She should apologize, both to Dietrich and Danise. Perhaps he would be there if she went back in the morning.
Sleep was still eluding her when she heard her stepmother’s bedroom door open and close, and quiet voices began to speak. The house was small enough that you could hear almost anything being said in it, whether you were trying to listen or not. Tabitha wasn’t one for staying up late, however, so the fact that she was speaking when Ella had assumed she’d long since fallen asleep was intriguing.
They were being quiet enough that Ella couldn’t tell if the other participant in the conversation was Flora, Petra, or both of them, or what they were saying.
It almost made her want to tiptoe closer to listen in…but the ache in her weary limbs kept her from getting up. Whatever they were discussing, it was probably unimportant, like everything else they discussed.
But then her stepmother said crossly, “We never should have kept her. I always told him that she would be trouble, and now she is.”
Ella’s eyebrows raised of their own accord. Were they discussing her?
Probably not.
But if they were…it would be the first time she’d heard Tabitha say that she shouldn’t have been kept.
Chapter three
Dietrich
Dietrich stood with the rest of his fellow staff, waiting for the moment when Duke Alaric Vaughn and Duchess Regina would arrive.
It had been many years since the first duchess had passed away and the duke had left their rural estate for the city where there were fewer memories of his lost wife and daughter. He’d since remarried and had two more daughters, and this was their first visit to the Northlands.
No one knew how long they would be here…but most of them hoped it would be a more permanent arrangement.
The estate had been different without the family in residence.
Dietrich was one of the few who had met the new duchess, which meant he’d been popular the past couple of days as everyone on the estate grilled him for details about Duchess Vaughn and the young ladies.
His reports had been glowing, of course. The Duchess was lovely and had been sweet to him during his visit to Riyel, even though he was only a stable boy.
The Duke and Duchess had not known the true reason for his visit to Riyel, and he had no intention of telling them.
If he’d succeeded in his mission to find Duke Vaughn’s missing daughter, he might have told them. But since that effort had failed, like every other effort before, he thought it best to simply tell them he was spending time in the city. It didn’t seem right to get their hopes up for no reason.
He had spent so much time searching for Lady Eliana over the years. Regret still rolled through him as he thought of how he’d given up searching for her, even if he’d continued longer than the duke himself had.
But guilt still filled his veins every time he thought back to the day she’d disappeared.
A grand carriage rolled through the gate, accompanied by several men riding fine horses, distracting him from his thoughts. Dietrich stood a little taller as the duke dismounted from his horse and strode toward the carriage.
The door opened, and Duchess Vaughn was the first to exit, giving her husband a stunning smile as he helped her out. She was followed by their two daughters, Colette and Celeste, who waved frantically at Dietrich when they caught sight of him.
Dietrich smiled at the girls, though he didn’t wave from his position in line with the other staff.
They had grown since he had been in Riyel.
Perhaps it wasn’t his place to be so familiar with them, but the girls had been fascinated by horses and had spent a fair amount of time in his care while he was there.
Did they still enjoy spending time with horses? Would they be haunting his stables this time, too?
A second carriage pulled in, and Dietrich smiled as Duke Vaughn’s valet and the duchess’s maid climbed out. He would have to ask after their friends in Riyel. It seemed unlikely that the stable master from the Riyel estate would come with them—not when Dietrich was here—but it would be good to hear how he was doing.
“I love it,” Duchess Vaughn said as she took in the estate, her eyes bright with happiness. “It is beautiful.”
No one blamed the duke for not bringing her here sooner, though some had wondered if they would ever come at all. Dietrich could only imagine how difficult the memories of this place would be—the place where the duke had lost both his wife and daughter. Many of the staff were surprised they were here at all.
“I am so glad the girls will get to experience this,” the duchess said, glancing down at their daughters, who were bouncing on their feet as they looked up at the imposing building.
