CHAPTER1
“Your Grace?”
Selina Kendal stood by the door she had just opened, her gaze traveling the room. Tall bookshelves, and freshly cleaned floors, but neither hide nor hair of her sponsor, Her Grace, The Dowager Duchess of Wynten.
Selina withdrew from the room and shut the door behind her, a slight frown of confusion furrowing her brow. Granted, the Brigpool Estate was by no means small, but she had been searching for the Dowager Duchess all over already.
A warm draft blew her way as she continued down the hallway and she raised her slender, gloved hand to fan at her neck.It is rather unusually warm today...The heat seemed to be permeating the walls and floors.
A sound up ahead pulled her thoughts from the temperature and she looked to find a young, brunette maid leaving a room with a duster, mopping cloth, and a bucket. It seemed she was cleaning the rooms one by one, door after door.
Selina hurried her footsteps to meet her. “Oh, pardon me, have you seen Her Grace come this way?”
The maid looked up from opening the door to the next room down the hallway. “Indeed, Miss Knight, Her Grace has only just left the library perhaps an hour ago. She went down to the storage rooms after that.”
“Thank you.” Selina smiled away her slight discomfort at the way she was addressed.
She lived so well under the gracious care of the Dowager Duchess that she often relaxed, forgetting that she had many secrets. That was, of course, until moments like these when she was called by the name she had given when she arrived on the estate.
Try as she might not to get too comfortable in her new environment, she constantly had to remind herself that this was not her home and that the truth could one day be discovered. She could only hope that day did not come with its dangers.
Selina marched down to the cellars and into the store room, her mind wandering as to what the Dowager Duchess could possibly want in there, although there was no telling with her. She pushed open the doors, trying but failing to maintain her composure at the surprising sight of the Dowager Duchess climbing a stool to reach up.
“Your Grace?” she called out in alarm, her voice going an octave higher at the sight of her teetering dangerously on a stool. The Dowager Duchess, Grace Reid, was an old graying lady of three and seventy, known for her eccentric personality and youthfulness despite her age.
Her kind eyes and easy smile were the first to draw Selina in the night she met her. It had not taken much for her to trust the woman and she could see that the Dowager Duchess trusted her in return.
The two had grown quite close and her eccentricities often meant Selina had to watch over her and make sure she did not come to harm while having the utmost fun.
“Oh, there you are, my dear. Be a darling and help me with this,” she said, affecting her beautiful smile. Selina snapped out of her shock and to attention, hurrying to her. She had gotten used to not knowing what to expect from the old lady and now was no exception.
She quickly and carefully helped her down before getting on the stool herself, careful not to step on her gown. She looked up the shelf and turned around, clueless as to what she was supposed to be helping with.
“And what, pray tell, are you doing?”
“Oh, you see, my dear. I found this new recipe that requires, of all things, raw meat. Would you believe it?” she asked Selina, who wore an incredulous expression as the Dowager Duchess laughed as though she could not believe the absurdity of the situation. Selina sighed.
The woman had been quick to climb a stool so she clearly did not think it absurd enough. Selina also wondered why she had not just told the cook to get the meats for her instead of trying to do it herself.
“Raw meat is said to be good for the skin so I was planning to try some out,” she explained before Selina could question her. Selina narrowed her eyes at her. Her Grace had always been like this since the first week she got here.
She fought off a smile as she recalled that she had found the woman sprinkling gold dust into a pot of water to boil for tea on the first week.
The dowager loved to read but it always led her to be interested in more questionable activities which she then proceeded to try out. Nothing was too risky for her as long as she had it in hand or could purchase it easily.
“Your Grace,” Selina began in a tone that belied her disapproval of the idea. “I must express my concern for-” she was cut off by the older woman before she could express her disapproval.
“Oh please, you keep doing that.” The older lady waved her hands in circles as though disappointed in Selina’s constant need to shut down her many terrible ideas.
“And how many times do I have to remind you? It’s Grace, dear, just Grace. I believe we are close enough for such informality now, do you not?” she asked.
This was another thing that was unconventional about the dowager, the fact that she continued to insist, after the first two months, that Selina begin to call her by her Christian name, although Selina did not think she would ever be able to do so.
So far, she had been the dowager’s companion for the past two years at the Brigpool Estate. In no way or form, would it be proper for her to do so, and it was even more improper for her to do that, considering she was posing as the daughter of a baronet which was way lower in station than the Dowager Duchess. If anyone were to hear of it, it would be a scandal, which was the last thing she wanted since it would draw attention to her.
“And once again, Your Grace,” Selina began. She let out an exasperated breath and placed her hands on her hips with a hint of drama. “I will have to decline your invitation to do so. I say, the title, Your Grace, is the closest to your name you shall ever get from me.”
The old lady scoffed at that, rolling her eyes at her and causing Selina to laugh. They had been over this topic countless times and on every occasion, Selina had refused, repeating the same words she had just uttered.
