Page 14 of The Duchess’ Second Chance

“Where is Rose going to be staying?” she asked. “I don’t want to be far from her.”

“You won’t be.” He pointed to the door on the south side of the room. “This door leads to her room. It locks from your side, but not from hers, so she won’t be able to lock you out.”

“I won’t lock her out either,” Amanda said.

He shrugged. That was her decision. Reaching past her, he opened the door so that she could get a look inside. “Hopefully, she’ll have everything she needs too,” he said. “I had a smaller wardrobe brought in so that it might look more as though the room was designed with a child in mind. I didn’t want her to feel like she was living in someone else’s house.”

“That’s kind,” Amanda said quietly. “Thank you for doing all this for us, Sampson. Really. When my father told me I was going to have to marry, I really thought it might mean losing her.”

Sampson frowned. The girl was clearly deeply important to Amanda. He’d misread this. He had assumed that she was trying to provide for an orphan because she was a kind-hearted person who wanted to help someone less fortunate than herself. And, to be fair, that was probably true. But there was more to it than that. The girl herself was important to Amanda. It was as if Amanda saw the girl as a real member of her family. She had been teaching her, she’d said. And now she was very clearly emotional over the idea that Rose was going to have a few accommodations to make her even a little bit more comfortable here.

He wanted to ask questions. He wanted to know how this child had come to be in Amanda’s life, what their history was, how long they’d been together. He wanted to sit her down and ask her to tell him all about Rose.

But she had gone over to sit on her window seat now. She was gazing out at the grounds with a faraway look on her face, as if she was no longer even aware of Sampson’s presence.

He cleared his throat.

She didn’t look his way.

“Your dinner will be up for you in a few hours,” he said.

She inclined her head as if to signal that she’d heard what he had to say, but it was just as clear to him that, as far as she was concerned, their conversation was over. She didn’t seem interested in exchanging another word.

That was that, he supposed.

He let himself out of the room without another attempt at communication—she’d made herself clear—and hurried away down the hall.

This was Amanda, he reminded himself. This was the woman George had been so determined that he should provide for, if George wasn’t able to do it himself. So he was going to do that. She would have whatever she needed, whatever he could provide.

And if the two of them remained distant like this, if they never managed to develop a friendship or get to know anything about one another, he would just have to accept that as a part of this strange new marriage.

He reached his study and shut himself inside with a sigh.

He had never intended to marry, and he had only done so out of a desire to keep his promise. Now his promise was kept, and he just had to figure out how to go about living his life with these two extra people in his house.

And I have to figure out how she really feels about all of it. She says she isn’t frightened—all right, I’d like to believe that. But what must she think when she looks at me? What revulsion must she feel at the sight of my scars?

CHAPTER 8

“Thank you for helping me, Nancy,” Amanda said to the maid who had been assigned to her bedchamber that evening.

“Of course, Your Grace.” Nancy was a very young woman—she couldn’t yet be twenty, Amanda thought. She wouldn’t have been one of the members of staff who had been a part of this household before Sampson had gone off to war. She’d have been only a child then. She must be newly hired just to help me. It occurred to her with a pang of guilt that perhaps this girl had been intended to serve as her lady’s maid and would be displaced when Maria arrived. Amanda couldn’t turn her back on Maria, but she resolved to make sure Nancy was taken care of as well.

Nancy had helped Amanda with her bath, and now she stood behind Amanda at the vanity, carefully combing out her hair. “It’s so beautiful,” she said, admiring the long tresses. “I’ve always thought it would be lovely to have such long hair, but it would be so difficult to manage.”

“I don’t know that I could do it on my own, to tell you the truth,” Amanda agreed as Nancy began to wind her hair into a braid. “I’m awfully grateful to have the help.”

“Well, we’re just glad to have you here in the house, Your Grace,” Nancy assured her. “To serve a real duchess is more than I ever dreamed for myself! My mother was so excited, I thought she was going to burst into song.”

“It’s more than I ever expected for myself either,” Amanda confessed. “I didn’t think I would marry a duke. To tell you the truth, I didn’t think I would ever marry again.”

“Well, you must just be thrilled.”

Amanda didn’t answer. The truth was that thrilled was the opposite of what she felt right now. It wasn’t that she was unhappy to be here. Her room was well-appointed and comfortable, and she could see that Rose would have a good life in this house. It would be everything she had hoped for the two of them.

But tonight was her wedding night. And Amanda didn’t feel ready to face that.

The wedding night was meaningful. Eventful. A rite of passage. And something dramatic was supposed to take place; she knew that. Whatever it was, it hadn’t happened with George. She knew there was a moment when the man was meant to come to the lady and…