He had let his best friend die in that fire because he chose to save her first. Because he chose her, the woman he was supposed to marry, he didn’t have enough time to go back and save his childhood friend.
If she wanted to act like she was the wounded party, then she could do that alone.
Chapter Six
Veronica slammed herself inside her room, arms wrapped defensively around her shoulders. She felt so defeated and confused.
She busied herself with reorganizing everything in her room and unpacking some of the things stuff still in her luggage.Why can he not at least admit that he resents me? That there is no possibility of us ever even being friends!
Then I could focus on getting over my silly notions and move on!
She paused, and took a look at her room. Even in her parents’ house, with their meager funds, everything ran much more smoothly. At home, all of her things would have been unpacked by now, and the housekeeper certainly would not be the one helping her dress.
Even as she scoped the grounds she could see that many thing were half done, like the garden. While lush, it was wild and looked as if only one person occasionally took care of everything.
This won’t do! It is my house too! These people depend on me as much as they do on my h_She shook her head, having trouble even thinking who he was to her now.On him...
The duke was the one coming into her life like a storm and doing as he pleased.
She would show him. If he thought she was just going to stand there and take it, accept his coldness and his buried hatred, he had another think coming.
She strode to her writing desk, pulled out a pen, and set to work.
It wasn’t hard. There was so much that needed to be done that she had no issue coming up with a list of things to tackle. She needed to get this place in top shape if she was to invite her sisters over. And she would. If there was one thing she would not let her husband do, it was to keep her from the only people who truly supported her through everything.
She was so caught up in the task that when she heard a knock on her door, she jumped up, smearing her already chaotic writing.
"Oh, Mrs. Carter! Just the woman I wished to see! And who is this?” She asked, addressing the woman who followed the housekeeper inside her room. Younger than the housekeeper,she seemed a bit too old to be a maid and a bit too young for a respected position like a cook or housekeeper. But her smile was kind and confident, and Veronica caught a reassuring hint of warmth in the crinkle of her eyes.
“Good evening, Your Grace,” she bowed. “This is Daisy, your new lady’s maid. You won’t need to have me help you dress again like you did for dinner.”
“It is my honor to tend to you, Your Grace.” Daisy dipped a curtsey.
“It is wonderful to meet you, Daisy. And thank you Mrs. Carter for taking care of that, but I assumed I would be responsible for hiring my own lady’s maid.”
It started to feel more and more like the duke cared more about controlling her environment than making her comfortable. And why would he? He made it clear he wanted nothing to do with her.
“Well, Your Grace, I think he wanted to make sure you’re comfortable. Considering how fast everything happened.”
“Very well! Actually, I wanted to speak with you about the estate.”
The woman seemed a little shocked. “Oh, of course.” She nodded for Daisy to leave them and the young woman curtseyed again before rushing out.
Veronica smiled. “I was hoping to take a look at the ledgers soon.”
“That would be something you should ask His Grace about. I am afraid I am not the one that has them, but I will let him know you wish to have a look. You should have them by tomorrow evening.”
She swallowed down her annoyance at not being able to simply have a look at the books. Even her father was not as protective of his study.
“That would be perfect. Thank you. I also wanted to ask about the number of staff here, it is such a massive estate, surely there are more than the people I was introduced to earlier.”
She nodded. “There’s me, the butler, the cook, the kitchen maid, three footmen and three maids, well two now since Daisy will be serving as your lady’s maid.”
“Goodness! That’s all? ”
“Yes, His Grace likes to keep a small household.”
She frowned. “There’s small, then there’s unmanageable. You can’t tell me you aren’t all struggling.”
