But that was going to change.
She crept into her room, Rose following closely behind her, and closed the door quietly. She set down the candlestick with its three candles on the boudoir table and stared at herself in the mirror, grimacing. Her hair was still up in its intricate style, and she wasn’t sure she could get out of her dress on her own.
Maybe she should have gone to bed earlier.
There was a chirping and Beatrice looked over to find Rose making herself comfortable on the pillow next to hers.
“Don’t light my bed on fire,” Beatrice whispered, pointing at the dragon.
She began poking at her hair and found a few pins in short order, but when she pulled them out, it wasn’t enough to make the rest of the hair fall.
There was a noise in the corridor and the door opened with a gentle snick before Guinevere slipped through and smiled at her.
“Oh, I’m so glad you’re here,” Beatrice said in relief.
The maid hurried up behind her and began deftly combing her fingers through Beatrice’s rumpled hair.
“I tried,” Beatrice said, giving Guinevere a sheepish look in the mirror.
“Did you?” Guinevere asked with a teasing grin. “It seems to me you just made a mess.”
Beatrice laughed. “I’m sorry. I’m no match for the amazing work you did, and I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to manage getting out of this dress without you.”
Guinevere’s grin widened. “I know. That’s why I didn’t go to bed.”
“Thank you,” Beatrice said with a deep breath. “I had no idea how much of being a lady I couldn’t do on my own. I need help.”
“That’s why I’m here,” Guinevere said, picking up the comb and working her way through Beatrice’s long hair. “Did you get to finish your chapter?”
Beatrice grinned and reached for the book on the table. “I only have two chapters left,” she said. “I thought I might finish it in bed, so that if you were still awake, you could go to sleep.”
“Thank you,” Guinevere said, “but you needn’t have worried on my behalf.”
“Just because I needn’t doesn’t mean I won’t,” Beatrice said. “I may be the new Lady Dunham, but I don’t know how to be nobility, remember?”
The two girls shared a laugh, and Beatrice looked over at the door that connected her room to Alexander’s.
How her life had changed in only two days. She had gone from being a commoner employed by Lord Alexander to becoming his wife in such a short time, living in his home…which was now their home.
And speaking of their home…”What do you know about the fire?” she asked.
“I’ll confess I don’t know much about it—it was over fifteen years ago,” Guinevere said. “I was still a child when it happened, but I remember there was no official ruling on how the fire started. There was a rumor that it must have been started by magic, because there was no other explanation found, and it killed both of his parents.”
“I remember that,” Beatrice said solemnly, turning to glance at Alexander’s door again.
Guinevere nodded. “Lord Alexander lost his parents and became Lord Dunham far too young. It was quite a shock for everyone, but he has done an incredible job.”
“I’m sure he has,” Beatrice said.
She knew that much of him—he was a good man with good intentions who always did the best he could. She’d known that before she married him, when he was simply her employer, despite the rumors in town. But in living with him for only two days, she had seen it even more.
He might have an uncaring demeanor, but he truly did care.
She’d seen that with the tenants, the way he treated Guinevere, and the way he treated his tiny dragon. Beatrice could hardly contain her grin at the thought. He had a dragon and nobody knew, except for the two of them.
“And what are you smiling about?” Guinevere asked with an impish grin, glancing over at Alexander’s door herself.
Beatrice shook her head. “No,” she said. “Not that.”
