Page 23 of Her Duke By Accident
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“I–I cannot hear you, my lady,” Matthew said with an irritated look. “Lower your fan.”
She closed her fan with a shaking hand. “I apologize,” she said. “I said, yes, Your Grace.”
Matthew pressed his lips together and furrowed his brow, staring down at her intently. He sighed, looking away. “Ms. Crawford!” he called out.
From around a corner came the housekeeper.
“Show the duchess to her room,” Matthew commanded. He looked back at her, bowing his head curtly. “I expect to see you for dinner. I’ll leave you to get acquainted.” He marched past her, disappearing through the hallway.
Ms. Crawford gestured for Alicia to follow. “Right this way, Your Grace.”
The halls of Garvey Manor were decorated with a series of paintings, hanging off the forest-green painted walls. The color matched the surrounding woods, shades of lumber and dewy morning grass. The manor was filled with bedrooms, ranging from large to small, and with each one she passed, Alicia felt as though she said goodbye to the children she would never have.
On the eastern point of the manor, Ms. Crawford paused in front of an amber-colored door. She pushed it open and gestured for Alicia to enter.
Walking through the bedroom’s threshold, Alicia cautiously entered her new room. It was larger than the bedroom she grew up in, and much less bright. While her childhood room was colored with sky-blue pastels, white frames and long windows, the room within Garvey Manor felt like a kindling flame, dark and warm.
It had a few shelves with leatherbound books and a desk behind a wide window. Maroon curtains were drawn back to show a window that opened onto a short patio that overlooked one of the estate’s many gardens. Alicia inched toward it, hand grazing the brass handle to open the window, but she paused, a sense of unease telling her to refrain.
“Thank you, Ms. Crawford,” Alicia said to the housekeeper.
The woman waited at the door. “Is there anything I can get for you, Your Grace?” She gestured toward a tub behind a partition at the room’s right. “Might I draw the bath for you before dinner?”
Alicia mindlessly nodded, barely even hearing her anymore.
As Ms. Crawford left the room to retrieve things for a bath, Alicia staggered to the bed, falling onto the emerald green quilts.
For the first time since the wedding, Alicia was finally alone, and the walls seemed to be falling in upon her. With a shuddering breath, she allowed the tears to flow, and tried to tell herself that it would all end well.
In the smallest dining hall of Garvey Manor, a table sat at its center, able to seat a party of six. A lavish meal decorated the wood, as a celebration of the new duchess. Lit candles were all around, casting a dim amber glow across the room. Servants lined the wall, silent and in pristine uniform. Alicia entered the room, a pale green gown falling delicately from her shoulders. Her pinned hair was full of jade flowers, like the first time he had laid eyes on her.
Standing from his seat at her arrival, a servant pulled a chair back across from him for her to take a seat.
“Good evening,” Matthew said.
She avoided his gaze, pulling her skirts as she quietly sat in her seat. “Good evening,” Alicia replied, her voice hushed.
As Alicia’s gaze scoured the room, taking in every detail, Matthew let himself study her. A few strands of hair fell out from their pins, framing her face. Her gaze trailed upwards as she looked upon the chandelier that hung above them. As she did, Alicia chewed on the inside of her mouth, lips pressed together and angled to the side. Matthew didn’t notice the small smile forming on his lips at her awkwardness until it was too late, and she finally looked upon him.
Matthew froze, pulling his gaze away as quickly as he could.
They began to indulge in their meal, an uneasy silence filling the room. A sort of electricity bounced around, a tension so thick it could be sliced in half.
Alicia breathed deeply, finally gazing up at him from across the table. “Did you grow up in these halls, Your Grace?” she asked.
“Yes, this has been where the Garveys have resided for generations,” he explained, surprised at her question. “There is no other place I have known as home.”
“It is enchanting,” she said, her eyes glazing over the paintings that lined the walls. “Many lives have obviously been spent here.”
“Do you find it,” Matthew struggled to keep himself sounding pleasant, “comfortable?”
Alicia pressed her lips together. “Comfortable,” she repeated.
Matthew huffed at her hesitance. “Is it not?”
“Your Grace?—”
