Wexford Hall might hide things from everyone else but I’ll wager it hides nothing from her.
“I was exploring,” Isla said. “Your house was not inclined to be clear.”
“It does not owe clarity to strangers,” Eleanor returned. She inclined her head toward the door, not coming closer, as if some line on the floor marked a boundary. “That room is locked.”
“So I see. Why?.”
“It will remain so.” Eleanor said, speaking over Isla.
A pause. Isla took a breath, swallowed her temper.
“May I ask why?” Isla kept her tone even. “A wife should understand her own house.”
“A wife should indeed,” Eleanor said, a small, dry smile tugging the corner of her mouth, “but I do not see you as such. It isfortunate you will not have to trouble yourself with those duties for long.”
It was so direct that laughter, of all things, lifted in Isla’s chest, absurd and sharp. She did not let it out.
“I am your son’s wife. That will nae change because you didnae approve.” Isla said, her accent giving a hint of the anger she felt at Eleanor’s rudeness.
Eleanor pressed her lips together primly. “I expect an adjustment to the present inconvenience. One that restores the dignity of this house and frees my son from a bargain made in haste. I think an English Duke deserves an English Duchess. There, I cannot be any plainer.”
“You certainly couldn’t,” Isla said. “You dislike me for being Scottish. You dislike me for making you think of your father who died. I can help neither and neither can be corrected with an annulment.”
A flicker, not a flinch, but a passing of something across the eyes that was not merely calculation. “You have been talking to my son.”
Isla lifted her chin. “I am his wife.”
“For the moment.” The Dowager’s gaze shifted past Isla to the latch. “He locked that door himself.”
“What lies beyond it?”
“A room that is not yours. Edward will tell you what he wishes you to know when you are something like a wife. Not before.”
She turned and was gone without the corridor acknowledging her passage, as if she were the one thing in Wexford Hall to which it had grown accustomed. Isla stood for a moment with her fingertips still on the latch, as if the brass could be convinced by stubbornness.
Then she took her hand away and wrung it in her skirt to be rid of the feel. The certainty that rose after the Dowager’s retreat surprised her. Not anger, though anger grumbled. It was determination, plain and not very pretty. If the Dowager intended to freeze her out, she would have to tolerate a great deal of persistent thaw.
At least I can prove myself useful. I can be Edward’s friend. I can make the best of this situation and help where I may.
She could be an ally. A steward of sorts to any corner of the estate that would bear her hand. The thought steadied her. Itwas not what her heart yearned for but sense could be louder than yearning when it had to be.
“Platonic,” she said aloud, testing the shape of the word, as if naming a river might help it choose its banks. “Sensible. Civil. Entirely … platonic.”
“You’ll forgive me, Your Grace,” said a small, scandalized voice behind her, “but that sounds like a dreadful word for a honeymooner.”
Isla spun. The girl who had spoken stood a cautious three paces away. She was plump and neat, with dark hair coiled tight under her cap and cheeks like apples somebody had shined with a sleeve. Her eyes were lively and then anxious the moment she remembered to mind herself.
“I … beg pardon,” the girl added. “I oughtn’t to be here. I’m on my way to the stillroom for rosemary, cook says the lamb needs it, but I cut along the small passage on account of my feet and, there you were … talking.”
“To myself,” Isla said, with as much dignity as a woman could have in such a moment. “Which is my bad habit.” She softened her tone. “You are not in trouble. What is your name?”
“Edith Godwin, Your Grace.”
“Are you one of the housemaids?”
“When I’m told so,” Edith said, then blushed at her own presumption. “I mean, yes. Housemaid for the east wing, runner for the stillroom when Mrs. Pike is busy. My da’s the stable master. Harold Godwin.”
“Ah, the very man I was hoping to meet next. I am keen to get a look at the stables here. They’re famous.”
