Chapter 11
The bedchamber was pristine.
Nancy wiped her hands together, then planted them on her hips and gave a nod of approval.
Eileen brought over a notebook and began ticking things off.
“Do you think he’ll like it?” Nancy asked, determined to do not just a good job, but an excellent one.
“If he doesn’t,” Eileen replied, arching her blonde brows, “he is far too picky. This would do for a king.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Nancy replied, walking about the beautifully appointed room, her shoes sinking into the beautifully made Axminster.
The new bed was heaven, as were the rest of the furnishings: an armoire, several low tables, a settee, and a set of chairs before the fire.
The duke had gotten rid of most of the old things that had been here, as if he could not bear to have them there to remind him of the past, and she understood that better than anyone.
But about a week ago, he had asked that they prepare a bedchamber that was currently filled with games.
And so, she and the other girls had spent that week cataloging every antique game that the duke, his father, had ever collected.
It had been no small feat, and she’d never known so many sorts of games had existed.
She was now an expert in games of various sizes throughout history.
It had been no easy thing cleaning the room either.
As a matter of fact, another ten servants had been hired. These, of course, were housemaids and scullery maids. A few footmen had also been put into positions to carry things.
It did seem as if the Duke of Winterborne’s townhome was now beginning to operate fully. Yes, there were still several rooms that had not been touched, but one by one things were happening.
She turned her face to the windows, enjoying the sun. The curtains were beautiful and brand-new, a light butter-yellow damask. The bedchamber was decorated in the most beautiful, light furnishings. She’d been quite surprised by the specifications the duke had asked for.
She’d thought that he would want something quite masculine, perhaps dark greens and rich mahoganies and cherry wood.
But no, he had asked for light, frothy, bright, and happy things.
He said life was too short for darkness and that one should revel in as much light as possible.
And so she and the other young ladies had taken it upon themselves to engage the best furniture makers and the best designers to achieve his requests.
He had said expense was no worry, and he wanted it to be done as quickly as possible. And so they had worked miracles. There were beautiful portraits of flowers on the walls and trees.
A mural had been painted on one side of the chamber depicting a verdant garden that looked as if one might be able to slip away into a hushed oasis of a paradise and never feel the trials and tribulations of modern life.
She would have loved to sleep in this room, and she quite envied the duke in a way, but she was pleased.
He needed rest.
He did so many good things for people that he deserved a haven. The cramped little room that he barely fit in above in the servants’ quarters upstairs would not do.
She was glad that, at long last, he was taking care of himself.
“Magnificent, ladies,” the duke declared from the open doorway. “Absolutely magnificent.”
She couldn’t stop her smile of pride. His praise gave her a shocking dose of delight. “Will you take up residence?” she asked him.
And it wasn’t just his praise that gave her delight. How she loved the sight of him! There was something about his presence that was like a balm to her soul.
“No,” he said simply.
“No?” she queried, her spirits sinking. “Is it not to your taste?”
“Oh, it is,” he replied as he stepped further into the room and folded his hands behind his back, which stretched his perfectly tailored morning coat along his broad shoulders. “It is exactly to the specifications I requested.”
“Then whatever is amiss?” she asked, dismayed.
He tilted his beautiful head to the side, his dark curling hair teasing his shoulders. “It’s not for me.”
“What?” she gasped.
She glanced to Eileen.
Eileen’s lips curved in a smile.
“Do you know who it’s for?” Nancy asked, completely off foot.
Eileen gave a nod of her head, the wisps of her curls teasing her temples.
Nancy pulled back her chin. “And you kept it from me? I thought you worked for me.”
Eileen laughed. “We all work for him, don’t you know?”
“It is true,” Nancy admitted, confused. “But I don’t understand.
” She turned towards the duke she so admired, wondering what the blazes she didn’t understand.
“Your Grace, I have worked very hard this week, as have all the other young ladies, to ensure that you had a wonderful place to hide away from the world. A place you can rest so that you can prepare yourself to go out to Parliament and fight with those bullies who insist on keeping children in chimneys and ladies at hard labor with little recompense.”
He drew himself up. “I am made of quite stern stuff, my dear Miss Stillbrooke,” he said. “I do not need to have such a beautiful haven. No, this is the sort of room that someone needs when they must retreat from the world to improve their health.”
“Oh?” she queried. “Who is that?”
“Me, my dear.” The soft voice of her mother traveled in from the hallway as she entered.
Nancy nearly collapsed, something she had never done in her whole life.
The duke rushed across the room and took her in his arms.
She couldn’t breathe. Her mouth dried. Her eyes widened, and she could hardly believe that he’d saved her from falling to the floor and that now she was ensconced in his embrace.
“I didn’t mean to startle you so,” he whispered. “Forgive me.”
“Forgive you?” she returned, her voice catching in her throat.
She swung her attention first to the duke, then to Eileen, and then to her mother as she entered the chamber.
It couldn’t be real. This had to be a dream.
Slowly, she stood, slipping out of the duke’s hold and taking a step towards her mother, who stood, arms out, face like an angel.
“Pinch me,” she managed to say to Eileen.
Eileen shook her head. “I won’t,” she said. “You need to enjoy every moment of this, and I won’t give you a bit of pain during this miracle.”
“It can’t be real,” Nancy said again, taking another step to her mother but half afraid this would all evaporate before her eyes. “I have to be sleeping.”
“Not a bit of it,” the duke said, his deep voice the most assuring thing she’d ever heard. “This is why I requested the chamber. Your mother and you deserve to be together.”
“Mama,” Nancy called out as she rushed forward and stepped into her mother’s frail embrace.
But it mattered not that it was frail. They were here. Together. Safe.
Her mother was wearing a new gown of soft linen. It clung to her slight frame, but when Nancy leaned back and looked into her eyes, oh, her eyes were clear and bright and filled with tears.
“Yes, my dear,” her mother said with a voice that was much stronger than the last time they spoke. “The duke insisted that I come to stay. I tried to tell him that it wasn’t necessary, that I could improve in the little cottage by the sea.”
“And that cottage by the sea,” the duke said, “is very small and damp, and I know that you were doing the very best that you could for her, but here she will have good food, warmth, dry air, and all the doctors in the world that can help her.”
Nancy fought a wince because as much as she hated it, the duke was right. She had, in many ways, romanticized the little cottage by the sea, but it had been all that they could afford.
The one-room stone cottage with damp upon the walls? She had told herself over and over again that the sea air would help her mother far better than the air of London where Nancy could afford to live, and it was true, but it hadn’t been perfect.
It had barely been a step above what she would have had to endure in London.
“This is for my mother?” she said, turning to him, gazing at the chamber with new eyes.
The duke nodded. “Yes,” he said. “It is for her. There are so many people that I wish I could help, but at least here, I get to see the help that I’m giving. I get to take part in it. I get to make friends with those that I’m helping. Please don’t take that from me.”
Tears filled her eyes. “How could I take that away from anyone?” she questioned.
“Well, there is a way,” he said gently. “You are rather stubborn.”
She let out a laugh and then tears began to truly slip down her cheeks as she pulled her mother into her arms again. “Will you be happy here, Mama? You wish to live here?”
“The duke seems a most kind fellow,” her mother rushed.
“I told him that it might not be the best thing, but he insisted that he was going to ask nothing of us, and that you were working very hard for him, and your happiness meant more than anything. And that if you were happy, then you would work even better for him. He has visited me at the cottage a few times to make sure I am recovering, and he asked me not to tell you so that you did not feel as if you owed him anything. Forgive me for not telling you, my dear. He has the most remarkable logic and ability to convince anyone to do anything. And he seems a very good man.”
This time Nancy laughed a rueful laugh mixed with her tears. “You are quite right there, Mama. He is the best arguer that anyone could ever come across, and he does it all with kindness in his tone.”
“Why shout at people when you can tease them?” the duke declared.
She laughed again. “Can you teach all the teachers in the world that?”
“I might try,” he warned merrily.
Eileen began to clap. “Ooh, I do like the sound of that,” she said. “Could we get rid of all the shouters? I think it would be marvelous if children laughed instead.”
He smiled at the three of them. “A job well done,” he declared, then added, “I think we should allow your mother to rest, don’t you?”
She nodded. “Mama, would you like to settle in?”