“Look there, by the willow. This would be the perfect spot for a little reading nook. A bench would go perfectly right there.”
To her surprise, Mrs. Granger became suddenly flustered. “Oh, we shouldn’t. That is…Ernfield will not allow it. You see, it was the old duke’s wishes to leave that spot untouched and Ernfield vowed it would remain so.”
“Why?”
“Truthfully, I don’t know. I think the old duke might have buried some of his favorite pets there when he was a child. Of course, you are in charge here now and can do whatever you wish. It would be a nice spot to sit and read.”
Tulip thought it odd that a hard man like Alex’s grandfather would be so devoted to his pets. “We shall leave it as it is for now. No reason to disrespect his wishes.”
There was a fountain in the center of the garden, but Tulip could not tell from this distance whether it was working or not.
“The duchess bedchamber is next door, Your Grace,” Mrs. Granger said, pointing to an interior door between the two rooms. “You mentioned that all the trunks were to be brought in here, but would you not prefer your privacy? How are you to dress or bathe while His Grace and his valet are about? And what of him? Is your lady’s maid to be standing here while he traipses about half dressed? ”
“What you say is sensible,” Tulip admitted. “You can move my things into the duchess quarters since it makes sense not to have spectators while I am washing and dressing. But the door between our chambers is always to be left unlocked.”