Page 39 of Her Duke By Accident
As Alicia left the study and walked back to her room to get ready for dinner, she thought about her mother’s words from so long ago, on the day of her wedding.
“It is up to you to make this into something that feels like going home.”
When Alicia entered her room, Juliet was already waiting for her, brush in hand. Alicia sat in front of a mirror as the lady’s maid pinned and twisted her long hair up for dinner.
“Juliet,” Alicia began, “what do you remember of the duke’s temper?”
“Temper?”
“His anger. Have you seen it before?”
“No, Your Grace,” Juliet replied. “The duke is respectful, always.”
“And the duke before him?”
“I have told you before, Your Grace,” she said, “I never knew them before I was hired.”
“But there was nothing you heard?”
Juliet sighed. “It does not feel right to say such a thing about the dead, Your Grace.”
An uneasy silence filled Alicia’s room. She kept herself quiet as she prepared for dinner, and watched as her lady’s maid left with a silent bow. Alicia made her way to the dining room not too soon after, wondering how long it would take for her to no longer be a stranger in Garvey’s halls.
As Alicia got closer to the dining room, animated voices echoed down the hallway.
In the room, dimly lit by candles, Matthew and Lucy stood near the threshold, and they talked as though they were reunited long-lost siblings. Alicia waited up the hall, watching as her husband looked the most lively she had ever seen him in their short time of knowing each other.
“Haven’t you ever seen a hound, Lu?” Matthew was asking.
Lucy laughed, covering her face in embarrassment. “I thought I had! What do they look like?”
“They’re large beasts, with long ears,” he paused to pinch her earlobe, pulling a series of giggles out from behind her hands. “And spots, like your freckles.” As she spread her fingers to take a peek at him, Matthew poked some of the brown spots that decorated her nose and cheeks. “And their snouts sag,” he added, frowning obnoxiously to look as though he had a long face.
Lucy dropped her hands and laughed boisterously. “Like the cook!”
“Yes,” he laughed with her. “Like Mrs. Barker.”
Alicia leaned against the wall, astounded at the interaction. Behind them, she caught a glimpse of Miss Ayles in the dining room, watching them with a wary and cold eye.
“Alicia said we could arrange a meeting with Lady Penelope,” Lucy said once her laughter subsided. “Might I meet her hounds then?”
“If the duchess said it to be so,” he replied.
Alicia felt a blush climb up her neck.
“Have you met them?”
“Briefly,” he said with a laugh. “I believe one is named Titus.”
“Titus!” Lucy repeated in a deep voice, her hands on her hips. “A strong name!” She held her chin up high, and furrowed her brow. “Titus,” she said again. A burst of laughter shot out from her mouth.
“A hunting dog needs a strong name.”
“What do they hunt?”
Matthew shrugged. “Rabbits, or deer probably.”
“I hope they don’t hunt,” Lucy whined. She suddenly reached for Matthew, grabbing his wrist with both hands. “Do you remember when Father went out hunting, and we would go scavenge for acorn hats left by the squirrels? And when we had a whole slew of them, mother would?—”
