Page 48 of The Duke's Promise to Her Child
“What is—” He saw it. The entire household had turned out — the full retinue ranged in two neat lines before the front door.
“I told him not to do this,” Gideon said, under his breath. “Heathcliff, the butler, is a stickler for the proprieties. There is no moving him on such matters.”
“Did he do this when you first arrived?”
“No,” he said. “I was cleverer then. I did not warn them I was coming — simply presented myself one morning without notice. Heathcliff was most put out, but it was considerably morecomfortable for everyone. I would suggest we do the same again next time.”
She straightened her shoulders. “Very well. We shall get through it.”
Together they approached the house. Mrs. Strom the housekeeper and Mr. Heathcliff stepped forward, bowed and curtsied as was proper, and addressed them by their titles. He was still not accustomed to being called Your Grace, and it had to be stranger still for Helena. He watched her face as it was said to her for the first time here, and wondered whether he had burdened her with more than she could comfortably carry.
* * *
Your Grace.
It rang in her ear like something not quite real. Almost like a confession she had not intended to make.Your Grace.She had barely grown accustomed to being called my lady, and here she was — referred to as Duchess. It was ludicrous. Absolutely ludicrous. And yet this was her life now. Whether she liked it or not.
The housekeeper drew herself up to her full height — which was not considerable, but her bearing made considerably more of it than nature had provided — and gave them each a warm smile.
“It is so wonderful to have a family at Blackthorne again,” Mrs. Strom said. “The previous Duke had not yet married when hepassed away. I must say, Your Grace—” she looked at Lavinia with evident pleasure “—it is a wonderful place for a small child.”
Lavinia, for her part, studied Mrs. Strom with wide eyes, then extended both arms in the direction of Gideon.
“Pap! Pap!”
“You are already up,” Gideon said, with great seriousness. “There is no need to request to be lifted when you are already lifted.”
“She may be a little young to appreciate that distinction, Your Grace,” Mrs. Strom said, with admirable composure.
“Of course,” Gideon said, and Helena watched the color creep onto his cheeks. “I am aware of that. I am simply in the habit of speaking to her as though she understands, on the grounds that she deserves to be treated with respect.”
Helena kept her expression neutral. The housekeeper, she noticed, was exercising similar restraint.
“Shall I introduce you to the staff, Your Grace?” Mrs. Strom said, turning to Helena. “And then I can show you to your chambers.”
“Please,” Helena said.
She was introduced to every member of the household in turn, which took some time but which she had expected. She had done this before and she could do it again. She paid attention to names and faces with the care she had always brought to such things, and by the time it was over she had most of them fixed in her memory.
Mrs. Strom walked her up the stairs — she was a formidable woman of perhaps five feet if she extended herself, with iron grey hair and the kind of quiet authority that made it clear who ran Blackthorne Manor and had done for some considerable time. She lacked the forbidding chill Helena had associated with the housekeeper at the Vale estate, but was in every other respect exactly the sort of person one hoped to find in charge of a large house.
“The footmen will bring your trunks up directly,” Mrs. Strom said. “And I have assigned two maids to assist with the unpacking.”
“I have a lady’s maid,” Helena hastened to say.
“We are aware. Mary has already been given quarters suitable to her position and I believe she is upstairs preparing for your arrival. She also,” Mrs. Strom added, with the particular neutral tone of a woman choosing her words with care, “insisted on overseeing the preparation of the nursery herself. She is very clear about her preferences.”
“Yes,” Helena said. “I sent her ahead for precisely that reason. She knows how I like things done.”
“Of course,” Mrs. Strom said. “To tell the truth, Your Grace, I am glad that you have brought your own lady’s maid. The late Duke was unmarried, and we are not accustomed to families here. There are one or two gaps in our domestic arrangements that Mary’s presence will help address.”
“I am glad to hear it.” Helena paused. “And — if I may say — it must be a comfort to you as well, to have a family in the house again.”
“It is,” Mrs. Strom said, with warmth that seemed genuine. “His Grace is an amenable man. Though I confess I do not think he is at ease with small children as yet.”
“No,” Helena agreed. “He tries his best. I do not think he has had much occasion to be around them before.”
“I gathered that, Your Grace, when he attempted to explain to the child the distinction between requesting to be lifted and already being lifted.”
