Page 23 of The Lady’s Dirty Letter

It was early morning when she started, but it was evening before the craftsmen left. They would all come back the next day to begin designing each room as she had directed. It was only after the house was decorated that they would begin to receive visitors from society. It was almost time for dinner, so she returned to her chambers to prepare.

….

Alexander sat in his study, looking over the information for the new gardener Baldwin had found. It was not like there was anything suspicious about him, but they had to know who they were hiring, at least to some extent. The man seemed good at his job, so he was glad.

He remembered how Caroline’s eyes had brightened when she saw the small patch of garden that they had. It was then that he had decided to revitalize it. He was not expecting anything from the gesture. In truth, he didn’t even know why he did it, at first. Now, he was glad he did. He was able to use this as a small apology of sorts. It had only been two days, but he already regretted his outburst. It now seemed so childish to him.

He had seen his brother just the day before, and the topic of Caroline’s sister had come up. Colin was excited. He had begun exchanging friendly letters with her. Alexander was sick to his stomach at how easily they could trap his brother with the current relationship he had with the girl, and he had told his brother to be careful. Colin was surprised by his obvious pessimism and had asked him why he was being so.

“That family cannot be trusted, Colin. I am worried these letters are a means to a very suspicious end,” he had said.

Colin’s expression had been one of deep worry when he said, “Alex, why would you speak so? My interest in Ann is just that. Interest. How could they trap me? I hope you did not utter this foolishness to your wife.”

Alexander had been unable to respond to that. Colin was horrified and asked him to apologize, but he had not been able to do that yet. He knew that what Colin said was true, but a part of him still felt like they were playing on Colin’s interest to get what they wanted. After all, their mother had kicked up a fuss over her daughter receiving a letter once, yet she seemed perfectly fine with Colin sending Ann letters.

He was still suspicious, but he also felt a bit guilty. That was why he wanted to quickly prepare the garden. They had spent two weeks as a married couple and they had not had a proper conversation, not to mention shared a bed. Every day at dinner, he found himself wanting to break the ice, but he could never find the words. Even though things had turned out like this, he didn’t want them to be unhappy for the rest of their lives.

A knock on his door pulled him from his thoughts. Mrs. Beagle came in, smiling from ear to ear. He remembered that the house had been opened to craftsmen that day, so the housekeeper was probably coming to tell him about that. From the look on her face, it seemed he had nothing to worry about.

“The Lady is wonderful, my Lord! Not only does she have great taste and stay within our means, but she even helped us get the best quality with money to spare. She is so charming that by the end, all of the craftsmen wanted to give her a discount in order to foster friendly relations!” Mrs. Beagle said, her voice full of so much pride, one might think she raised Caroline herself.

“Is that so? I shall look forward to witnessing the results then. Thank you for keeping me informed, Mrs. Beagle,” he said.

It was almost time for dinner. He didn’t think he could talk to her yet, but he didn’t want to be late for dinner. In fact, he decided he would stop missing breakfast as well.

….

The decoration of the house was finally completed. Caroline was more proud than she thought she would be. She had just finished checking each room to make sure the work was done to perfection before authorizing Mrs. Beagle to pay the craftsmen. She was standing in the doorway and beaming at the drawing room when Alexander appeared behind her. Some of the excitement she felt dimmed, and she turned to him. He had stopped avoiding breakfast with her for some reason during the past two weeks, but other than the fact that she now saw him twice every day, there was nothing different between them.

Somehow, she had gotten used to the loneliness. She focused on the work being done on the house and sent letters to her sister more often. She also found fun in learning more about her brother-in-law through Ann. According to her, he was funny, charismatic, and on top of it all, a gentleman. The two had begun to see each other in person, with Colin calling on Ann. They didn’t get too many rumors since they had the excuse that their siblings were married, as the reason why they spoke to each other. She was happy for her sister and hoped their story would not end up poorly. Most of the time she didn’t think of her husband at all. She wondered why he was coming to see her now.

“The house looks wonderful. You have done an outstanding job,” Alexander said, startling her. She couldn’t help feeling a bit suspicious. Why would he suddenly be this friendly? His voice held honesty, so he didn’t seem to have any ulterior motives, but she was still confused.

“Thank you,” she said, her confusion evident in her voice. Even Alexander seemed uncomfortable as he spoke to her. It was painfully awkward, and she didn’t want to be mean, so she added, “I’m glad you like it.”

Alexander gave her a weak smile. “I want to show you something.” He offered her his arm, and after a moment of thought, she took it. She was curious to see where this was going, even though she found it strange. As they walked together, she remembered the last time they had walked like this. It was the day they had arrived. It had been a month since then and this was the second time they were walking arm in arm. It was quite sad.

To her surprise, he led her to the garden. It was so much different than the last time she had seen it. Houses in the capital didn’t have a lot of ground space, so it was already wonderful that they could get a small garden. It was because of this that she had not had any complaints with the state the garden had been in when they arrived. She was just happy to see some green. Now, the garden was full of flowers in bloom.

She turned wide-eyed to Alexander. Baldwin had mentioned that he was getting a gardener, but she had forgotten all about that as the days went by. Especially since they were on bad terms.

“This is beautiful. There are so many flowers! And how did you know I liked white lilies?” She asked. There were too many of them for it to have been a coincidence. Alexander gave her a small smile.

“Actually, I asked my brother to ask your sister,” he said sheepishly. Caroline raised her brows and a shocked laugh slipped from her lips.

“Mmm, as opposed to the impossible task of asking me, the woman you live with?” she asked. She hadn’t meant it to come across like she wanted to argue, but still, Alexander’s expression turned solemn. He turned to face her, taking her hands in his. She hadn’t been expecting this development, so she stared at his hands in surprise. They completely swallowed hers.

“In truth, I wish to apologize.” It took everything Caroline had to keep her jaw from dropping.

“I have been acting foolishly. That became clear to me as my brother continued to speak about your sister whois apparently a needlework artist? He claims that if she hadn't been a noblewoman, she would have been a craftswoman. He showed me a handkerchief with a grotesque image of a frog on it.” Alexander shuddered as though appalled by the mere memory of what he had seen, and Caroline laughed.

Ann did mention that Colin had asked her to make him something, to which she had replied that he ought to pay for her services. He responded, saying that he was shocked that a lady of status would attempt to be a merchant. She had then asked him what he hated most and sent him a picture of the ugliest frog. She had found their banter adorable. She had no idea Colin had been sharing with his brother as well.

“I realized after that how wrong I was. The two of them are just truly… well fit,” Alexander admitted. “I know there is no excuse for my behavior, and if you decide to reject my apology, you are well within your rights. My accusations were baseless. I have also made this marriage incredibly frigid. All I can say is I am sorry, and I hope you can allow me to at least be your friend, if nothing else.”

Caroline was touched. Not only was he being completely honest, but he had also put his pride aside and apologized for his actions. He took responsibility for what he did wrong. She squeezed his hands which still held hers.

“I forgive you,” she said, smiling when she saw Alexander exhale in relief. “Would you like some tea?”

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