“All of it has been set according to your requests, Yor Grace. Certain liberties were taken to include things you would like as well, since we noticed that you had not given any instructions pertaining to yourself. Otherwise, every thing else is ready,” the older woman assured.
Touched by the act of thoughtfulness, Jane smiled kindly, “Thank you, that is very kind. I am sorry, I know it has not been easy to go along with my whims.”
The housekeeper waved a hand in the air dismissively.
“Your Grace, we can all see what you are trying to do here. You are working very hard to provide not just the duke, but the young lord as well, with happier lives than they have led in the last few years. Your kind heart is more than we have earned, but we are grateful for your selflessness. Immensely so,” Mrs Greene said.
Jane was not so sure that she deserved the praise she was receiving. After all, her plans and attempts had fallen short consistently. What good was trying at all if there were no results to show for it?
She stood straighter with her chin up, determined to move forward, no matter what.
“I’ll keep trying. We haven’t... achieved the results we desire, not yet. But I will continue to do everything in my power to help both the duke and his son.”
Mrs Greene nodded with a gentle smile. “I trust that you will.”
The housekeeper went on her way and Jane took a moment to encourage herself to proceed with her plans.
Firstly, she handed the basket to her maid before she went to Reuben’s room. He was seated by the window sill, his gaze fixed on the pages holding whatever story entranced him for the day.
She knocked softly at the door, smiling sweetly at him once he spotted her and excitedly ran to where she stood.
“My darling, good afternoon,” she said softly, lowering herself to look him in the eye as she adjusted his collar gently. “I would like us to spend the afternoon together. What do you say?”
Reuben nodded fiercely, making her chuckle as she pushed away the curls of hair that had fallen into his eyes at the action.
“I will take your enthusiasm to mean that you willing to grace me with your presence. Wonderful. We shall leave shortly, after we invite your father. You do not mind if he does, do you?”
Reuben paused thoughtfully, then he shook his head, which made Jane pat his head fondly.
“What a lovely child you are. Let us fetch him at once.”
It had been two days since she had seen the duke at breakfast and it seemed as though whatever discontent he had felt during that time had continued to linger. Jane only hoped that his mood was not still so sour that he would be unwilling to join them as well.
The butler was leaving Thomas’ study as they arrived and he bowed before continuing on his way, giving Jane a second more to gather her wits. She peered down at Reuben, allowing his expectantly adorable face to motivate her into knocking at the duke’s door.
“Enter.”
Once she heard the prompt, she turned the knob, trying not to give herself more reasons to linger, stepping into the study. Thomas did not look up from his desk, his hands still scribbling furiously across a document. When she didn’t say anything, he demanded, his gaze still lowered.
“What?”
Jane cleared her throat and he looked up, surprise briefly crossing his features.
“Duchess. What can I do for you?” he asked, leaning back against his chair.
He noticed Reuben clinging to her skirts and one of his eyebrows was raised.
“I see you have brought company with you. What is this about?”
Jane stepped closer to his desk, trying not to busy her hands to hide the steady increase of her nerves.
“Good afternoon... Thomas. I – we have come to invite you to join us on a day out,” she said cautiously.
Thomas tilted his head to the side slightly.
“Out? Doing what?”
“Well... I thought that perhaps it would be nice for all of us to spend sometime away from the estate, as a family. I have noticed that Lord Wetherby does not go anywhere that is not his room or another room within the estate. Children are like plants – in the sense that they need nutrients, a good environment to grow and lots of warm sunlight. He barely gets to indulge in the joys of being a child because is constantly within these walls.”
