Page 55 of The Unwanted Duchess

“My apologies,” she said quickly, stifling a giggle. “I am the new duchess. It is so nice to meet you.”

She reached out her hand, and he looked at it and then looked back at her, eyeing her carefully for a moment, and then bowing. Samantha stammered and then curtseyed in return.

“I am your butler,” he said firmly. “And you ought to know that your gardener will not be best pleased if he sees you lying around in his handiwork.”

“No, of course not. My sincerest apologies.”

“Yes, well, do not let it happen again.”

He was gone as quickly as he had arrived, and Samantha watched after him long after she could no longer see him. He was strange, that was the best way that she could describe him, and certainly bold. After all, what sort of man would speak in such a manner to a lady he worked for?

Soon after, she was lying in the grass once more. She tried not to toss and turn and made a note to apologize in advance to her gardener, but she had decided that any dents in the grass that she had made were already there now, and so there was no harm in being there a while longer.

Everything had happened so fast; everything wasstillhappening, and she needed a few moments to collect herself and simply be Samantha, not Samantha Winston, the daughter of a drunken earl, nor Samantha Pratt, the wife of a duke. She was simply Samantha, and it felt wonderful to be her even if it was for but a fleeting moment.

“All good things must come to an end,” she mumbled to herself after a while, pulling herself up from the ground.

She wanted to be a good duchess, and that meant that she had duties to fulfill. Most of these would have to be done within her first few days on the estate, meaning that she was running out of time to make a good impression. She had already, it appeared, ruined things with the butler, but she had many other people to speak to, meaning many more chances to do things correctly. She would do it right this time. She had to.

“Excuse me,” she said to a tall and thin lady in the hallway, “might you be the housekeeper?”

“Mary,” she replied. “Yes, I am indeed. The Duke has told me so much about you.”

Samantha blinked.

“What did he say about me?”

“I shall keep that to myself,” she chuckled. “But they were all good things. He also told me that you have taken a tour yourself?”

“I apologize for that, truly,” she explained, “but the Duke had warned me about the… interior, and I wanted to see it for myself. The last thing that I want to do is hurt anyone’s feelings.”

“You certainly will not hurt us with your judgment. I assure you, we loathe it every bit as much as you do. More, in fact, because we have to handle the upkeep of it! Could you imagine having to care for something you dislike so strongly?”

Yes,Samantha thought, her own father.

But she did not say it. It was not the right moment, and Mary was not the sort of lady to find humor in such a thing, Samantha was sure.

“I can still show you some places if you wish,” Mary continued, “but I can assure you that you will not notice any differences between the rooms. It shall simply be the same thing over and over.”

“Then I shall not waste your time. However, I would very much like to take tea with you. I have not practiced pouring in a good while now, and I would hate to make a mistake when we accept company.”

“I will never say no to tea and cake,” Mary replied, eyes sparkling. “My, you are certainly not like the late Duke at all.”

“Is that awful of me?”

“On the contrary, It is refreshing. Now, you go and sit in the drawing room, and I shall have tea prepared.”

Samantha nodded to the woman who seemed to be a new friend of hers, and she returned to the drawing room. It was not pleasant, but it was serviceable, especially now that she knew the story behind it.

Soon enough, Mary arrived with the tray, and while she was shaking slightly from nerves, Samantha poured two cups of tea and quickly realized that she had not forgotten her technique at all.

“That is rather impressive, you know,” Mary commented. “I was a governess once, and the ladies I helped to train were rather useless. I thought it was a skill that was going out of fashion at one point!”

“I used to enjoy it. My sister and I would take it in turns, and I would watch her closely each and every time because she was much better than I was. I must have learned from watching.”

“How is your sister? The Duke did not mention her.”

“He has seen her but twice himself. Her name is Diana Novak, and she is the Duchess of Abaddon. She is my older sister, and she trained me to be a debutante.”

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