Page 59 of The Unwanted Duchess

“It may not be evident, but I was never raised by my father to marry a duke. He had his expectations, of course, but he simply did not have the time.”

“And what of your mother?”

“She passed away when I was an infant. The only person that was there to teach me was my sister, and she and I had to navigate it all together. So no, my beliefs are not those of a true duchess, but I am here, and I would like it to be this way — that is, I wish to help you.”

“My apologies for the loss of your mother,” he said quietly. “Very well, what do you propose we do this afternoon?”

“I believe that it is something long overdue, but you may not be too impressed that I want it to be done. It is time to cut away the vines from the shutters of the Duchess’ room.”

She was expecting his face to turn darker or even for him to grumble about his work, but instead, he smiled at her. He immediately began walking towards his tool storage, Samantha on his heels.

“You truly are nothing like the late Duke, are you?”

“If what I have heard about him is true, then I should hope not. Did you like him?”

“I respected him. We all did, of course, but if you were to ask me if I liked him… I cannot in all honesty say that I did. Forgive me for being unkind or standoffish with you. We are all excited to have you, but we are wary all the same.”

“Did you expect me to be like him?”

“We do not know. His Grace is nothing like his father, and he never has been, but all the same, when you have a duty to find the perfect duchess, and his father had instilled his values into his sons, we could not be too sure.”

“Well, rest assured that the Duke and I have no plans to be like him. We want you all to be happy. I so hope to live in a home that is filled with contentment this time.”

He looked at her sympathetically, and Samantha wondered if she had said too much.

“All right,” Mister Davis said boldly as he began cutting away at the vines, “how much do you wish to be cut away?”

“It is hard to say, for I do love how they make the walls look, but I do not want them to damage the structural integrity of the bricks.”

The groundskeeper paused.

“What did you say?”

“The structural integrity,” she repeated. “Allegedly, the vines can grow into the bricks and damage them.”

“How do you know that?”

“I read about it,” she shrugged. “But it is as I said, they look lovely. Perhaps, to aid in the upkeep of the household, we could cut them back a good deal? This is the back of the house after all, and so it will not be seen as often as the front.”

He smiled at her and nodded.

“As you wish, Your Grace. Now, before I begin, has the Duke given you permission to do all of this?”

“He has outright told me to change anything I wish. With that in mind, you shall now also have my permission to do as you please with the gardens. I trust you completely with them, and so anything that you wish to do can be done.”

“I would like that very much, but I must warn you that my tastes are quite different to that which you see now.”

“Wonderful. I assume that the way it is now is exactly the same as how the Duke had it?”

“To the letter,” he noted. “It has looked exactly the same for the last ten years.”

“Then that is all the more reason to change it. You can do as you please. My only request is that you find some more exotic flowers for the greenhouse so that I may study them.”

“You certainly seem to enjoy your studies, Your Grace.”

“Of course! What else could I have done to fill my days? I only wish that I had been a man so that I might have attended university, but the Duke is going to see to that personally.”

He laughed, but not at her. He then shook his head with a smile.

---