Behind her, the Duke chortled.
“I am quite serious,” Elara insisted, taking in the gold-painted columns, the white-and-gray marble stairs, and the ornate crystal sconces on the walls. All of it had been concealed by swaths of silk the night of his masquerade ball.
“It is beautiful,” Elara stated, turning to him.
His brow perked, and healmostlooked amused.
“I suppose the house will be grateful to finally have someone living in it to admire it,” the Duke said sarcastically. “Now, are you ready to meet my staff? Or do you plan to marvel at their beauty as well?”
Elara gave him a deadpan look.
“We have been married for less than a day, and you already exasperate me,” she all but hissed.
Her husband’s lips drew into a pout as he slapped his hand over his heart. “You wound me, wife,” he retorted, walking to her right side.
Elara rolled her eyes and faced forward, where a long line of black-and-white-uniformed staff waited silently and patiently to be introduced. As the Duke introduced each member of the staff, they bowed or curtseyed before her, then stepped back into line. She noted that none of them, not even the housekeeper and the main butler, looked the Duke in the face, and she wondered whether that was out of fear or respect.
“Now that you have met everyone, I have some matters to attend to,” he said after finishing the introductions. He clapped his hands, and everyone except Mr. Pearson, the head butler, and Mrs. York, the housekeeper, dispersed.
“Is it the baby?” Elara asked quickly, stepping toward him.
Behind her, she heard Mrs. York gasp as she watched the Duke’s face harden into a cold expression. She waited tensely for him to shout or speak bitterly. Instead, she watched his jaw twitch as he gritted his teeth, and without a word, he moved around her and began climbing the left staircase.
Elara opened her mouth, ready to confront him yet again, but as he disappeared up the stairs, she realized she would not be able to force an answer from him.
Perhaps,she thought as she turned to Mrs. York with a kind smile.There is someone else who can tell me more about thischild.
Mrs. York’s answering smile was wide and warm, and she curtsied once more before Elara as she welcomed her yet again. She was tall and lean, with graying brown hair kept in a tidy bun and warm, honey-brown eyes.
“It is so very good to have you here, Your Grace,” Mrs. York said warmly, gesturing toward the stairs. Elara shivered at her new title. Though her mother had been a duchess and her father and brothers had all been dukes, she had never been sure she would hold such a status. “Shall I give you a tour? Or, if you have been traveling long, perhaps I could show you to your quarters and have a bath drawn for you instead?”
“We did not travel from afar, Mrs. York,” Elara assured her. “I would love a tour, thank you. And Mr. Pearson?”
“Yes, Your Grace?” Mr. Pearson asked, bowing.
Again, Elara tingled at her new title. It was going to take some getting used to.
“A carriage is supposed to arrive later today with my things and my maid. Her name is Ginny,” Elara explained. “Would you please be so kind as to come find me when it arrives?”
“Of course, Your Grace,” Mr. Pearson replied, going down for another sweeping bow.
As Mrs. York began the tour of the vast estate, Elara soon discovered that Mrs. York was a very lively, motherly woman with a penchant for positivity and a sharp tongue when necessary. She had an eagle eye for the other servants and the cleanliness of the estate, and she seemed to know where everything went and where everyone should be at all times.
“How long have you had this posting, Mrs. York?” Elara asked as they came out of the library, a room Elara was particularly excited about.
“I started with the Harcourt family when I was but five-and-ten, as a maid,” Mrs. York answered proudly, showing Elara into yet another sitting room; this one decorated in multiple hues of green. “I worked my way up to the station I hold now and have proudly held it for the last eighteen years,” Mrs. York continued to boast.
“So you have known His Grace for quite a while, then,” Elara noted, her curiosity piqued. Mrs. York nodded.
“Oh, yes, of course, he and his little brother, God bless his soul,” Mrs. York replied.
Elara drew up a brow as she looked at the housekeeper. “Has he passed?”
“Oh, no,” Mrs. York answered quickly, blushing slightly. “I only mean that the young Master Harcourt has had quite a few struggles. Never could quite get on his feet.”
“I see,” Elara mused knowingly as Mrs. York led her up to the third floor. “Does he reside here?”
“He used to,” Mrs. York confessed. “However, I have not seen him in quite a while. Which is a shame, you know, as it worries His Grace greatly.”
