Page 52 of His Accidental Duchess

But when she handed Mrs. Haunt the paper with the sum written on it, the woman didn’t even blink, only folded the paper and slipped it into her apron pocket.

“Anything else, Your Grace?”

Anna gulped. “N-Not that I can think of.”

Mrs. Haunt pursed her lips. “Would you like to tell us what time the carriage should be ready?” she asked, with just a gentle hint of suggestion.

Anna flushed at that. Of course, she was a duchess now—she had to wave her hand and casually require this to be done, or that to be done, and so it would be.

“At ten o’clock, I think. I sent my mother a note, you see, and I said I would be there at half past ten.”

Anna was vaguely aware that she was babbling, but Mrs. Haunt had the courtesy not to look shocked or annoyed. In fact, she seemed faintly amused.

“Very good, Your Grace.”

Mrs. Haunt curtseyed and slipped away, leaving Anna all alone in the vast dining room, feeling more than a little rattled.

Kitty bounced up and down on the carriage seat, fairly vibrating with excitement. Anna sat beside her, and Martha sat opposite them both, smiling fondly.

“She will be mygrandmother, then?” Kitty asked for the hundredth time. “I never had a grandmother before.”

“Not one that you met, no,” Anna acknowledged. “But you had a grandmother once.”

Kitty did not seem interested in logistics. She pressed her nose against the glass as they rumbled up the drive.

After only a short time away, Anna was struck anew by how shabby the house looked, how unkempt the gardens were. The drive was rutted and potholed, the gravel worn away entirely in places. She found herself wondering what the coachman would think, and whether Martha would notice. A sense of shame washed over her, more powerful than anything she’d experienced before.

No. Stop it. You have the power and the money to change all that now. Or rather, Theo does.

A warm feeling bloomed in her chest, and she convinced herself it was just the thought of Theo arriving, like a sardonic and less-than-chivalrous knight in shining armor, ready to save her family and whisk them out of poverty and shame.

Suddenly, Daphne and Emily came tumbling out of the front door, waving and squealing with excitement, and Anna forgot about everything else.

There was no footman to come out and open the carriage door, naturally, but Anna was a little surprised to see a footman in Langdon livery hop down from beside the coachman, hurrying to her door before she could let herself out.

Daphne and Emily were waiting, and they flung their arms around their sister the moment she stepped down onto the patchy gravel.

“We missed you so much!” Emily exclaimed at the exact moment that Daphne said, “Mama told us we couldn’t visit you until you’d settled in.”

“That’s enough, girls,” Octavia said, hurrying down the steps behind them, beaming. “Give your sister a moment to breathe, for pity’s sake! Now, Anna, let me look at you.”

Smiling awkwardly, Anna held her arms out. “Well, here I am, Mama. Same as always. No change here, except perhaps a nicer dress.”

Octavia pursed her lips, her eyes roaming over the immaculately buffed and lacquered carriage, the impressive coachman and his fine horses, and the liveried footman.

“A few changes, I fancy. Now, who is this little dear?”

Anna glanced behind her and saw, to her surprise, that Kitty, overcome by shyness, was hiding behind Martha’s skirts.

“Come on out and meet my family, Kitty,” Anna said, smiling and holding out her hand. “Mama, this is Lady Katherine, daughter of His Grace the Duke of Langdon, and my stepdaughter. Kitty, this is my mother, Lady St. Maur, and my sisters, Miss Daphne and Miss Emily Belmont. Come and say how do you do.”

At an encouraging nod from Martha, Kitty edged out, gripping the sides of her skirts.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Madam,” she recited, dipping into a lopsided curtsey.

Octavia smothered a smile and bobbed a very deep, very serious curtsey in return. “The pleasure is all mine, Lady Katherine.”

Emily bobbed a similar curtsey, but Daphne, of course, could not restrain herself. With a delighted squeak, she pounced on Kitty.

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