Page 13 of The Duchess’ Second Chance

“No, that’s lovely,” Amanda said. “I’ve been teaching Rose myself, but more attention for her is certainly a good thing.” She paused. “Thank you for doing that. For thinking of her needs.”

“Of course.” Had Amanda believed that he wouldn’t?” That he’d let a child come to live with him and not see to it that she was adequately provided for?

Maybe she hadn’t been confident of that. She’d seemed surprised when he had agreed that the girl would be able to live here, after all. “So you’re happy with Mrs. Linden?”

“As long as Rose is,” Amanda confirmed. “I think we ought to see how the two of them get along—but I’m sure it will be just fine.” She smiled at Mrs. Linden. “Thank you for being here. She’s a very good girl, though she can be a bit wild sometimes.”

“I’m sure I’ll enjoy working with her, Your Grace,” Mrs. Linden assured Amanda with a smile.

“Come along,” Sampson said. “You need to see the rest of the house.”

He led her down the hallway as the staff dispersed, returning to their work. “What do they think of me being here?” Amanda murmured. “I’m sure they weren’t expecting you to marry so quickly.”

“They know you’re the lady of the house and they’ll treat you accordingly,” Sampson said. “If you have troubles with anyone, come and tell me at once, but I don’t expect that to happen. These are good people. Many of them served me before the war, and they kept the house running in my absence. I consider myself lucky to have every one of them.”

Amanda nodded. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to bring over my own lady’s maid from my time at my father’s house,” she said. “She was very good to me. Marie is her name. My father wouldn’t pay to keep her, but she stayed anyway. She said as long as she had food to eat and a roof over her head, she wouldn’t abandon me. I don’t know what my father will do with her now that I’m gone. Make her a scullery maid if she’s lucky, but he might just throw her out.”

“I’ll write to him at once,” Sampson said briskly. “And we’ll make sure that Marie is well paid, of course.”

“Oh, thank you.” Amanda’s face broke into the first real smile he had seen from her. “That means the world to me. She’s been the only person I could really trust for some time now.”

He nodded. He knew what it was like to have a friend in an unforgiving environment. Not that her father’s home compared to the war, or the things he had suffered there, but perhaps the two of them understood one another just a little bit better than either of them had expected to.

“The dining room is through here,” he said, opening the double doors to reveal the long table. “We eat here three times a day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I’ll expect you for all meals.”

“Am I able to take meals in my room?” she asked.

“I prefer you to dine with me.” At least until he knew her a little better. It was so odd to have a wife at all, and the fact that she was someone he knew next to nothing about made it that much stranger. He’d settle in to this new life much more easily when he knew her a bit better.

She walked the length of the table, trailing her hand along the oak. “This whole big table is for you? I mean, before I came to live here, there was no one else, right?”

“Perhaps I’d have a guest every now and then,” he suggested.

“But did you? Or do you host dinner parties, maybe?”

“I haven’t had any dinner parties,” he was forced to admit. “And I don’t know that I would want to. It sounds like a trial.”

She nodded and didn’t question him further on that subject. “I’d like to take my dinner privately tonight,” she said quietly. “After that, I’ll join you for meals.”

He pressed his lips together. He wasn’t used to being argued with. But on the other hand, it was better than having to guess at what she was thinking. “All right,” he agreed. “That seems like a fair compromise. I’ll have your dinner sent up to you tonight.”

“Thank you.”

He nodded. “Shall we move on?”

“I’d like to see my room,” she said. “Would that be all right?”

He had meant to show her the whole house, but she had her arms wrapped tightly around her body and was looking anywhere but at him. “All right,” he said. “I suppose it’s been a rather hectic day. I’ll take you up. Your luggage should be there already.”

Sure enough, when they reached the bedroom he had determined would be hers, he found several maids going through her things, shaking out dresses and hanging them in the wardrobe.

“That’s enough,” he told them. “You can all come back and finish this later. The duchess has had a long day and needs to rest.”

The maids nodded and murmured apologies as they scattered.

“You were a bit hard on them,” Amanda said quietly. “They were only doing their jobs.”

“You mustn’t start thinking there’s anything harsh about telling a servant to go when you want them to leave,” he told her. “It’s their job to listen to you and to follow your directives. Now, this is your room. Are you happy with it?”