Page 30 of Project Duke

Yes, this was quite different from what she was used to: a proper butler, housekeeper, well-trained footmen, carefully selected maids, and a small army of the lowest rank of servants—scullery maids and hall boys. Not to mention that their kitchens always had the best cook they could find and several undercooks.

But, it seemed, this was all Nathaniel could afford without the income from his inheritance.

Well, she and Abigail would just have to make do with this. And, thankfully, Calliope had her own dowry and income she could do with as she pleased. So, perhaps, she could help.

“Pleased to meet you both.” She beamed. “Mrs. Nicholson…Joshua…forgive me, is it Martin?”

Normally, the butler was addressed by his last name, but since this man did several jobs, she wasn’t sure.

“Joshua is fine, my lady,” the young man said with a huge, disarming smile, showing his crooked yellow teeth. “I’m more of a footman than a butler, but I can’t complain. With my experience, I’d never have been a butler had His Grace not given me a chance.”

Calliope nodded and smiled warmly. She imagined there weren’t many butlers who would want to take on the jobs of a footman and a groom at the same time, and that for, no doubt, less than modest wages. She couldn’t imagine Nathaniel being able to pay much.

“Joshua it is,” she said.

“Please, follow me,” Nathaniel said, his face tense.

The rest of the house was the same as the entrance hall. The grandeur of this place was breathtaking, and yet the state of it was sad. The interior was clearly old but clean. In some rooms, paper hangings peeled in places. The sparse furniture that remained was dated, perhaps fifty or so years old. The shaded silhouettes of now-absent chests of drawers, paintings, and sideboards haunted the walls like strange ghosts.

Calliope opened Miss Furrington’s cage and held her in her arms, her body warm and fluffy. They went up the stairs and saw two long, wide hallways with many doors to bedchambers. Even higher up the stairs, on the second floor, was more of the same. Miss Furrington watched everything with large eyes.

In her mind, Calliope had already started making a list of urgent repairs, followed by a list of beautiful things she’d like to see. The more she saw, the more she itched to lay her hands on this place, order paint, new floors, paper hangings, new furniture and draping. She would ask Penelope to do the paintings—she had such a pretty style… Paintings of flowers would be gorgeous in the bedrooms and hallways. Landscapes and seascapes downstairs in the reception rooms, the study, and the library. And, of course, family portraits.

“Let’s go out the back,” suggested Hazel. “There are also household buildings.”

Nathaniel tensed. “Hazel, I am sure Calliope never saw the household buildings in her home as the daughter and sister of a duke. Why should she as a duchess?”

Hazel stared coldly at her brother. “The girls and I are a duke’s daughters and sisters, and yet we go there multiple times per day.”

Calliope’s throat clenched tightly. “I’d love very much to see the mews.”

“There’s not much to see,” said Violet sadly as they walked down the creaking stairs. Calliope made an internal note to get Mrs. Nicholson to hire someone to repair them.

“Roxburgh is beautiful,” she said. “It certainly has great bones. Just look at the size of the rooms. The windows are gorgeous, and the ceilings are so high.”

The twins beamed back at her. Hazel pursed her lips in a thin line.

Nathaniel winced as they walked through the servants’ door under the grand stairs. “Please, there’s no need to say things you do not mean, Calliope.”

The servants’ quarters were so quiet and as dated as the rest of the place, but they smelled clean, and there was not a spot of dust.

“No, no, Nathaniel,” she said enthusiastically. “I do mean it. You may see chipped paint, creaky stairs, and holes in the walls. I see potential. I see how glorious it can be. I see the gorgeous light that will flood these rooms once the windows are replaced or cleaned. I see how much space there was in the drawing room to put a pianoforte for the girls and a large table for games and how beautiful the fireplace moldings will be decorated with branches of holly for Christmas. I see how grand the dining room will be with crystal chandeliers hanging over a large table to receive friends and family.”

They reached the end of the hallway and what must be the door to the backyard, but something was wrong. The more she talked the more the frown on Nathaniel’s gorgeous face deepened, the sharper the angles of his square jaw became. And his turquoise eyes turned stormy, a dark navy blue.

“And who, pray tell, will pay for all that potential?” He spat the last word out like a curse.

Calliope laid her hand on the door handle. “I will. This is my home now, and I have my dowry. Also, your sisters will need new gowns, and I’ll be happy to—”

“No,” Nathaniel barked out. “I will not have a penny from you.”

The words hit her like a slap, Calliope jerking briefly. “Nathaniel, clearly that’s what your house needs. What your sisters need. Let me help.”

“Brother, this is Calliope’s home, too, now,” Poppy said.

“I will not accept charity. Your brothers didn’t want me to touch your money, and I will not.”

Charity? The disdain in his voice wrenched Calliope’s insides.