Page 28 of Her Duke By Accident
The housekeeper answered his command, her lips pulled into a straight line. “Yes, Your Grace.”
“Direct the duchess toward everything it takes to rise to the occasion of her new title,” Matthew continued. “I’m sure you have plenty of answers for her questions.”
Alicia abruptly stood, and he flinched in surprise. “I don’t understand, Your Grace.”
He blinked, almost as if he did not know what to say. The confusion faded into an anger, a festering irritation. “What is there not to understand?”
She flinched backward, clenching her fists at her sides. The man asking for a tolerant relationship was nowhere to be seen.
“Learn from Ms. Crawford,” Matthew commanded. “Attend to your duties as duchess, and I will see you this evening.” He began to walk away, almost marching out of the dining hall.
Alicia glared, unwilling to let him run out on her like that. “Where are you going?” she called out, her voice more demanding than she wished for it to be.
“I need to go out for business,” he replied, staring at her with a perplexed stare.
She pressed on. “What kind of business?”
“None that is of the concern of my wife!” Matthew sneered before crossing the room to the door. He paused at the threshold, hands wound behind his back as he tossed a look over his shoulder. “Are we clear?”
Alicia glared at him, the disrespect forcing her to forget any sort of “tolerance” once agreed upon. Her lips spread into a fake smile. “Yes, Your Grace.”
Giving her a curt bow, Matthew stormed out of the dining hall.
Alicia looked up, meeting the eyes of one of the duke’s ancestors that watched over her from a painting. In that moment, she wished to be inside a painting, trapped in a moment of bliss for the rest of eternity.
CHAPTER 9
In one of the four drawing rooms of Garvey Manor, Alicia sat behind a wicker desk, with the housekeeper Ms. Crawford peering over her shoulder.
“There must be almost four hundred tenants,” Alicia mused, her fingertips dragging over the books containing rent payment and tax collection. “How can one man take care of that many people?”
“The duke does not do every single thing in his duchy,” Ms. Crawford said with a laugh.
“Well,” she said, “I know that. It would be impossible otherwise.”
Ms. Crawford moved to stand on the other side of the desk across from Alicia. “Can you tell me what a duchess might do, Your Grace?”
Alicia grew embarrassed. “Take care of the household.”
“Beyond that.”
Scoffing, Alicia shrugged, chewing on her lip. “Beyond what?”
“Yes, a duchess cares for the estate,” Ms. Crawford explained. “There are meals to decide, furnishing to acquire, and gardens to manage. But outside of Garvey, there are many tenants, you said it yourself, Your Grace.”
“Is it not the duke who cares for his villages?”
“What is a family without the touch of a woman?” Ms. Crawford retorted, raising a slender eyebrow.
Alicia shut the book. “You mean, like a mother?”
The housekeeper laughed. “A mother cares for her children, Your Grace,” she said. “A duchess might visit the village markets, attend their festivals and traditions. Show the support of the duke without himactuallybeing there.” Ms. Crawford sighed, looking out one of the windows with a reminiscent smile. “The late duchess devoted three days a week to being within the duchy, before—” her words trailed off.
“Before?” Alicia repeated.
Ms. Crawford’s head shot back towards her, a placid smile on her lips. “Never mind, Your Grace,” she said, extending a hand toward the door. “Might we continue on?”
Alicia nodded, taking note of the lack of explanation behind the duchess.
