Page 20 of The Duke and his Muse
That wasn’t quite true. When her mother had been alive, their household had been much grander, with several servants to oversee. Jane had learned to run a small household if not a grand one.
Shaking herself, she placed the duke;s writing back on the table before her and picked up her sketch pad and a pencil. As she touched the pencil to paper it was not woodland creatures she began to sketch but a brooding handsome duke who she was very much afraid she had feelings for.
Chapter Eleven
Graham had not addressed the subject of traveling to London with the dowager. He’d been occupied with not only writing but finding and hiring an estate manager.
Mr. Doyer had been recommended by the Duke of Suffolk, another member of the Wayward Duke’s Alliance, as the man was the son of the duke’s estate manager. With the estate business in capable hands, Graham had spent the last two days writing and spending time with Daniel.
“Cat?” the boy asked his father several times a day.
“Daniel wants a cat?” The dowager frowned over luncheon. “When I finish reading his books now, the boy babbles constantly of a cat, Leopold and the forest.”
He smiled. “Miss Hayward has a cat. She told Daniel the cat is a friend of Leopold’s.”
“And the forest?”
“Miss Hayward lives beside the very forest in her father’s books.”
“Graham. My son. Finish this book quickly and get yourself to London.” The dowager stared at him, her expression unfathomable.
“Her mother was the daughter of a baronet,” he replied quietly.
“That explains her exemplary manners.” The dowager sniffed. “What can you be thinking?”
“I’m thinking that I’ve never been so happy to see a woman as I am to see her. I didn’t love Caroline. I didn’t know what love was.”
“And now you do? Because of this, this artist?”
“I care for her. She is brave, and strong. She wants nothing from me. She isn’t looking for a title or money to save her family.” He blew out a breath. “She has her own money. Her own house.”
“And seems content with her life. What makes you believe she would leave her cozy cottage to be a duchess? She would be under scrutiny from not only the peerage but these villagers she lives among.”
Her words left him speechless. Miss Hayward seemed quite content as she was. What could he offer her that she didn’t have. Companionship? She had her maid, Maisie. Love? Did the young woman want love?
“Don’t declare yourself, Graham. Remember her needs. Her happiness.” His mother shook her head. “You rushed in before. That didn’t end so well.”
* * * * *
The week before she was to visit Bartlett House passed slower than any Jane could recall. She’d finished all the sketches for the book, in case the duke did want to finish the book quickly.
She donned an older dress for the visit to Bartlett house, concerned the dowager duchess might read something into Jane’s appearance if she took too much care in her toilette.
“You should wear your best, Miss,” Maisie tutted. “You’re just as good as them, you are.”
In the end, Jane changed into the other new dress Maisie had fashioned for her from a new cotton found at the local haberdashery. Let the dowager think what she would. The duchess had wanted her son to go to London and seek a wife. Jane had spent hours thinking of impossible scenarios as to why.
Was the dowager afraid of Jane’s presence in her son’s life? Surely not. Jane was nobody. Surely not a candidate for duchess.
The woman in question waited for Jane in the parlor as she had all previous visits. Her eyes widened as she looked Jane over.
“Good afternoon, Miss Hayward.”
“Good afternoon, Your Grace.” She curtsied and took her usual chair as the duchess was seated.
“Your hair is quite lovely today.”
She felt heat on her cheeks. “My maid saw the style in a copy of Ackerman’s.”
