Page 60 of The Unwanted Duchess

“Mister Smith will hate you,” he sighed.

“I had a feeling. It is a shame because I want him to be as happy as the rest of us shall be.”

“He is not happy unless he has control, Your Grace. The late Duke, at least, allowed him to have absolute authority over us, so long as it was in line with what he wanted.”

Samantha said nothing, only nodding at him. She knew that feeling all too well, of wanting and feeling as though oneneededcontrol, no matter how it came. She had wanted power over her own life, and so how could she begrudge the butler for wanting the very same thing?

Within hours, the vines were cut back and left strewn around the grass. Samantha looked at them with a smile then followed the walls upwards to the window of her bedroom. She could see her shutters at last. They were in dire need of replacement and extremely old, but she could see them.

“Shall we go and see our reward after all of this?” she asked. “You have earned that much and more after what you have done for me.”

“I should clean up after myself,” he replied, “but you are more than welcome to go. You have made good company for the afternoon, Your Grace, and I am so very grateful for that.”

“If you are sure. Thank you, Mister Davis. I have had quite the pleasant afternoon with you myself.”

It was not particularly ladylike for one to run, and so she had to compose herself as much as she could as she went to her bedchambers. There, she saw her shutters once more, still closed and keeping her room in complete darkness. She wondered how much force she would need to pry them open, especially in their damaged state, but she knew that she would find a way to do it.

Fortunately, the damage that had been done to them made it even easier for them to be pried apart. With one strong push, they flew open, and sunlight streamed in around her. All at once, the room was brighter and warmer, and Samantha felt athome,even if the walls were as dull and gray as ever, and the furniture was as old and out of fashion as they had been that morning. All it had taken was that one push, and Samantha couldn’t help but smile at that.

All that she had to do was keep pushing.

“Is everything all right in here?” The Duke’s voice came suddenly. “I heard a loud — oh, Samantha, look at it!”

He had seen what Samantha had seen the moment she had opened her shutters; there was a perfect view of the entirety of the estate from her window, and there was so much light there.

“I owe it all to Mister Davis,” she explained. “He has spent so much time with me today, as has Mary.”

“You owe it to yourself,” Graham corrected her. “You are going to do incredible things for this place, I can see it. Actually, I canquite honestly say that I have thought this for a while now. You are precisely what was needed here.”

Samantha felt her face flush. Her husband was standing behind her, telling her how good she was, and it felt wonderful to be appreciated in such a way.

“Do you suppose it is selfish to begin with my own room?” she sighed. “I only say this because I want to practice first, and if I make a mess of any of the other rooms —”

“Then it shall be our mess of a room. I assure you, I meant what I said about this house. I do not care for it, and so you are to do as you please.”

“But I —”

“Samantha,” he said calmly but firmly, “this is your husband, the Duke, telling you that you are to do whatever you wish. I do not mind at all.”

“Very well,” she laughed softly. “I shall start with this room, and then perhaps yours?”

“I would like to decorate mine,” he explained. “There are some things about it that I want, and so it is better if I handle it.”

“Very well, I shall not pry. Now, I do believe it is nearing time for dinner, and after everything that has happened today, I am rather famished.”

“That does not surprise me in the slightest. Come along, then.”

They turned to leave, only to see a few of their staff in the doorway. Any other situation might have led them to believe they were eavesdropping, but not one of them was looking at the Duke and Duchess. They were looking past them, out into the gardens.

“Your Grace,” one breathed, “It looks wonderful.”

“It is only a window,” Samantha laughed. “But thank you. It certainly makes it all rather more lovely.”

But it was more than a window, and Samantha knew that. To her, it meant that she could see her garden, but to them, it showed them that the tides were changing and that they might not be forced to hold themselves to the same rules as the late Duke had enforced. From the way they were smiling, as if it were the first time they had done so in a while, Samantha could tell that it was indeed the case.

Everything was going to change for the better, and if Samantha had to be the one to prove that to them all, then she would be happy to do so. Their lives would all be changing, Samantha was more determined than ever to make it happen, and all of it would be done with their support.

With the exception of Mister Smith, who eyed the window carefully only to then scowl at her.

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