The Reluctant Duchess

by Winchester, Catherine

  “But I can’t cook!” Minnie exclaimed.

  Annabelle laughed. “You don’t have to cook. I will copy all of my recipes for you and you can learn to cook, or hire a young girl to be your cook. Perhaps Ruth would like the job?”

  “But we can’t steal your staff!”

  “Of course you can. I am keeping the house because I don’t want to have to move Mother; I don’t think she could stand it, but Sal can manage the rooms, especially since even the study and my bedroom can now be closed off. I can easily hire a woman to come in and cook a few meals each day. Perhaps a retired lady, or a widow with children would appreciate such a position. Besides, I would rather you took my staff than anyone else, because I know you will treat them well.”

  Minnie nodded, seemingly not having considered that option.

  “Richard is also converting the house above into two smaller apartments, one of which he believes will be in your price range. It will take him some time to do the conversion though, but you’re welcome to continue living rent-free in my home. I hope that will give you a chance to build yourselves a little nest egg.”

  Minnie was gripping Frank’s hand so hard that her knuckles were white.

  “I don’t know what to say,” Frank said.

  “Say thank you, then see if you can find a nice wedding band for Minnie here.”

  “Thank you,” Minnie had tears in her eyes.

  “Yes, thank you, Ma’am. Frank repeated, seemingly a little choked himself.

  “Oh, none of this ‘ma’am’ business anymore!” Annabelle grinned, “In a few short days, you will no longer be my employees, but businessmen.”

  “How can we ever repay you?” Minnie asked.

  “By loving this place as much as I did. It may only be a coffee house to most people but to me, it was my salvation. Our salvation really, because I couldn’t have kept you all on if it hadn’t been for this place.”

  “Trust me, we’ll take good care of it,” Frank assured her. “We love this place too.”

  When Annabelle had finalised the details for the transfer of the coffee shop and her London house, making sure that the bills were all paid up and redirected to St James Square from now on, she only had one thing left to do.

  She had a gift for each of her coffee shop employees and her servants, as she did every year but this year she added a small hand-written card, thanking them for their years of loyal service and asking them to contact her if they should ever have any problems in the future, whether they were in her employ any longer or not. Into each card she placed an equal share of the money she had left from pawning her pendant.

  She gave the gifts to Jones to hold until Christmas Day and after wishing everyone a merry Christmas and a tearful goodbye, she headed out to Richard’s carriage, which was patiently waiting to take her to her new life.

  The journey back to Hampshire was cold and Annabelle was wrapped up warm in her coat, cloak, gloves and scarf. She could only imagine how cold the driver was but he assured her that he was fine.

  The pain in her ribs was now just a dull ache most of the time, which was a good thing, because she was planning to do some very unladylike things with Richard.

  She had packed everything that she would need to begin a new life, which wasn’t actually that much. The heaviest trunk was her books but she hadn’t had the funds, nor the time to create much of a library in the last six years.

  It had snowed again last night and the world seemed blanketed in white. Annabelle had always loved snow, because it took the familiar and made it unfamiliar for a short while. She gazed out of the window as they travelled, enjoying the bright white landscape.

  As they drove the long driveway to the mansion, Annabelle could see Richard waiting for her on the front steps and as soon as the carriage drew to a halt, she jumped out and ran to him with abandon, throwing her arms about him and kissing him passionately as he swept her off her feet.

  “Did you miss me?” he asked as he held her tightly.

  “Maybe, just a little”

  “I missed you too.”

  Before she left, they had talked about her staying in the cottage until the wedding but Annabelle had been firm that she didn’t want that. She didn’t care if they ignited gossip. That wasn’t entirely true, she did care but she knew she would miss Richard more than she would be bothered by gossip. Besides, they were about to be married, so what did it matter if there was a little gossip beforehand.

  Lavinia came out a few moments later and ushered them both inside, where she had hot tea and a warm fire waiting, which Annabelle was grateful for.

  “It’s often colder in the country than in the cities,” Lavinia said as Annabelle slowly thawed, “so I have ordered you some warmer clothing, fur lined cloaks and boots, things like that.”

  “You didn’t have to,” Annabelle blushed. She had often wished that she could afford such things but her budget never stretched that far, so she began to think of such things as unnecessary extravagance.

  “Of course I did. I can’t have you freezing to death on one of Richard’s rambling walks now, can I?”

  “Annabelle is used to living on a budget, Mother, you must give her time to adjust.”

  “Of course,” Lavinia nodded. “Just so long as she adjusts quickly. One of the ways I show affection is with my little gifts, and you know that I don’t like to be told ‘no’.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Annabelle assured her.

  “Good. And now that you have warmed up, you are probably tired from your journey, so why don’t you go to your room and rest for a while.”

  “Good idea.” Annabelle agreed, getting to her feet. As she left the room, she heard Richard remark that he thought he might adjourn to his room to read for a few hours.

  Annabelle locked the main bedroom door behind her and headed straight for the dressing room. She still had the key from last time and she opened it to find Richard standing in front of the door, waiting for her. His lips claimed hers in an ardent kiss, as he swept her into his arms and carried her over to his bed.

  Chapter Twenty Four

  Despite his mother having spoiled his plans of proposing to Annabelle on Christmas morning, he still presented her with the ring whilst they were in bed. It was simple in its design, a cluster of diamonds about a larger central stone, but it was immensely beautiful.

  “It’s beautiful,” she said, taking it from the box to examine it more closely.

  “And free. Sorry to land you with a hand-me-down ring and all, but mother was insistent.”

  Annabelle knew he was teasing her for her financial prudence but she didn’t mind. She did elbow him gently in the ribs though.

  She made to slip the ring onto her finger but Richard snatched it back.

  “Oh no, if you want this ring, you have to say ‘I do’ first.”

  “I do.”

  “At the right time, and to the right question, asked by a priest.”

  Annabelle laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’ll say it as many times, in as many ways and to as many people as you want me to,” she assured him, kissing him. “And thank you. I know you were joking, but the fact that this was your mother’s means far more to me than its value.”

  “I know. Just be glad that my father didn’t pass on until all my sisters were safely married; I don’t think she could have parted with it whilst he was still alive.”

  Annabelle silently hoped that they would have such a marriage.

  “It originally belonged to my paternal grandfather, you know. It was given to him by his mother but he was already married by then, but he promised to pass it to his first born son.”

  “So it’s seen two marriages already then.”

  “I suppose it has.”

  “Was your great grandmother’s marriage happy?”

  “They died before I was born, but I think so.”

  “So it has two happy marriages to its credit. Do you think we can make it three?”

  “I sin
cerely hope so.”

  After lunch the family gathered in the parlour to open gifts. Richards’s three sisters were there again and would stay through to the New Year to see the wedding and this time, they had brought their husbands with them. Only the two daughters who were in America were absent, although they had sent gifts and long letters to everyone.

  Rather than being a free-for-all, gifts were given one at a time. There were a few thoughtless but expensive gifts but on the whole, everyone seemed to try and find meaningful or amusing gifts, which Annabelle thought a fine idea. In her house, only her Mother took the time to choose each gift carefully. Her father usually looked at it, thanked her in a perfunctory way, then Annabelle never saw the gifts again.

  Many of Lavinia’s gifts seemed to be hand-made by her daughters; a sketch from Charlotte, an embroidered pillow from Louisa and a sampler from Caroline, each tailored to her tastes. Richard had bought her a first edition of her favourite book.

  Having little money to spare for extravagant gift-giving, Annabelle had also hand made her gifts, with a box of sweet treats for everyone. Lavinia had told her what everyone’s favourite kind of cake was and Annabelle had spent all day perfecting her treats. She had also baked a plum pudding for the family to share, and a yule log, which had been particularly tricky. She had used her rolled sponge recipe but baked a chocolate sponge and used cream filling, so it resembled the rings of a log when cut. She had then iced it with chocolate butter cream and cracked caramel, to create a bark effect.

  She had thought that she would feel like the poor relation but everyone seemed to genuinely like the thought behind her gifts, not to mention their taste.

  Annabelle had agonised for hours over what to get for Richard; a cake just didn’t seem to be enough, although she baked for him too. Finally she had opted for a teasing gift and written to Lavinia to get the name of Richards London tailor.

  He opened the coloured paper to reveal a pair of fawn britches and laughed as he realised what they were.

  “Just a small reminder of how much I enjoyed seeing you wear them,” Annabelle blushed. “And I sincerely hope that I can convince you to wear them more often after the wedding.”

  Not wanting to rub his family’s nose in their relationship, at least not until they were officially married, Richard gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek. He would thank her properly when they were alone.

  “They are lovely,” he assured her. “But I'm afraid that my gifts are a little more complicated.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yes. Smithers?” he called, and moments later the butler came in with the portrait of Annabelle’s mother.

  “Oh, Richard!” She threw her arms about his neck, not caring for propriety at the moment. “Thank you so much.”

  “It was my pleasure.”

  She pulled away and gazed at the painting, which Smithers had propped up against the chair beside her. Annabelle turned it so the whole family could see. “This is my mother shortly after she married, when she was 19. As some of you know, she is fighting insanity now and is a shadow of the woman I loved.” She turned to thank Richard again, tears shining in her eyes as she hugged him.

  “Thank you,” she gasped.

  The family all looked touched by his gesture.

  “You look very much like her,” Lavinia remarked whilst Annabelle wiped the tears from her eyes.

  “Yes, you do,” Caroline agreed.

  “We used to hear that a lot, but she was always more beautiful than I.”

  “Nonsense,” Richard gently chastised. “But before I make you cry again, you have another gift, although it is twofold.”

  Annabelle placed the painting against the wall and when Richard took her hand, she followed after him, still wiping errant tears away. He led her out of the front door, his family trailing behind, eager to see her reaction. In front of the steps stood Bill, her brother and father’s former stable lad, holding the halter ropes of Mercury and Anchor.

  Annabelle stopped dead as she saw them.

  “Oh my!”

  “I purchased Anchor from the estate; Mr Collier didn’t want much for him, and Mercury I tracked down to a stud farm.”

  Annabelle walked forward, as if in a daze. “Oh, my darling boys,” she said, stroking their soft noses. Mercury nuzzled her hip.

  “I thought he was supposed to be difficult?” Richard asked Bill, seeing how tame Mercury appeared.

  “He is,” William assured him. “Only young Lady Wyatt could ride him properly. He acted up some with her but much less than with others. We used to say he must have a crush on her, he was so good and when he did act up, he was just showing off.”

  Annabelle had her cheek resting on his mane as she patted his neck. Getting jealous, Anchor nudged her arm for attention and she patted his neck too.

  “I reckon that’s why he ended up at the stud, too much work for most to ride.”

  Mercury wasn’t a big horse, just 14.2 hands, but he was beautiful; elegance, grace and power, wrapped in a sleek chestnut coat.

  Annabelle had noticed that there was a riding habit among her new clothes but she had never imagined that Richard would buy Anchor for her, who was nothing but a companion horse these days, but to trace Mercury and buy him too? Her tears began to flow freely and Richard stepped up and took her in his arms.

  “I meant to make you smile, not cry,” he teased.

  Annabelle wiped at her eyes and looked up at him, smiling despite her tears. Mercury butted Richard’s hip with his head, throwing him slightly off balance.

  “Looks like someone’s jealous,” Bill noted and Annabelle laughed as she dried her eyes.

  Annabelle spent a few more minutes getting reacquainted with the horses, before the cold forced them all back inside. Richard poured everyone a glass of mulled wine and they clustered around the fire, warming themselves.

  On Boxing Day, Annabelle and Richard decided to ride around the estate whilst he explained its workings to her. Since she hadn’t ridden for six years, she opted to take one of Richard’s quieter horses until she felt confident again. Mercury whinnied and huffed from his stall, banging the door with his hooves.

  “I think you’d better improve quickly,” Richard said as he led his horse out of the stable. “Before Mercury destroys the stables.”

  Although she seemed nervous at first, Annabelle quickly looked at home in the saddle and they had a few controlled canters between farms on the estate.

  They were out here so that Annabelle could marry the map she had seen, with the farms she now passed and Richard explained how things worked, such as his responsibilities, the rents his tenants paid and the steward’s duties. Although Richard didn’t have much involvement in the day to day running of the estate, he wanted Annabelle to know that he didn’t intend to exclude her from any aspect of his life.

  They greeted the few people they saw and Richard introduced Annabelle, but most tenants were either inside or out on their fields.

  They paused in the orchard on the way back to admire the snow covered view and Richard handed Annabelle his hip flask, to help keep the chill off. She took a long sip and handed it back.

  “So, do you think that you could be happy here?” he asked.

  Annabelle smiled at him. “Very happy,” she assured him.

  They began walking back towards the house.

  “Have you given any thought to what you will do with your time?” he asked.

  “I did have one idea,” she admitted.

  “Oh?”

  “Well… I wondered about writing a book, based on my experiences. My recipes are also quite sought after, so I could include some of those too.”

  “An autobiography?” he sounded surprised.

  “Oh no, I wouldn’t want that. I would change names, places and details, and probably use a nom de plume.”

  “So what would the book be about?”

  “I don’t know exactly, but there are just so many injustices that I’ve seen, things I would like oth
ers to know about. Minnie for example, sent to the workhouse because her employer took advantage of her. Mother as well, suffering because of an illness her husband gave her. Frederick’s tenants, who were driven out of their homes by Frederick’s exorbitant rents. Our class has many privileges that others do not but instead of recognising that, all too often they simply use their power and wealth to abuse those who are less fortunate.”

  “It’s a story that needs to be told,” Richard agreed. “Can you write?”

  “Have no idea,” Annabelle laughed, “but I think I shall enjoy trying.”

  “It’s odd that you should say such a thing,” Richard commented. “I met the editor of the Hampshire Times whilst you were gone, and he suggested that I consider a career in journalism.”

  “Really?” she smiled at him.

  “I didn’t agree but I have been thinking about it,” Richard admitted. “I know nothing of writing but like you, I do feel the need to redress some of society’s injustices. As much as I believe Parliament is doing good work, I just don’t think that I’m cut out for that life. Too much politics.” He smiled.

  They had reached the stables and dismounted, handing each horse to a stable lad to be unsaddled and rubbed down and hand in hand, headed back towards the house to change for lunch.

  “Then perhaps after our wedding, we should make a concerted effort to learn about this writing business and start our new careers, along with our new lives,” Annabelle suggested.

  “Good idea. We can work in the library for the time being, as long as my presence won’t put you off.”

  “On the contrary, I should probably like your opinion on things at times.”

  “And I, yours,” he agreed.