Page 70 of Her Duke By Accident
Alicia lightly laughed. “I think you danced for longer than a minute, Juliet.”
The girl blushed. “I couldn’t help it, Your Grace. It’s a masterpiece.” She stood and laid the dress out on the bed. “Is there a special occasion?”
“Not particularly,” Alicia replied. “But it is a special evening.”
“Why is that?”
“Because the duke has agreed to have a dinner with me.”
Juliet raised a slender brow. “Don’t you have dinner together every night?”
“Not like this,” Alicia explained. “Tonight, it’ll be only him and me.”
“How peculiar!”
Alicia frowned at her. “It isn’t peculiar at all, Juliet.”
The maid crossed the room, grabbing a brush. “The wedding was weeks ago, Your Grace, but you fret over a dinner now?”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Might you explain it to me, Your Grace?” Juliet asked before climbing onto the bed behind Alicia, and dragging the brush gently through her long locks. “I’m quite curious now.”
Alicia hesitated before she sighed, unsure of what to say anymore. “Marriages in our society is different than what you might know, Juliet.”
“What do I know, Your Grace?”
“Well, how did your parents meet?”
“They lived in the same village,” the maid explained, and Alicia could hear the smile in her voice without even looking at her. “My mother worked as a seamstress, and my father needed new buttons on his coat before winter. Simple as that.”
“It isn’t like that here.”
“So,” Juliet drawled slowly, “you say, ‘how do you do’ and get married?”
The pair laughed loudly together.
“Heavens, no,” Alicia said breathlessly. “We promenade, we exchange gifts and mementos. The gentleman meets the lady’s parents, and discusses a marriage with the lord of the lady’s house.”
Juliet finished brushing her hair, pinning a few strands out of Alicia’s face. When she finished, she faced the duchess, a sad smile on her lips. “Sounds sad, Your Grace.”
Alicia frowned, the knot from before becoming tighter and tighter deep within her. “Yes,” she whispered, “I suppose it can be.” She shook her head. “This is normal, Juliet. My society does not have the privilege of falling in love before being wed.”
Juliet held the golden dress out to her. “So, you fall in love after?”
“I–I wouldn’t know,” Alicia said sheepishly as a blush crawled across her face.
“Isn’t that what you’re doing?”
“Juliet!” the duchess exclaimed, her eyes wide. “Perhaps you have forgotten yourself.”
The maid frowned, bowing her head and taking a few steps backwards. “Forgive me, Your Grace.”
Alicia eyed her as she gathered the dress in her arms. “I do not mean to be cruel, Juliet,” she whispered. “I am only afraid.”
“Afraid of what?” Juliet asked as she knelt beside the duchess.
“Everything. This evening. Being alone with him after everything.” Alicia put the dress on the bed, eyeing it skeptically. “What is even the point? Looking my best only to be met with silence for the entire dinner? Be even more angry with each other?”
