“Benson, I need you to start drafting messages for me to Sebastian Devons and the Duchess of Lusby that I located Miss Rose Calvert. In the note, tell them she will reside here with my mother acting as chaperone. Request that they call on her tomorrow so she can rest. I will look over the notes once she is settled.”
Benson bowed. “Yes, Your Grace.”
Rose frowned. “I don’t want to be an inconvenience. You could take me to Lisbeth’s.”
He glowered at her. “You will stay here until Hawley or his associates say you are safe.”
Warmth filled her at his protectiveness. Still, a strange unease drifted over her when she turned back to the mammoth building. This was Augustus’s home. It looked more like a palace than a place where a family would live.
They stepped into a large marble foyer, and Rose looked down a massive hallway to see the statue she’d gone in search of the first night they met. She wasn’t sure how she’d missed thesplendor of the grand foyer and staircase before. It was likely because it had been filled with a crush of people during the ball. His mother and sister raced down the stairs. “Augustus, you made it home. I was so worried when Derry showed up with guards for the house.”
Augustus leaned down and kissed the woman on her cheek. “Mother, I’m sorry to cause you so much concern.”
She smiled at him and turned to Rose. “I’m happy to see you have been found, Miss Calvert.”
“Yes, me too.”
Rose previously met the duchess and Augustus’s sister at Derry’s house party. She awkwardly curtsied, feeling very out of place.
Augustus’s mother shook her head. “There is no need for that.”
“Miss Calvert will stay with us until the men who took her are found. Mother, I assumed you would be willing to act as her chaperone.”
His mother and sister stared at him, shocked, but neither argued. The duchess said, “Of course.”
“We will help Miss Calvert settle in a room. I’m sure you need to send word to several people,” his sister added.
Rose and Augustus looked at each other. Madly, she didn’t want to be separated from him. She wondered if he felt the same way, but he said, “Yes, I have much to do. Thank you, Willa.”
His mother smiled at Rose and said, “Come this way, please.”
Rose climbed the elaborate staircase with both ladies. The house still disconcerted her. She’d never really thought about what Augustus’s ducal life was like. It wasn’t that she hadn’t stayed in nice places, but all of her time with Augustus had been spent in less elaborate settings.
She glanced back down the staircase to see several servants bowing and curtsying as he walked by. Augustus seemed so atease with all the pomp and so different from the man she’d grown to know. This world was so drastically different from hers.
His sister opened a door, and Rose stepped into a bedchamber designed for a queen. His mother smiled. “We always have a few of the guest bedchambers ready.”
The fact that this was a guest room shocked her. The walls were covered with white paint, trim, and, in places, gold inlays. A massive bed took up one side of the room and was covered with elaborate fabrics. The room could house a family, let alone one person.
His sister asked, “Is this fine?”
Rose nodded. “Yes, of course.
Servants entered carrying hot water and opened a door that revealed a bathing room with a large deep tub. No, Rose took it back. She hadn’t ever stayed or been in a place this nice. A maid handed Augustus’s sister a dressing gown. “Here is something to sleep in.”
“Thank you, Lady Willa.”
“Please call me, Willa, and my mother, Mary. We aren’t as formal at home.”
Rose had a hard time believing that but nodded. “Thank you, Willa and Your Grace.”
Augustus’s mother said, “Please Mary.”
She smiled. “Thank you.”
Mary said, “If you need anything, pull on the rope there, and a servant will come immediately. Would you like a servant to clean the bathing room right away or wait until after you’ve rested?”
Rose shook her head. “I think after would be best.”
