“I have decided,” Rose said as warm water was poured through her hair. “First, will you please tell my husband that I would like to have a quick word with him. Perhaps after I break my fast?”
Sally blinked. “Your Grace, I am afraid that will not be possible.”
“It won’t be?”
“He is not here, Your Grace.” She hurried to the side of the bath and dropped to her knees. “I was going to inform you during breakfast. I am so sorry.”
“He?” For some reason, possibly the heat of the bath, Rose’s head spun a little from that news. “Where has he gone?”
“Away on business, I believe.”
“For how long?”
“As I was told, it will be several days.”
Rose stared stupidly at the maid.
He left? Without telling me? Without even saying goodbye? For several days! How could he think that such a thing would be fine to do? … and why do I care?
Rose should not have cared. The Duke was doing as he promised, and that was a reason to feel grateful. She supposed it might have something to do with the fact that she wanted to talk to him today, so that she could tell him what she planned to do with herself.
Yes, that was the reason this news hit her so hard.
Not that she needed his permission. She just thought it would be polite.
There was another reason that this news sat so strangely on her shoulders, and as Rose sank deeper into the bath, she was forced to confront it in ways she did not plan. It was that pit in herstomach opening wide again. The walls of the room were turning around her. The dreaded sense of loneliness that came with this new life, and that her own husband cared so little for her.
I really am alone…
No!Rose gave her head a shake, refusing to go down that path.
“Good,” she said to Sally.
“Good?” Sally frowned.
“That my husband is not here,” she confirmed. “Good.”
Rose wasn’t going to let her husband’s absence change anything. This was her home now; she had never been one to sit back and let others do things for her, and if Christopher did not like that, then he should have come and seen her before he left.
Yes, this was his fault.
“Today, Sally, I plan on doing a full tour of the manor,” Rose announced. “Tell me, do you know your letters, Sally?”
“I do, Your Grace.”
Rose smiled with surprise. “Excellent. Because you will be taking notes.”
“Notes?” Sally tilted her head and pursed her lips. “Notes about what?”
“Of everything.” Rose flashed her eyes with wickedness, as if she were doing something wrong. “You are to take notes of everything.”
Rose spent the rest of the day doing as she said that she would: touring the manor. In fact, she was so determined in this new task that she skipped breakfast entirely.
She wished to know everything that she could about her new home, from its rooms to the people who occupied them. She met each member of the household staff, quizzing them on the specifics of their roles. She spoke with the ground staff, again asking them about their roles and what they thought could be done better. She visited every room of the manor, giving Sally a mountain of notes to scribble down in the process.
As she did all of this, her mind turned slowly, pieces falling into place, seeing already things that needed to be changed, fixed, and added to.
There was a soft voice in the back of her head at the same time, one that warned her against doing anything that might upset her husband. But she ignored it for the most part, countering that if he cared so much about what she did, he would be there to stop her.
