Page 38 of The Scottish Duke Tames the Bluestocking
The headache she had lied about made its appearance shortly after dinner and Harriet headed over to her bed, climbing in and pulling the covers over her head. She was not quite sure how much time had passed when there was a quick knock at her door and the next minute she heard someone enter and take a seat next to her.
“Harriet? Are you asleep?”
She groaned softly and peeked out from beneath the curtains. In the dim light of dusk, she could barely make out her husband’s features. He took one look at her, then stood - calling a servant and whispering fervently before returning with a wet cloth and pressing it against her head.
“I feared ye were avoiding me,” Hugh admitted softly. “But I see now that ye truly have taken ill.”
She merely nodded, her cheeks flushed. “If ye are nae better by mornin',” her husband spoke softly, “I shall call for a physician.”
Then his lips brushed against her forehead and he left - so abruptly that Harriet was quite certain she may have imagined the moment.
As such, when she woke the next morning, Harriet was rather convinced that she had dreamed up her husband’s presence at her bedside. The headache had faded somewhat, and truth be told she felt much better. Luckily - for she had hardly dressed when there was a knock at her door.
Harriet held her breath, but let out a sigh of relief when it was Abigail who entered her bedchamber.
“I am so glad you are better!” the girl exclaimed and threw her arms around Harriet’s shoulders. “Hugh forbade me from bothering you while you were ill, but I had to come see. I know we spoke about taking a walk in the garden, and...”
Harriet looped her arm through Abigail's with a soft laugh. “I am most definitely healthy enough to take a walk in the gardens with you.”
It was at this moment that another knock reverberated through the room and Harriet felt her face flush as Hugh peered in, his face a mask of concern. He hesitated when he saw her with Abigail, though an earnest smile soon appeared around his lips.
“I was just checkin' in,” he explained. “I wanted to see how ye were doing.”
“Oh, much better, thank you,” Harriet spoke quickly, nearly stumbling over her words. “In fact, if you will excuse us, Abigail and I were just on our way to take a quick walk through the gardens. I promised her yesterday and besides I do believe it will be good for my headache...”
Abigail hesitated and Harriet glanced at her. She could see from the girl’s expression that she was about to invite Hugh along and she grabbed her hand quickly.
“Come, Abigail,” she insisted, trying her best to keep her voice light. “Let us not keep Hugh - I am sure he has a lot of work to do.”
With this, she managed to drag Abigail down the stairs - leaving Hugh behind, though the effect he had on her remained even as they strolled through the garden.
“Are... are you all right?”
Abigail asked it once Harriet’s fervent footsteps ceased and she turned to face her, a blush tinting her cheeks.
“Of course I am,” she lied quickly. “Why would I not be?”
Abigail hesitated - seemingly measuring her words. “It’s just.... That ever since you and Hugh married, it seems as though you’ve been avoiding him,” the girl explained, her eyes wide.
“And I am young, I do not know much about marriage... but I do know that my mother and father never avoided one another, so... I was just wondering... why, I suppose.”
Harriet hesitated. There truly was not a lot she could say - at least not without scarring Abigail for life. So instead, she put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close for a few seconds.
“I am not avoiding him,” she said, trying her best to keep her voice light. “I am merely getting used to the idea of being married - that is all.”
“So everything is all right with your marriage?”
Though the question was improperly personal, Harriet could not find it in herself to be offended or angry. Instead, she pressed her palm against Abigail’s cheek in a comforting gesture before nodding.
“Everything is all right with our marriage,” she said, as earnestly as a lie could be, then turned towards the garden once more. She would have to be subtle about avoiding her husband, she decided. She just didn’t know exactly how she would manage.
CHAPTER21
Harriet soon learned that subtly avoiding her husband was not at all as easy as she had expected it to be. She knew that she could not keep skipping meals or taking them in her room - so she had come to accept that she would have breakfast and dinner in his company.
For the rest of it, she decided, she would simply make sure to stay as busy as possible: which was how she found herself slowly learning how exactly one ran a household.
So feeling as though she had no other way, Harriet threw herself into learning the intricacies of running a ducal household. The first thing she decided to do was to shadow the housekeeper, Mrs. Ainsley.
