Page 19 of The Wise Daughter
“Janie. I know the sort of gossip swapped beneath the stairs. I promise, nothing you say to me will lead you to trouble. I only want to understand what sort of man I’m engaged to.”
Nora must have betrayed more emotion than she realized because Janie’s eyes softened with sympathy.
“Well, you’re right, Miss Lacy. People do talk.” She removed the last pin from her mouth and lowered her voice. “People say all sorts of things about the duke, some good, some bad.”
“I would imagine there is more of the bad when people are lacking in knowledge about him.”
Janie slowly nodded. “We see a lot more of his steward, Mr. Carver, than we see of the duke. I receive my orders from Mrs. Manning or Mr. Chuff, and they take orders from Mr. Carver. I’ve only seen the duke twice.” She leaned close and whispered in Nora’s ear. “He’s as handsome as any man I ever saw.” She quickly covered her mouth. “Forgive me if it’s wrong to say it. I know you’re to marry him, but it’s the truth.”
The duke was a handsome man, even with his bruises, but handsomeness did not equal goodness.
“Can you think of anyone among the staff who might be involved with this thieving I’ve heard about?”
“I don’t know, but I do hear some servants complain about reduced wages. The late duke’s illness brought on a lot of unexpected expenses, so I’m told. Mr. Carver had to economize. That’s when a lot of the old staff left. Newer staff, including myself, supposedly receive less than what the previous staff received for their work. Forgive me if it sounds like I’m complaining. I don’t mean to.”
“Of course not. You’re only stating what you know.”
Janie adjusted a few more curls, then stepped back. “There. What do you think?”
Nora turned her head side to side, admiring the expert twists Janie had accomplished. “You’ve done a lovely job.”
Her face lit up with the compliment. “Thank you, miss. Shall I take you to the duke for breakfast now?”
Nora’s stomach fell, sending all thoughts of eating far away. Facing the duke again so soon was out of the question. “I don’t think I can see him yet, Janie. My journey here was rather taxing, and I’m not quite feeling myself yet.”
Janie bit her lip, uncertain. “All right, miss. I’ll send for a tray if that’s what you prefer.”
“Yes, thank you, Janie.”
Nora waited only a few minutes after Janie left to quietly open her door and slip outside her room. Everything looked different in the light of day. The halls were less shadowed, the paintings less gray, but in their unfamiliar state, Nora felt nothing but coldness. Not a single sightsparked any fond recollection or warm memory, and every lady or gentleman painted in those dull portraits wore grim expressions.
She looked up at one particularly stern man painted with a white wig and whispered, “I can’t fathom what happened to make you so sour, but you have nothing to fear from me. I won’t be here long.” She could never live with those strange faces staring down at her.
Knowing there were thieves afoot didn’t help her feel any more at ease. She walked the corridors knowing each person she passed was under suspicion.Surely, they are wondering who I am as well.So Nora graciously nodded to those who met her eye, but she received no friendly looks in return.
I must become acquainted with the staff as soon as possible.They were the most likely to notice anything strange and the first to notice when items went missing. In such an enormous place, they would also be the most familiar with the multiple routes a thief could use to walk through the castle unseen.
She had been grateful, after all, in West Riding, when one of her former maids had shown her an old passageway used by the servants when she needed to hide from an especially persistent suitor.
Yes, there was much to solve. The sooner, the better.
As she continued to glance up at disapproving portraits, she felt their judging eyes upon her, discerning her plan to break her engagement and appease the duke by discovering the thieves.
“Don’t look at me like that,” she said to a portrait of a woman whose tight-lipped mouth looked as if she never learned to smile. “You don’t look like you want to be here any more than I do.”
“That was my great-grandmother.”
Nora covered her mouth and whirled around to see the duke standing right behind her, his eyes trained on her.
“I’m so sorry, Your Grace! I was only talking to myself.” Her face flushed with all the warmth of a summer day, despite the chill in the air that morning.
“Apparently.” His lips twitched.
The duke had been handsome in the twilight by the river. He had been handsome in the play of shadows and light in his study, but now, in bright, streaming daylight, his demeanor took on an entirely new life. Just as before, he wore a great deal of black, but his healthy complexion wore it well. His green eyes shone with the creative vibrancy of one who has tasted life and seen much. He stood taller than he had the night before with a confidence that belied a hidden swagger. Nora couldn’t decide whether his dark, auburn hair appeared to greater advantage in the barely tamed waves they were now combed in or the ruffled mess of thickness she had observed at the river.
She brushed her hand along the sides of her skirts. Wearing his mother’s old gown now seemed like a very unwise thing to agree to, just as unwise as accidentally insulting his great-grandmother.
He took a step closer and looked up at the portraits.
