Page 34 of Duchess By Accident
Mr. Kember nodded, a hint of admiration in his voice. “Mrs. Hawthorne has not a single unpleasant word to say about her.”
“Well that is a pleasant surprise. She loathed the last Duchess.” It had been a mark of just how much she had been disliked by his house keeper that Adrian was even aware of this fact, the woman was usually like a well-guarded safe and it took nothing short of an act of God for her to break her professionalism.
“With respect, your Grace, this Duchess is nothing like the last one.” Mr. Kember’s voice was light, as though he sensed he was walking on an frozen lake and could not be sure of the thickness of the ice.
Adrian nodded to the servant that the painting was straight and then turned to Mr. Kember, “Indeed, she is not. I learn from my past.”
He had not meant to say the last part aloud, but it had slipped from his lips before he could stop it. His frown deepened and he clenched his fist.Clearly she is having more an effect on me than I had realised. Interesting.
“Do you have anything more for me to do your Grace?”
Adrian knew what the man was asking and shook his head. “I have no immediate plans that require specialist knowledge. And I am not overly concerned with missing a week or two of rumours. Not when I have things to focus on so close to home.”
“Understood, your Grace.” Mr. Kember nodded.
“If you can find out what else the Duchess has planned, do not thwart it, simply let me know.”
Mr. Kember nodded. “I shall do my best, sir. I regret that thus far my efforts have yielded no results.”
“She is a wily one, Kember. I do not hold it against you.” Adrian drew out a key and unlocked his study doors. “That will be all.”
Mr. Kember bowed and departed, leaving Adrian to slink into his office alone. He breathed in the familiar scent of polished mahogany as he took in the space. Everything was exactly as he had left it.
The books were the familiar burgundy that he so enjoyed. His papers were arranged in almost perfect piles and the furniture was exactly where he had left it.
“And now to finally get some work done.” Adrian pulled one of the thicker ledgers towards him and began leafing through it.
As he poured over the numbers, his thoughts kept turning to Natalie. He frowned and tried to put her from his mind, but itrefused to obey him. Each time he traced a line of numbers, he somehow managed to connect it to some small change she had made.
For instance, the line relating to the rent for the tenant farmers reminded him that she had ridden out to speak to all of them. She had initially asked if he would arrange a carriage so that she might visit the farms, which he had refused simply because he could. But he had not forbidden her from speaking to the farmers.
“She is vexing. And rather more cunning than I had expected.” He shook his head once more, a stab of irritation going through him as he realised he had been smiling.
As he continued to read, he noticed the sound of scraping furniture in the room beside him, but he decided to ignore it. It did not concern him.
And then he heard a soft plinking sound. Two notes, played over and over. He ignored it. The two notes became three, plucked in a way that meant that at least one was always slightly out of time.
“She just wants a reaction.” Adrian muttered. “You do not need to rise to her challenge.”
The three notes became four. Then five. And then it became music. Well, music would be a generous description of the cacophony of sound coming from the other room. It was closer to a collection of notes so limping that it seemed a crime to let them live.
Something inside him broke. He strode from his study into the drawing room next to it, his hands over his ears. He knocked on the door, but if anything the jangle of not quite notes got louder. Adrian flung open the door, and found himself staring at Natalie.
She held a violin to her neck, a bow grating across it, apparently lost in her musical practice. Her eyes briefly flicked towards him.
“What exactly do you think you are doing?” Adrian yelled over the noise.
“Pardon?” She grinned at him but did not stop her crime against music.
Adrian strode towards the piano and played his own jangle of angry notes, that mingled unpleasantly with the discordant wail of Natalie’s violin.
She stopped playing and arched an eyebrow at him. “If you wish to join me, you must play better than that.”
“Very amusing, but I have no wish to join you. And now that I have gotten your attention, kindly explain what you think you are doing.” Adrian kept his voice cool, his ears still ringing.
She gave him an innocent smile and gestured to the violin, still held up to her neck. “What does it look like I am doing? I am playing the violin.”
She demonstrated by plucking a few notes that were ever so slightly off key. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end and he only just managed to repress a shudder.
