Page 15 of The Jilted Duchess
Surely there was no harm in her exploring her own gardens. If she happened across her husband in the process, then he could not be angry about it, after all, she was not to know he was out here - so long as she was completely deaf.
Alexandra turned her steps towards a part of the garden dedicated to cunningly trimmed hedges. She had explored this part of the garden previously and found a little clearing with a seat and what looked to be the beginnings of plans for a fountain at the center of the hedge paths. Perhaps it was part of the water garden that Mrs. Hopkins had spoken about.
She carefully threaded her way through the hedges, hearing the sounds of play coming from the center. Once she was at the very last row of hedges, she peeked carefully around and nearly cried out in shock.
Of all things, Hector was crouched still in the clearing, a trail of seed in front of him, and the little dog playing at the same game, lying down on his belly very still and giving the whole matter his entire attention.
In front of them at the end of the seed trail were a pair of rooks, large and glossy with black feathers reflecting the sun. They had taken up a perch on a small tree and were considering their supplicants with interest, clever eyes judging the distance between the seed and the man with his dog.
Alexandra could hear Hector murmuring now, soft and sweet, "That's it, ye bonny creatures. Come on down and share a meal with us. We're your friends, we daenae mean any harm. Come and eat with me, that's right."
The rooks fluttered, hopping a few branches closer, and Alexandra could see how excited Hector was at this progress.
"What are you doing?" she hissed from her place, half hidden behind the hedges.
Hector started just a fraction, the little dog hopping up to its feet and driving the rooks back to the very top of the trees. Before the dog could start into a flurry of excitement, Hector rested one of his large hands on it, soothing it. "Now, Flick," he said softly. "Nay need to lose your head. It's just a tree speakin' to us in the voice of our wife, isn't it? Just a very pretty tree with a very braw voice."
"Your Grace," Alexandra hissed, cheeks flaming.
"Even says me title the way that she does," Hector continued, keeping his eyes on the birds who were watching him back with curious suspicion. "What do ye think, bonnie creatures? Has a spirit come to try to lure me away with the voice of me wife?"
"What are you saying?"Alexandra bit her lip hard, feeling a most unladylike peal of laughter starting to bubble in her chest. "What are youdoing?"
"Ah, spirit of the garden," Hector said, dipping a hand slowly into a pouch and scattering seed closer to the tree. "It's magic I'm attemptin' here. The creatures of the air are considerin' being me friends. If ye stay still where ye are, spirit, then ye might see a little bit of it."
Alexandra heard the request in his playful words and pressed closer to the bushes, trying to hide her presence from the rooks. As she watched, one of them dropped off the tree in a low flying swoop, then another, getting closer to the ground with each pass until it landed and snatched some of the food before flying off again.
Hector let out a whoop of delight, promptly frightening the other rook into flight, and leapt to his feet, dancing a jig with the dog darting gleefully around his feet. "Ach we did it! We did it, Flick!"
"What on earth was this about?" Alexandra asked, stepping into the clearing at last.
"Rooks are canny creatures," Hector said cheerfully, smiling down at her. His whole face beamed with delight, and the sheer joy of it made her cheeks flush a little. "They know that there's danger in a big man and his dog. Flick and I want to make them feel safe here to have their babies and live their days. We've been tryin' to convince them that we are friends for a few weeks andthis is the first time that they've come to feed while we're in the clearin'."
He was clearly so proud of this thing, this small victory with a pair of wild creatures, that Alexandra felt her heart squeeze a little. "Well, I'm very glad for you."
"Did ye notice?" Hector said, offering her his arm. "There's a spirit in this garden that sounds an awful lot like ye when it tries. I am going to need to have a care so it doesnae trick me to some folly."
"YourGrace," Alexandra said reprovingly, taking his arm nonetheless. "You are perfectly aware that it was me speaking to you."
"Am I? Was it?" he grinned at her, unrepentant. "I daenae ken, strange things happen in the green of the outdoors. We had better return to the house where we'll be safe."
She sighed heavily, but could not suppress a smile as they started back towards the house. He was a strange man to be sure, her husband. And yet there was something a little charming about his nonsense.
Hector cursed softly to himself, glancing at the clock in his study. Over the last week, he had struggled to make it to dinner, his business demanding as much attention as he could give it.Laroux had brought him numerous meals to eat late into the night, but Mrs. Hopsted had stopped by that day to tell him that he'd been missed by his wife at the meal and should consider attending.
There really was not the time, but the idea of the wee lass sitting at that long table on her own, wondering if she was at fault for his absence, was enough to drive him from his work and draw him towards the dining room.
So many changes had happened over the last few days. There were extra servants now, a valet who tried very hard to help Laroux in getting him to wear the appropriate clothes for a gentleman every day instead of just when he went to the city, and a number of footmen and maids. The estate had always been tidy, but he had to admit the extra hands were making his people's work easier and the house actually sparkled with attention.
Mr. Laroux clearly approved, and it was obvious that Mrs. Hopsted liked and admired his wife from the way she talked about her. The Duchess could do no wrong in her eyes; her plans to reach out to local producers to find extra supplies for parties were met with such wholehearted approval that he had teased the woman about preferring his wife to himself.
"Of course I do, Your Grace," she had said back with a straight face, eyes sparkling. "Such a clever, bright lady she is! And she is so good with the girls. They were scared that she might not like the games that they play, pretending to sneak in and steal off with buns and tarts and suchlike, but she understoodimmediately and made a whole game out of pretending that she was trying to catch them, but never quite finding them out. It was a good day for Murray when you brought her here."
The thought of his usually prim and proper wife turning a blind eye to the girls' play and even helping them have more fun brought a smile to his face as he entered the dining room. He found her sitting already at one end of the table in a simple dress, her hair tied back from her face as severely as ever.
"Your Grace," she said, a little surprised, standing to bob a curtsey. "I was not sure you would be able to join me tonight."
The fact that a meal together was a surprise smote him to the heart, and he smiled at her gently. "Ach, I'm sorry for me absence. I've been fearfully busy with all the business goings on, but I shouldnae have let it keep me from yer side."
