Page 28 of Her Bear of a Duke

"Indeed."

"All right. Why are you here this morning? It is lovely, but unexpected."

"I had some time, and so I thought to join you. I had never planned to be absent at all times, you know."

"Oh! Well, I had hoped that would be the case, but…"

"But my recent actions have suggested otherwise. I know, and I apologize for that. I simply have a lot to do, and with our brief courtship and the wedding I let a lot of work pile. I have to regain control over it all, and then it should be back to normal."

It was, she decided, a reasonable excuse. She wanted to believe him, too, as this was much more similar to the man that shehad met. He was able to say more than a few words to her, and already it was more than she had received from him in days.

"I was hoping to ask you something," he continued. "Should you not want to discuss it, then we need not do so."

"No, it is perfectly fine."

"Very well. I have heard rumors that yourself and the housekeeper are having… difficulties."

"Well, I shall not pretend that I am a friend to her," she said, laughing nervously. "She seems to dislike me, and I have this feeling that she is wary that I will destroy the entire household. I assure you that I have no such intentions, of course."

"I can believe that. Why exactly do you believe that she dislikes you?"

Dorothy considered changing her mind, and telling him that all was well; she did not want to upset him, nor did she want to add to the things he had to do. It was nothing that she could not handle herself, after all, and she knew that with time Mrs. Herrington would come to trust her. Then again, she did not want to lie.

"She believes I am incapable of running a household, which I suppose is true. I never thought that I would have such a vast household to care for, and so the lessons my mother arranged for me were not something I spent a lot of time trying tounderstand.. I should have tried harder, I know, and so I do not blame her for being uncertain of me."

"Even so, she could not know that. I noticed that she already seemed different when we returned home."

"In any case, there is no need for you to say anything. I assure you, it is all perfectly fine with me. I am not going to expect any special treatment, and the truth is that it will take me a while to understand what it is I must do here. That will anger Mrs. Herrington, and so it is my duty to learn. That is what you expect of me, is it not?"

He was quiet for a moment, looking at her. She wondered why he was doing that, and if he had any reason to at all. She had been honest with him, and that was all that she could do.

"If you are certain, then I shall leave the matter here, but I will tell you that I have already spoken to her. She should give you no further trouble."

Dorothy panicked greatly at that. She hoped that he had not made it seem as though she had been the one to tell him about it, as that would only serve to upset her housekeeper further and make her unwilling to help her even more than she already seemed.

"I never mentioned you," he added. "She does not know that I planned to ask you about it, either. Fear not."

"Is it that evident when I am afraid?"

"Indeed. You cannot hide it at all."

She smiled, in spite of herself. He did the same, and at last she felt comfortable in his presence.

"I would like to see the gardens," she said softly. "In spite of what is perhaps expected of me, I plan to care for them while I am there."

"I do not doubt that. In fact, our gardener has recently left to see his ailing mother, and so I was hoping you might be able to find another one for me? I would do it myself, but I have not yet found the time and already it is growing unruly."

"I could tend to it," she suggested.

"That is not the role of a duchess."

"Perhaps not, but while we find a gardener it might be for the best. Believe me, I know what to do. I was allowed to tend to a small piece of land my family owns, and I do not like to seem as though I have a high opinion of myself but I took care of them well."

He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment. She knew that he would do what he had to do as a duke and tell her that it is forbidden, and so she was not to do it and instead to find a gardener quickly, but she had to try.

"Are you certain that you can do it?" he asked.

"I truly am."

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