Page 55 of Wedded to the Ruthless Duke

Grace froze, fearing it was the butler or valet had come to find their master. They’d certainly get a shock if they heard her reply instead.

“Your Grace?” the voice said again. “The Duke asked for breakfast to be prepared for you downstairs. Shall I arrange a bath in your room first?”

Her stomach knotted tight as she hid her face in embarrassment. Of course, the staff would know where she was. It was the morning after her wedding night.

“Yes please,” she called back to the voice.

“Very well, Your Grace.” Then footsteps sounded, and whoever the bearer of that voice was, they were gone.

In the ensuing silence, Grace turned back to face the mirror. Though she looked at her rumpled reflection, she noticed what was missing this time. Philip should have been there. Her husband should still be there with her, yet there was something in what that voice had said which told her all she needed to know.

Philip asked for breakfast to be prepared for me. He’s gone, hasn’t he? He’s left the house already.

* * *

Grace found the next few hours passed by in a whir. She had her breakfast and was promptly introduced to all the staff by her new housekeeper, Mrs. Williamson.

The elder lady, stiff with a back as rigid as any metal pole, showed no sign in her firm upper lip of being disgruntled at Grace’s clumsy ways though Grace had a feeling she knew what the lady truly thought. Mrs. Williamson was probably like Grace’s mother, expecting any duchess to be as grand and formal as it was physically possible to be.

She and Mrs. Williamson ran through the running of the house and discussed if Grace would like any changes to the way her home was done. She made minute changes, for everything seemed to be in very good order, and she simply asked for breakfast to be arranged for a touch later, so she would have time for a walk first thing in the morning.

If Mrs. Williamson thought it strange for a duchess to take a walk so early, with the intention of going alone, she at least had the decency not to show it in her face.

“Your Grace?” Mrs. Williamson called through the doorway just as Grace sat down in her new drawing room. She’d huffed and plopped herself down on a settee, dissatisfied with Philip’s persistent absence and the inability of any staff member to tell her where he had gone. “You have visitors.”

Grace sat forward as two young women walked in.

Diana was the first, scurrying forward, her usually demure smile full and excited today. Behind her walked Tabitha, who could not stop looking around her, drinking in the sight of the ground Duke’s house in awe.

“Oh, Grace.” Diana flung her arms around her as she stood. “I am so happy to see you.”

“And I you.” Grace clung tightly onto her friend. In that moment, there was something incredibly comforting about seeing Diana again. She was a warm and trusted presence in a house she did not know.

“We had to come and see you.” Diana stepped back, holding her hand tight. “I hope you do not mind us coming so soon after the wedding?” She looked around, clearly expecting to see Philip though she soon stopped when she realized he was not there.

“Of course not. I am glad to see you both,” Grace assured her.

“I’ll fetch some tea, Your Grace,” Mrs. Williamson called from the doorway.

“Thank you.” Grace pulled Diana into the rococo settee beside her as Tabitha finished her circuit of the room.

“Goodness. What a home you now have, Grace,” Tabitha said in awe, choosing another chair nearby. “It is quite staggering.”

“Yes. It is.” Grace suddenly felt awful. She knew she should be grateful for calling such a house her home now, but in truth, she had barely acknowledged this was the case. She had been too busy thinking about where Philip had run off to.

“Are you all right?” Diana asked, holding her hand tight. “Where is your new husband?” She looked around, as if expecting him to manifest from the shadows at any moment.

“He’s… gone.” Grace struggled with the words.

“Gone?” Tabitha repeated, a look of horror taking over. “You do not mean he has run out on you already!?”

“What? No!” Grace countered quickly. “I mean simply that he left the house early, and he… well, he did not tell me he was going before he left.” She was hardly going to declare that she had been in his bed at the time, and that was why his lack of a goodbye stung so much.

Why didn’t he say goodbye?

“I wonder.” Tabitha tapped her chin in thought.

“Wonder what?” Grace asked. “Don’t keep us in suspense, cousin. Please, what are your thoughts?”

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