Page 39 of The Duke's Return
“Your Grace?”
“Hm?”
“Is something wrong? You’re looking rather flushed.” Elodie was walking toward her with a concerned look in her eyes.
Genevieve hastily shook her head. She put thoughts of last night away. Tucked down every thought of Julian. And then she smiled, moving around the maid toward the small table and chairs. “Strange dreams. That’s all. But I am rather famished. I think I’ll eat and then enjoy my morning walk.”
Although her behavior appeared to confuse her maid, the young woman conceded. She even nibbled at a pastry and sausage between preparing garments for Genevieve to wear on her walk.
“Are you certain it’s safe straying so far?” Elodie asked nervously while helping her with her bonnet. “It’s so green out there, without edges. I don’t like it. Sometimes I feel like we’re on the edge of the world. It’s much safer taking walks in the garden. I thought you liked the gardens here?”
“Oh, I love the gardens here. They’re grand, but… not enough. I need to stretch my legs and enjoy the fresh air beyond the managed grounds,” Genevieve tried to explain.
But it was another matter Elodie didn’t understand. She avoided meeting her gaze and then took a large step back before whispering, “Very well, Your Grace, if you say so.”
“Thank you, Elodie. You are such a dear. Do eat up anything you like. I shouldn’t need you until this afternoon, I think, if you’d like to find something to amuse yourself a while,” Genevieve added before taking her leave.
It only took her a short while to step outside. Inhaling deeply, she found her muscles quickly relaxing. Her lungs stretched. Her toes flexed. Everything felt lighter and more welcoming. Being out here felt like being in an entirely different world. The realization that she could have spent a lot more time here was disappointing, having missed such an opportunity.
So she was making up for this missed chance. She walked, stretching her legs and expanding her lungs.
The sun rose and then it disappeared behind the clouds. Smelling the rain in the air, Genevieve turned back. The sprinkling started when she reached the gardens. So she picked up her skirts and ran for the back door, laughing quietly to herself until she shoved her way inside.
“Oh!” Mrs. Waverly jumped, clutching a painted tablecloth to her chest as she gaped. “Your Grace! Whatever were you doing out there in this weather?”
“Walking, of course.” Shivering, Genevieve gave her housekeeper a sheepish chuckle as she wrapped her arms around herself. “It was lovely. At first.”
Tsking, the older woman set aside the tablecloth and called over another maid passing along with several linens. They removed a few layers before starting to pat her dry. All three of them talked about the weather for some time until Genevieve had stopped shivering.
The weather continued to worsen outside. Tree branches banged into the walls of the house. Harsh rain slapped against the windows, thudding on the roof. It was a beautiful albeit almost frightening cacophony made by nature.
“I’ll go up to my room for a bath, I think,” she said gratefully. “Thank you for your help. Is everyone else inside for the day, then?”
“Most of us, I suppose. There are a few stragglers all about. But I’m sure they’ll find their way inside soon,” Mrs. Waverly added.
Genevieve nodded. She thanked the maid for removing her boots, choosing to walk in her damp stockings instead so the leather could be worked on, but paused and turned back.
“The duke. He is inside, surely?”
Her smile faltered when the two servants had to exchange a look for confirmation, the doubt apparent in their brows. They mumbled under their breath too quietly for her to hear. Then the housekeeper nodded. This was a hopeful sign until Mrs. Waverly spoke in reply.
“He also left early today, like yourself, to visit some of the tenants with whom he has business. I haven’t heard tell of his return, however. Perhaps he is in the stables, Your Grace.”
The storm is one matter, but the tenants are another. Did he ever read any of the notes I compiled for him? He probably didn’t. What will he do? What if he makes a crude joke at their expense? I cannot imagine this going over well as they are surely upset. Good lord, he could be making everything so much worse.
Genevieve nearly fell over her own two feet as she hastily moved back to stand close to the housekeeper to murmur, “The tenants, truly? It isn’t dangerous for him, is it? I don’t wish for the uprising to get worse. Did he at least take anyone with him?”
I shouldn’t care. Should I? We are strangers. We want to remain strangers too, I think. But the beat of my heart tells me I cannot be blind to him.
They might be married but they were hardly friends by now. Or maybe they were. Genevieve couldn’t be certain.
Still, there were knots in her stomach. She worried about losing her husband as much as she worried about keeping him. The tension inside her was most uncomfortable and entirely bewildering.
Distracting, too.
“I don’t believe anyone accompanied him, unless it was a groom. But I wouldn’t think the tenants are dangerous. They are only people. Although they might be upset, I cannot imagine any of them turning to violence. What a treasonous attempt it would be to even think of harming a duke!” Mrs. Waverly tutted again. “No, I he will return soon. Take your bath, and I’m sure he’ll be back then.”
Genevieve nodded along, trying to share the housekeeper’s confidence. She left to her bed chamber where a steaming hot bath had been prepared upon her return to the house.
