The sigh of relief that he gave made her smile.
“Let us make haste then,” he said. “I will have a maid take you to your room so you can prepare while I send for the priest.”
Beatrice took a deep breath. He was wasting no time. She already had a room?
Lord Dunham took a deep breath. “Thank you, Lady Beatrice.”
Her eyes widened at the new title. Lady Beatrice.
She was about to become nobility.
“Of course, Lord Dunham,” she said as she stood, her bare feet connecting with the cool floor. “I owe my current situation toyou, and it has treated me well thus far. I am sure that trusting my future to you will also work well.”
He let out a slight chuckle. “I hope it will work well for you, too. And please, call me Alexander.”
Beatrice glanced down at the floor, her cheeks heating at the thought.
Marrying Lord Dunham was one thing.
Calling him Alexander? Another thing entirely.
The maid from earlier appeared and led her out of Lord Dunham's study, toward the grand staircase she had always seen, but never climbed.
“I’m Beatrice,” she said. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Colette, ma’am.”
“Have you worked for Lord Dunham long?” Beatrice asked as she followed Colette up the stairs.
Each step took her further and further into her new life. Within the hour, she would be married. This would be her new home, and she would be Lady Dunham.
“Most of my life,” the maid said. “My family has been at Eldenwilde for years.”
Beatrice should have paid more attention, but she was distracted as she climbed. The grand staircase she had always seen and wondered what lay upstairs would become a staircase that she descended regularly.
How was this her life? This seemed stranger than the romance novels that she occasionally read.
Well, perhaps more than occasionally.
But since she’d had no expectation of getting married, it had seemed a way to enjoy the romantic stories that she never expected would happen to her.
Well, now she was getting married…but there was no romance involved here, either. So she had been both right and wrong.
The maid led her up the stairs and turned left toward a large door.
“The housekeeper will be right with you, ma'am,” Colette said, bobbing a slight curtsy before hurrying down the hallway and disappearing down what must be the servants’ staircase.
Beatrice pondered the doors in front of her. Should she go in? Should she wait for the housekeeper? Colette hadn't given any instructions, and it felt odd to open a door in someone else's home.
But then again, this was to be her home.
What would Sophia do?
Beatrice grinned at the thought. Her friend Sophia had also become nobility after being raised as a commoner. Perhaps she should visit her soon and ask her advice.
Even if she couldn’t visit Sophia, she’d need to send word, and soon, because Thea would be very concerned if she didn't go to the café tomorrow. She wouldn’t want Thea and Dietrich to be worried on her behalf or to assume that Lord Dunham was a beast who had held her captive.
He’d simply asked her to marry him instead.
