Page 61 of A Duke for Hire

“Your things from London, Your Grace,” the housekeeper had replied.

“I did not believe I had ordered these many things,” Seraphina muttered, looking around them all.

“Well, Your Grace, it is clear that they are for you,” Mrs. Purdy declared. “Now, if you will please excuse me, I have my work to get back to. Will you require another maid to help you unpack or will Clara suffice?”

Seraphina, though put off by Mrs. Purdy’s shortness, politely refused the extra help, and she and Clara had gone about opening the many crates. Slowly, they began to organize the rooms. Clara was put to work moving her new gowns and wardrobe to the large closet while Seraphina focused on the crates that were unmarked.

To her surprise, she had found they were her personal items from her mother’s house. Her collection of books, some of her latest embroidery pieces, and, to her greatest relief, the collection of palm-sized porcelain dolls Theo had gifted her on her twentieth birthday. Each tiny doll was a different color, representing Seraphina, Theo, Amelia, Rose, and Ophelia.

How did he get all this?Seraphina had wondered as she placed the dolls atop the hearth in her bedroom.

When she’d finished with her crates, Seraphina had then gone into the closet to help Clara, and was surprised at what she hadfound. Not only were there the clothes and accessories she’d ordered from London, but vastly more.

Capes, cloaks, jackets, furs, and gloves. Stockings, nightdresses, corsets, and day gowns. More jewelry, fans, and hair pieces than she’d ordered.

“Are you sure we did not receive someone else’s order by mistake?” Seraphina had asked Clara then.

“Quite sure, Your Grace,” Clara had replied. “They all had His Grace’s name on it, printed in bright letters.”

Seraphina was taken aback by the quantity of new things, and now as she was left alone to peruse through them, she contemplated what it all meant. Hugo had kindness within him. She’d seen for herself that instinctual urge to protect the night her mother had been ready to strike her again. And yet for all that kindness, he was so very distant.

Was he trying to buy her? Appease her? Were these things from the heart, or were they a way to keep her entertained and out of his way?

Her thoughts were interrupted when Clara returned with the wine and vittles. Realizing she could ask her husband such things when he would no doubt arrive soon, Seraphina went about choosing her nightgown. There were far too many to choose from, she thought, but she finally settled on one of the simpler ones. White linen, fitted but still very comfortable, withcapped short sleeves, a slit up the one side, and a scooped bodice.

After a quick but thorough bath she pulled it on along the matching robe, went to the sitting room, and waited for her husband.

“I believe you have done enough for today, Robin, thank you,” Hugo stated after reading the late hour on the mantle’s clock.

A look of relief passed over the young steward’s assistant’s face, but the lad did not yet move.

“If you are still working then I shall still work as well, Your Grace,” Robin replied, then bowed his head as he added, “Respectfully, of course.”

A smile twitched at Hugo’s lips. He admired the young man’s stalwart attitude, but he was in no mood to be disobeyed. His steward, Patrick, who was supposed to be Robin’s overseer, had vastly disappointed him, and now there were many mistakes still left for him to correct.

“Go home, Robin,” Hugo ordered. “That is not a request. I shall meet you in the village tomorrow morning. I need to talk with my people, see what’s been happening while I’ve been away. I’m going to need you to be ready to go, not dragging on your feet from a late night.”

Robin bowed.

“Yes, Your Grace, my apologies, and welcome home.”

Hugo nodded and motioned for Robin to hurry off as he turned his eyes back to the livestock file before him. Before he could find his place again, though, he heard athumpacross the study door just as it was about to close. Looking up, surprise overtook him as he saw Seraphina striding in, her face scrunched up in a most adorable, if not clearly displeased expression.

“I am working, Seraphina,” he stated, his tone cold despite the warming effect her nightgown had to his body.

It clung to the most wonderful of places, emphasized by the way belt of her robe wrapped around her waist.

“Do you ever stop?” She asked, balling her fists at her waist. “Even for our wedding night?”

He watched as her eyes roamed over him then, and he could have sworn he saw lust shimmer through her blue orbs as they landed on his half-unbuttoned shirt. Curious, he sat back, letting the fabric part further down to reveal his abdominal muscles, and watched with pleasure as a blush bloomed on her cheeks. Yes, she wasdefinitelyadmiring him.

“Was there something else you wanted on your wedding night?” He mused.

Seraphina’s blush grew darker, and her eyes shot from his chest up to his.

“I thought you would at least come and find me,” she replied. “See how I was doing, if I had settled in. When you didn’t, I decided that I would come to find you.”

Hugo’s smirk twitched into a side smile, and he waved his pen toward her.

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