Chapter 10 #3
She marched into the duchess suite of rooms and found them a little shabby, too.
Nothing too serious that could not be easily refreshed.
The room was a good size. The furniture was more delicate than the duke’s furniture, and obviously designed for the lady of the manor.
The view was similar to that from the duke’s chamber.
It looked as though no wives had spent time in here in over a decade. Well, this was not surprising. From the gossip she had heard while growing up in Burnham, the last five dukes had either been widowers or bachelors when they inherited the title.
The lack of feminine touches showed.
However, the bed linens appeared to be new.
“We purchased new linens for both bedchambers,” Mrs. Granger confirmed as Tulip surveyed the room. “However, this mattress and everything else in the duchess quarters, from the furniture to the drapes, has been left in place since the time of your husband’s great grandfather.”
“That long? Has there been not a single lady of the house since his great grandfather’s time?” Tulip was surprised.
“Well, your husband’s grandfather was married and sired four sons. However, his wife had died by the time he inherited the title.” She cleared her throat. “I expect having a wife would have interfered with his…er, habits. He did enjoy the ladies.”
Oh, yes.
The exploits of Alex’s grandfather were legendary.
This explained why the duchess quarters looked so very old and faded.
That debauched, old goat already had his heirs, all four sons, and saw no reason to take on another wife who might stifle his hedonistic pleasures.
No, the ladies who slept in here were merely temporary fixtures, and there was likely an endless parade of them.
Tulip felt a ripple of unease run up her spine.
She did not like this room.
“Your husband’s grandfather had thought to fix it up about twenty years ago,” Mrs. Granger commented. “He hired a young lady to decorate it and other portions of the house, but that plan fell aside.”
“Perhaps the room held too many ghosts.”
“Yes,” Tulip’s housekeeper said with a hint of sadness in her voice.
Did Mrs. Granger feel those cold prickles up her spine, too?
“We’ll get around to properly restoring the duchess bedchamber eventually,” Tulip remarked. “For now, I’ll just use the dressing area and store my clothes in the wardrobe.”
She was never going to sleep in here, however.
The mere thought of slipping under those bedcovers gave her the shivers.
She did not understand why this room left her feeling so cold, since Alex would never have anyone other than her reside in the duchess quarters.
And why should she care what the prior dukes had done with their ladies in here?
Perhaps it was the fact so many Davenport dukes had died tragic deaths in quick succession that rattled her.
But none of them had met their untimely end in here.
In fact, only Alex’s grandfather had died in the house.
Each of the others had died outdoors.
“I think I have seen enough here, Mrs. Granger. What is on the upper floor?”
The color drained from the housekeeper’s cheeks, but she quickly recovered.
“Oh, nothing but the tower room,” she said with a casual gesture of dismissal.
“No doubt soldiers were posted up there as lookouts for marauding invaders back when this place was first built. No one’s been up there in years. ”
The door leading up to the tower room was locked when Tulip tried it.
“Your Grace, no! We shouldn’t go up there. Who knows what condition it is in? I’ll have one of the footmen inspect it first to make certain no vermin have taken up residence there.”
“All right,” Tulip said, sensing there could be more to this tower chamber than Mrs. Granger cared to reveal.
She would mention this to Alex.
They returned downstairs.
Mrs. Granger, aside from her obvious distress about that locked chamber, was proving to be quite pleasant.
She gave Tulip a tour of the main floor of the house whose rooms were mostly used for entertaining guests. They were as elegant as any found in the finest English manors nestled in the countryside but looked careworn.
The main floor of the house included a spacious formal parlor and equally spacious dining room that must have served as the old banqueting hall centuries ago.
There was also a library, a billiards room, a music room that was large enough to serve as a ballroom, and a visitor’s salon just off the entry hall.
The main hallways held portraits of the prior dukes dating back at least five hundred years.
Tulip paused in front of the portrait of Alex’s grandfather to study it closely because his grandfather bore such a striking resemblance to Alex even down to the cut of his jaw and the sharp look in his dark eyes.
And yet, these two men were so different in character, one debauched and the other valorous.
She shook out of the thought and moved on with Mrs. Granger who now showed her two rooms of more practical use for her and Alex. These were a small dining room and a cozy lady’s parlor that were far more inviting and would be much easier to heat once the cold weather arrived.
“We refer to these as the winter dining room and the winter parlor,” Mrs. Granger remarked a moment later.
“I think we will use these smaller rooms throughout the year. My husband and I will not be ready to host formal dinners or other entertainments for a while yet. In truth, I do not see us hosting at all except for one dinner party for my friends and family. I hope to attend to this within the month. But for our daily routine, it makes no sense for the two of us to take our meals at a table large enough to fit a small army.”
“As you wish,” Mrs. Granger said with a nod.
Alex’s study was also on the main floor, but his door was closed and Tulip did not want to disturb him. “We’ll stop in here last. I’ll have a look at the kitchen next.”
“Very well, Your Grace.” Mrs. Granger led her down a drab hallway that was long and narrow.
Tulip met the Thornwycke Hall cook, a surly woman by the name of Mrs. Crabbe.
The name suited her, for she was short-tempered with her scullery maids and did not smile at all while they were being introduced or while giving Tulip a brief tour of the kitchen and pantry which was surprisingly well stocked for a manor house that was lived in by depraved dukes.
Well, Tulip supposed even depraved dukes had to eat.
And would they not be likely to hold extravagant parties?
“What are you preparing for supper?” Tulip asked, intrigued by the heavenly aroma emanating from the pot on the fire.
“I thought a hearty lamb stew would serve ye for this evening, Yer Grace. I’ve also made some fresh bread and an apple pie.”
Tulip smiled at the cook. “Sounds perfect. I am quite impressed with your excellent kitchen.”
The woman’s lips did not so much as twitch at the corners to acknowledge the compliment, not even the hint of a smile.
Honestly, what a crab!
“I am certain His Grace will enjoy the meal,” Tulip said, still holding out hope of a cheerful conversation from the woman. “I’ll sit with Mrs. Granger tomorrow morning to go over the menus for the week. Please do let her know if you have any suggestions for us. I would appreciate your comments.”
The woman’s face remained expressionless. “Very well, Yer Grace.”
Goodness, how did people do this?
Alex was good at this, too. This ability to look completely blank, so no one had any idea what he was thinking.
“As you may have heard, I was raised in Somerset. In Burnham, to be precise. My family resides there. Do you know the Hesters?”
“Can’t say as I do, Yer Grace.”
“We’ll have them over as soon as His Grace and I get organized.
How much notice will you need to prepare for guests?
I also intend to hold afternoon teas for my friends and involve myself in social activities, and in the various clubs and church events held locally.
But those won’t be for a few months yet. ”
“Three day’s notice is all I need, Yer Grace. Unless ye have special requests and I might then have to send to Bath or Taunton for any comestibles I cannot obtain nearby. I would need at least a week for those situations.”
“Fair enough, Mrs. Crabbe.”
“When do ye wish to dine tonight? And will ye wish to dine at a similar hour every night? I’ll need yer schedule for the other meals.”
“Let me ask His Grace about his preference.” She turned to the housekeeper. “Shall we move on to the study? I think we’ve given the men enough time to discuss their pressing issues.”
“Very good, Your Grace.”
Were it up to Tulip, she would have run to the study and poked her head in to ask Alex what hour he liked to dine, and then run back to tell the cook.
But Dillie had warned her about the protocol of a large house.
The lady of the house spoke to the housekeeper who in turn delivered the instructions to the cook.
After today, she was not expected to step foot in the kitchen.
She really did not like that rule.
Shouldn’t she know what was being purchased?
What was spent. What was being pilfered, for this was another thing Dillie had warned her about.
There was always someone sneaking out with an extra loaf of bread, eggs, or fresh meat.
Some might be more brazen and attempt to sneak off with some of the silverware, which was why she needed to keep the silverware under lock and key, and keep an accurate count of the pieces.
Mostly, Dillie overlooked the petty pilfering. However, she made certain to let her staff know she was aware of it.
Action was taken in the rare instances it got out of hand.
Tulip intended to follow this advice.
However, she was pleased how this place was run. The cook, housekeeper, and head butler all seemed to be taking their positions in the household quite seriously. While the Davenport dukes were profligate, their staff was not.