Page 41 of The Duke and his Hellion
And now what?
CHAPTER21
After an uncomfortable silence, Charles finally cleared his throat. “I… shall I order the tea straightaway?“ he suggested at last and Abigail looked at him gratefully.
“Yes of course,” she accepted the offer quickly, smiling quite uncomfortably.
“I suppose we ought to talk… about your duties and so on… as a duchess,” Charles continued heavily and Abigail looked at him uncertainly.
“Let me show you to the drawing room,” he said and he started walking at once, Abigail in tow. Once they arrived inside the drawing room, Sebastian pulled the bell cord by the door, and within moments, Mrs. Morgan appeared.
“Tea for two, Mrs. Morgan,” Charles requested. “Please. We will take it here — in the drawing room.”
Mrs. Morgan nodded and left at once — an awkward silence settling between Charles and Abigail once more. Abigail smoothed her skirts awkwardly while Charles found himself quite fascinated by the pattern on the carpet.
Mercifully, the silence was soon broken by Mrs. Morgan's return with the tea tray. She set it down on the small table between them and glanced from one to the other before she poured two cups full to the brim.
“Anything else, Your Grace?” she asked with a glance at Charles. He looked at Abigail before shaking his head. “No thank you, Mrs. Morgan,” he said at last. “That will be all.”
As the housekeeper left, closing the door behind her, Abigail and Charles both reached for their teacups — their fingers brushing briefly. Abigail pulled back almost immediately, her face flushed and Charles cleared his throat.
“Well,” he managed to get out at last, “back to your duties as duchess.“
Abigail's eyes widened at this but, to her credit, she merely nodded and looked at him earnestly.
“I suppose I must admit,” she said softly, “that I do not know much about the conventional duties of a duchess. My family…” she sighed and gestured vaguely. “Hugh has always been different,” she admitted then. “Furthermore, I grew up without a mother so… when he married Harriet, she was the first duchess we've had in the family, and she's not the most conventional either.”
She trailed off clumsily and looked at him, her expression earnest. “I suppose I have no idea what to expect,” she admitted now and Charles flashed her a sympathetic smile.
“That is quite alright,” he said gently. “That is why I am here — I suppose our lessons will take on a whole new meaning now.”
Abigail laughed softly at this and even Charles smiled, though it was not without a hint of hesitation.
“I suppose you know,” he stumbled a bit over his words, “that the first and foremost duty of a duchess is… to bear an heir… and a spare, as the saying goes…”
Abigail blushed furiously at this and she looked down at her hands as though it was the first time she'd ever seen them. Charles too, looked distinctly uncomfortable.
“Let's not focus on that now,” he said quickly, avoiding her by any means possible. “That is a matter we have time for.”
“Right,” Abigail got out, her voice thin. “What… what else?”
“Well…” Charles moved to sit on the sofa, and he fiddled with his cheroot before putting it aside rather than lighting it. “As a duchess, you will constantly be in the limelight — an unfortunate part of our lives. You will have to throw lavish balls, dinner parties, house parties… and of course you will be expected to support a charitable organization or two. You could sponsor a musician if you wanted…”
Abigail nodded slowly, taking it all in. “What about running the household?” she dared, something she'd seen Harriet do effortlessly.
Charles hesitated. “Mrs. Morgan has been managing things quite capably. But, of course, if you wanted to take a more active role, it would be your right.”
“I think I would like that,” Abigail said softly. “It's something familiar… Before Hugh married, I always helped a bit. It's something I know… and it'll make me feel… well… useful.”
Charles leaned forward slightly and he took her hand in his. “Abigail,” he said gently. “I know that hosting parties and wearing beautiful gowns doesn't seem as though it is of much use… but I assure you it is. As my wife, you are responsible for upholding my reputation. People's eyes will follow you and that in turn will cast an impression of me. You will be many things as a duchess… and useful is certainly one of them.”
Abigail smiled hesitantly. “I suppose running a household is the one thing I know I cannot mess up,” she admitted and he sat back, looking at her with something akin to sympathy in his gaze.
“Alright,” he said at last. “We will speak to Mrs. Morgan tomorrow about transitioning some of the responsibilities to you.”
Abigail nodded in thanks and they drank their tea in silence for a moment. When at last Abigail spoke up, her voice was hesitant. “Charles, I… I want you to know that I will do my very best to be a good duchess,” she said softly. “I will try to make you proud.”
Charles looked at her, surprise evident in his eyes. “I have no doubt you will, Abigail,” he said softly. “I know that this scandal… it is not the way you wanted to get married, but in the way you handled it… you have shown great poise and grace.”
