Chapter 15 #2
The servants started to slow down but he waved them back to business while stalking back to her. While Dominic knew he should be relieved Verity didn’t quake over this disaster, he didn’t appreciate her monopolizing attempt at doing something dangerous.
“Thank you for caring.” His words came out through a clenched jaw. “And thank you for volunteering. But I will not have my duchess climbing a ladder in a storm and mess like this; it’s too dangerous.”
Tension radiated between the two of them.
There was also Mr. Timmons. His eyes darted between them; every time he attempted to speak, one of them was already responding. Both of them ignored him to focus on each other.
“You are worried about the room as well as the house, aren’t you? We must keep that in mind. If we don’t address the origin of the problem, it will only grow worse,” she said pointedly with her hands on her hips. “You move too fast.”
They were on the verge of a real argument. Discomfort reared its head as he searched for ways to make her understand that he had to be right.
“I move fast to save what I can. I will not stand about letting everything I care about in this room fall apart,” he bit out.
He didn’t realize what he had said until she pulled back, blinking. After a moment of hesitation, she gave a short nod. “Very well.”
“What?”
“We split the workload in two,” she said just as the thought began to occur to him.
He began nodding while Verity turned to their butler to provide directions.
“We need a ladder and someone able to climb it. Find the gardener or a stablehand at once. Then we need buckets and mops and brooms here at once to get the doors open and push out the water.”
Dominic jumped in. “Towels, too. I don’t want anyone in the house anywhere else but in here until this sunroom is no longer dripping wet.”
“We’ll secure three servants to focus on removing furniture. Everything goes into the hall. Once they are done, they need to start drying everything. I can help direct there if––”
“I’ll supervise getting the ceiling fixed,” he jumped in.
“And Mr. Timmons, we’ll need your support on getting rid of these puddles.” Verity turned back to him with a straight spine and confident glimmer in her eyes. “We’ll get everything fixed, sorted, and dried as quickly as possible.”
“Very good.”
With a nod, the two of them went in their directions. Mr. Timmons hurried off toward the stables.
Meanwhile Dominic had noted a ladder yesterday in the nearby gardens, he stepped outside a door to check if it might still be there. And there it was. Water spilled around him in its gravitational attempt to escape the house. He winced before moving on.
It wasn’t particularly difficult pulling the ladder from where it was stationed under a mostly trimmed tree, but the torrential rain made it hard for him to watch his steps on the return to the house.
He was soaked by the time he stepped foot back inside.
“Do you need assistance?” Verity called when he returned with the heavy ladder in hand. “Lucy, fetch a towel for the duke. He can’t stay soaked like that this whole time.”
“No time,” Dominic called over his shoulder. “The sofa?”
“Moved! Planters are being sent outside.”
“Understood.”
Communication came and went while they addressed the emergency. He stationed the ladder under the larger of the holes just in time for Mr. Timmons to return with the stablemaster’s eldest son, William, who had done some assistance on the roof prior.
“Careful,” Verity called at the same time Dominic did as the young man––he couldn’t be twenty judging by the lack of peach fuzz on his face––climbed the ladder.
“I’ve got it,” Dominic promised her while holding to the ladder.
She still looked worried. “I don’t want any injuries,” she murmured in a low tone. “The water isn’t clean. Three planters broke when we lifted them. And Danny has a rather large splinter.”
“Can anyone get it out?”
“Lucy is working on it.”
“Very good. We’re doing what we can.”
She turned to look at him. “Yes, we are. I know we can fix this. Soon.”
Pausing to study her face, Dominic wondered what she was thinking. She appeared calm enough. Much more haggard for all the work they were doing. Although he supposed another duke might stand about dry and shout out orders, Dominic wanted to help. He wanted solutions. He wanted to save this room.
And Verity wanted to do the same. This was clear in her actions, the orders she provided and the support she gave to him and the household.
Hours passed. It took a while to finally find a way to find the issue and create a stopper. After that, they fixed the second. By then, the stablemaster returned. He and his son took over that responsibility while Dominic ensured the last of the furniture and art were removed.
While this consumed his time and attention, worried and annoyed thoughts at this disaster leaving him on edge, he couldn’t resist frequent glances toward his wife.
Most ladies would have rushed out of the room with a promise never to return.
Instead, she kept her head up and her wits about her.
Verity marched about to help sort out the disaster, working alongside their servants.
Pride rocked his worries for the evening as he considered he couldn’t have a finer wife. Even when she argued with him.
But the arguing was done. No hard feelings lingered like he had wondered, and instead the two of them were determined to succeed now together.
They spoke quietly and calmly, helping one another. Any time he glanced her way, she seemed to notice and would look up to nod like she was confirming all was well. That all would be well.
There was a grit to the duchess that Dominic was impressed by, glad to see she was seeing the problem through and not hiding away.
“Do you think the stoppers will hold?” Verity murmured as the ladder was removed.
“For tonight, I think. Roger will take another look once the weather dries,” Dominic said as he shifted back toward the corner of the room where she was standing. It was one of the driest spots left. He crossed his arms, wet and uncomfortable, but relieved that the worst was over. “How is Danny?”
“The splinter is fine and his hand is bandaged,” she murmured. She chewed her lip while studying the space. “But I’m concerned about this room. I don’t know how much we can salvage, Dominic, I’m sorry. The wood will be ruined and could warp. It could mold. We might need to…”
Nodding, he acknowledged the lump in his throat and the truth he’d been ignoring. “Rebuild. I’ve done it before. I can do it again.”
“We’ll do our best to restore everything we can,” Verity vowed.
There was honesty and care in her tone, a tenderness that left him uncomfortable and amazed. Strangers they might have been yesterday. Even now. And yet… He met her gaze and nodded. “Indeed. We shall.”
Something had changed today between them. He felt stripped of his secrets, laid bare in the now empty and ruined sunroom. His wife had seen a part of him he never meant to reveal. It brought her closer to him, allowing her a step closer to his soul.
He didn’t trust it. He didn’t trust her.