Page 20 of His Darling Duchess
She actually giggled and gave him a look he might almost describe as flirtatious. “I have quite a lot of whims, my lord.”
“I shall delight in indulging them all,” he said with perfect truth. “You deserve nothing less.”
Aurelia had never imagined her new husband would turn out to be so gallant; indeed she’d half-expected him to ignore her completely after the wedding. She was cynical enough to know many men saw her only as a prize to be won, and once won, prizes were of no further interest unless one wished to gloat about them or show them off. Yet, Stowe was everything kind and thoughtful, arranging everything for her comfort and making it clear all of his vast resources were at her disposal.
While the Lymseys were wealthy, they had been careful not to spoil their children. Never in her life had Aurelia been given such total autonomy to do whatever she wished, have whatever she wanted.
“Would you really buy me anything I wanted?” she asked.
“No,” Stowe shook his head, but there was a glint of amusement in his eyes. “I shall merely ensure you have the funds at hand to buy it for yourself.”
“My goodness. I think you will turn out to be an excellent husband.”
Stowe looked surprised, and Aurelia blushed, but truly, she could not have asked for more. Kind, considerate and apparently willing to spoil her, he was as far as it was possible to be from the forbidding ogre she’d built him up to be in her mind over the last few days. Silently, she reproached herself for it and vowed to do her best to be a good wife to him. She would start this morning, asking Mrs. Tanwell about his preferences and ensuring his every wish was seen to before he might even think to voice it.
Though she wondered how much difference she could possibly make. There were four footmen stationed in the morning room to attend just the two of them at breakfast, and from what she had seen, the rest of the house was well-staffed too.
Well, she would just have to set her mind to the task. Lady Lymsey had raised all her daughters to be capable of managing large staffs and multiple households, and Aurelia considered herself equal to the challenge of that side of her marriage, at least.
“Which room should I use to receive my mother?” she asked.
“Ah.” Stowe considered. “There is a very grand parlour on the first floor which you could use if you wished to impress someone,” he offered, “but I think you might prefer the blue parlour for small gatherings of guests. Might I escort you to look them both over and see what you think?”
“Once you’ve finished your breakfast, of course,” Aurelia said, but he waved her protest away.
“I’ve eaten my fill, I thank you. Are you ready to go?” He rose when she nodded, and offered his arm, pausing on the way out of the room to speak to one of the footmen. “Her Grace’s mother and sisters are expected this morning, Matthew; please advise Mrs. Tanwell they will take tea on arrival and tour the house afterwards.”
“Very good, Your Grace.” Matthew bowed, and another footman opened the door for them with yet another bow, a very deep and formal one.
“Does the bowing get on your nerves after a while?” Aurelia whispered as Stowe led her to the wide front hall and up the stairs. “Our servants aren’t so formal unless guests are present.”
“I’ve been trying to break them of the habit, but the arrival of a new duchess has them backsliding, I’m afraid.” Stowe’s dark eyes crinkled up just the slightest bit at the corners, and she thought he was amused. “Many of my staff are former soldiers and their wives from the regiment with which I served, rather than those who’ve been servants all their lives. I hope you’ll forgive them if they are at any time either too formal or too lackadaisical in their respects. They’re still learning.”
“But of course,” Aurelia said at once, surprised once again, though once she thought about it, she supposed nothing could be more natural than Stowe wanting to help the men who had served under him so loyally settle back into civilian life. “That is a very noble endeavour, my lord.”
He leaned closer as they entered a large, imposing room decorated in the Chinese style and whispered “Stowe, Aurelia. Or Rhys, remember?”
His breath was warm on her ear, and Aurelia found herself blushing once again, suddenly very aware of the sheer size of him, the strength of his arm beneath the fine wool of his coat. “Yes, my l-Stowe.” In an effort to distract herself from the disturbing masculinity of her husband, she looked around the room. “You’re quite right; this parlour is magnificent but very formal.”
Stowe grimaced as he looked around. “It’s hideously over-done. Apparently, my father heard everyone important was having rooms decorated in the Chinese style, so he sentinstructions to a designer to make over this room. Never even came to look at it.”
“And your aunt didn’t use it for entertaining?”
“She never entertained on more than an intimate scale, since it wasn’t her house.” Stowe shrugged. “It seems wasteful since it’s never really been used, but if you should like to redecorate the room, please do so.”
“Perhaps just some subtle changes,” Aurelia mused. “If we just replaced those two big gilt-edged couchettes with some more comfortable-looking ones, and took away some of the heavier ornamentation…”
“You must do as you see fit.”
He wasn’t in the slightest bit interested, Aurelia recognised, and immediately resolved not to bother him with discussions of home decoration beyond asking his permission to make changes to specific rooms. She supposed a man who'd spent much of the last decade sleeping in a tent or under the open sky probably didn’t care much beyond desiring a roof which didn’t leak. “You said there was another parlour which might suit better to receive my mother?” she suggested after a moment.
“Yes, on the ground floor. The blue parlour. It’s just next door to the library.” Stowe led her back down the stairs and along yet another hallway, opening a door onto a much prettier room. With cream and pale blue striped drapes and upholstery, a cream paper on the walls sprigged with tiny blue flowers, the little parlour was everything charming.
“Oh, what a delightful room!” Aurelia took a few steps into the room, turning about to see everything, smiling with delight.
“Then it is yours.” Stowe did not smile as he spoke, but Aurelia had the sense he enjoyed her pleasure. “I shall inform the staff that you will receive your guests here. You need only ring the bell and anything you wish will be brought to you.” He gestured to the blue rope bell-pull hanging beside the fireplace, where asmall but cheerful blaze already crackled in the grate. “Now, if you will excuse me?”
“Of course!” Aurelia said quickly, felling guilty that she was probably taking him away from important work he needed to do. “Thank you.”
