Page 41 of A Duchess to Unravel
Theo smiled as she felt a pang move through her heart. He might not have been thrilled about her decision to marry Alistair but his love for her clearly had not faded. She made a mental note to write him a letter as soon as possible and let her know how she was doing. That was, when she figured out howshe was doing. Her conflicting feelings toward her new husband had her most confused. How was it possible to crave the touch of someone whom she mostly argued with?
“I am afraid they will have to handle the job themselves,” Theo replied, “At the moment we only have a staff of twelve. Or, thirteen, now that you are here. Perhaps His Grace has a valet, but I have not seen.”
Norma’s eyes widened with shock.
“Only twelve for this entire castle, my lady?”
“I know,” Theo groaned. “It is ghastly. I plan to speak with His Grace on the matter soon. Not just more staff, but workers. There is much construction to be done.”
Norma gave her a kind look and glanced bashfully at the floor.
“And, if I may ask, how are you and His Grace getting along? Well, I do very much hope.”
It was Theo’s turn to look at the floor, and she brought her hands together to fidget with her fingers.
“In truth I have not seen him since we arrived,” Theo confessed.
“Oh,” Norma sighed, “I—well—if—perhaps …”
“Do speak freely with me, Norma,” Theo insisted, leading her toward a room that she had decided would be a parlor. “I sense you are apprehensive about something.”
“Well,” Norma said, then paused, giving Theo a strained look, “It is only rumors. Foolish talk, I am sure, Your Grace. But I have worried for you.”
A smile twitched at Theo’s lips and she reached out to pat Norma’s hand.
“You have no need,” she replied. “It is not that I am afraid of him. I have just, well, I have had a lot to get used to. And His Grace had mentioned there were many matters of business he had to attend to. I must speak with him soon, though. We truly do need more help.”
“Please forgive me,” Norma said hurriedly, “I did not mean to pry.”
“No forgiveness needed, Norma. It warms my heart to know that you have such care for me,” Theo replied. “And that you were willing to follow me out here. You could have obtained other employment in the city quite quickly I would think.”
“Never,” Norma replied, smiling. “You are my mistress. I am happy to serve you for as long as you will have me.”
“Then we shall be together quite a long time,” Theo stated, smiling back.
“Right then, my lady. I should very much like to get to work. I have much to unpack for you and I will be happy to lend a hand wherever it is needed.”
Theo nodded and called Mrs. Mackenzie over. After she made introductions and took her list back, Mrs. Mackenzie led Norma away to show her to Theo’s rooms. Left alone, Theo sighed and looked down at her list. It was several pages already and getting longer by the day.
“I am being foolish,” she murmured aloud.
Not about the list, though. About Alistair. It wasn’t just the list she wanted to talk to him about. She wanted another lesson. Had thought about it since she’d fantasized about his hands on her.
You come to me when you are ready for those lessons.
Alistair’s words echoed in her head. He’d given her the freedom to take things at her own pace. Had seemed as if he would enjoy it. Yet he had not talked to her or even come looking for her once since they’d arrived. Though she was not sure why, Theo was bothered by that. What if he truly did not want to? What if he had played some twisted trick to convince her to say yes to marrying him?
“Stop,” Theo said aloud, shaking her head to disperse the doubt. “You are not this woman. You are a strong, intelligent lady, and if you have questions, you ask them. If you have demands, you make them.”
She gave a single, firm nod of affirmation to herself, folded up the pages of her list, and began to march up the stairs.
“What a devil of a mess,” Alistair muttered, throwing the account book onto his desk.
He groaned, rubbed his eyes, and shook his head. He stood up, putting his hands on his hips, looked down at the numeric chaos before him. He was doing his best to make sense of the disastrous ledgers his late uncle had kept, and he still had no idea what he was looking at. How Seraphina’s father had maintained his businesses and his wealth was an entire mystery to Alistair.
The London accounts had been the complete opposite of the Caldermere ones. Organized, accurate, backed up by accountants and notes. The ones before him now though almost seemed purposely confusing. As if the man had been trying to hide something. That, or he truly had no care if the people of Caldermere thrived or not.
“What?”
