Death of a Duchess by Nellie Steele (the beginning after the end novel read TXT) 📗

I nodded in agreement. In the three months of our marriage, I had already learned not to argue with my husband. I climbed from under my blanket to return to my room to dress. “I hope to have a better encounter with Annie in the future.”

“If it is not, you shall awaken me, and I shall rouse Buchanan.”

Elsie appeared in the doorway, carrying my dressing robe and slippers. “Your Graces,” she greeted us. “I have your dressing gown and slippers.”

“Thank you, Elsie,” I replied as she slipped the robe around my shoulders after I returned Robert’s jacket. She placed the slippers on my feet.

“Would you like to dress for the day now, Your Grace?” she inquired.

“Yes…” I began when I was interrupted by Robert.

“No, she would not. She is to go straight to bed and spend the day there. Has the room been restored yet?”

“Yes, Your Grace,” Elsie responded. “Everything is restored. I shall take Her Grace there and see that she is brought hot tea.”

“Thank you, Elsie. Do not object, Lenora. It will do you no good. You shall spend the day resting. You must recover your energy before we travel tomorrow.”

“I must oversee preparations for the trip,” I protested.

“And you may oversee them from your bed,” Robert countered. Exasperated as I was, arguing was futile. Robert doted on me for reasons unknown to me. As foreign as it was to me, I was learning to accept it.

I nodded, collecting my book from the side table. “I shall rest,” I agreed.

Elsie saw me to my bedroom which had been restored already. A few small items were still being handled. “Your Grace,” Buchanan greeted me with a bow of his head. “I shall have a tray of breakfast brought to you at once.”

“Thank you, Buchanan. I shall also require assistance to prepare for our journey to Glasgow tomorrow. I have been confined to my bed by Duke Blackmoore.”

“I shall arrange the maids to assist at once, Your Grace.”

“Thank you, Buchanan.”

Chapter 4

Despite my stay in bed, I managed to be ready for travel the next day. After assuring Robert of my ability to travel after my experience, we climbed into the carriage with Mr. Langford for the long trip to Glasgow.

The countryside passed us by as we traveled away from the castle. While I possessed a purpose on my trip, I found myself already missing Blackmoore Castle. The castle which had been my home for only three months, provided me more stability and comfort than I’d ever experienced in my eighteen years. Homesickness swept over me as we traveled away from the castle.

I pushed it aside. We would return in four days. Though I would anticipate it with much eagerness, I had business to attend to. My mind turned to my goal: engaging a ladies’ maid. I had a specific girl in mind. My mind dwelled on the girl of late, and I hoped my good fortune could become a turn of fortune for her in kind. The idea had occurred to me when, as I was reading in my tower room, a former classmate of mine, had pervaded my thoughts.

Tilly, a friend close in age to me, had resided at the orphanage when I did. She left the orphanage several months before my surprise engagement. A romantic dreamer, Tilly insisted she’d be better off outside of the orphanage walls. According to Tilly, the orphanage quashed any chance she had at romantic happiness. She insisted if she could only live outside the restrictive walls, she would, without doubt, find a nice gentleman and settle into a good marriage rather than a life of servitude. The appeal of married life was more attractive than even a governess position, no matter how prestigious the household.

Tilly ran away days after her seventeenth birthday. As the clock struck midnight, she and I stood in the foyer. I pleaded with her to remain at the orphanage, maintaining her scheme would turn disastrous. My pleas fell on deaf ears and, with a wink and a grin, fair-haired Tilly snuck from the front door and disappeared into the moonlight. I recall her flaxen hair flowing behind her, her cheeks pink with anticipation and excitement for her new adventure.

I fretted for days, worrying over her plight. But over the course of a week, my worry subsided when she did not return. My mind assured me that, had the situation been intolerable, Tilly would simply have returned to the orphanage. Though her punishment would have been swift and serious, she would be safe and cared for. Perhaps my tainted view of the world prevented me from being open to more possibilities as Tilly was.

Three months passed before I heard from Tilly again. In a letter, she detailed her luck after escaping the orphanage. She’d had wonderful luck in meeting several gentlemen who took a shine to her. She hadn’t settled on any as yet, but she hoped she would soon. The description of her situation gave me hope for her.

I smiled as I read the letter, tucking it away in a secret spot where Headmistress Williamson would not find it, but not before I memorized the return address. At the orphanage, older girls were often required to run errands to assist with the running of the facility. It was during one of my errand outings, I planned a daring mission. I would visit Tilly and speak with her.

I completed my tasks as quickly as possible, dashing, in some cases, from place to place. Once completed, I checked the time. I would not be expected back this soon, so my plan would work.

I navigated to the address given on the envelope I’d tucked in my purse. Despite having the address memorized, I worried my memory may fail me. I checked it twice as I closed in on the location, concerned I had traveled to the incorrect area.

While I did not anticipate the area to be opulent, I expected