Duchess in the Attic: Volume 1 [Parts 1 to 4] by Mori

Author:Mori
Language: eng
Format: epub

The following morning, Beth once again brought breakfast, and Opal finally raised her head.

“Beth,” she said.

“Yes, madam?” the maid replied.

“I’d like to speak with His Grace. Would you request for him to make some time for me as soon as possible? If he has a preferred time and place, I shall happily go to him. Please inform him.”

“Certainly.”

Opal firmly stated that she was willing to bend to his will in hopes of not repeating the ruckus with Mrs. Notham. The maid swiftly left, but as Opal waited, there were no signs of Beth’s return. The duchess was fed three meals a day, so she would surely meet her maid in the afternoon; there was no need to become annoyed so soon. Opal carefully read the records that she’d carried out from the library, and jotted her own notes down. The more recent the records were, the more cryptic they became, and the questions within Opal’s mind only grew. I should probably steel myself.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Opal hastily took out a different book, pretending to read it instead. Beth glanced at Opal, and perhaps irritated by how graceful the duchess seemed while enjoying her reading, frowned ever so slightly. I suppose I should’ve scolded her for how slow she was to respond to my request. Opal internally gave a mischievous chuckle as she closed her book.

“Thank you Beth,” Opal said. “Today’s lunch looks delicious, as always.”

In truth, the food was similar to what the servants at the earldom ate, and was in short completely unsuitable to bring to a duke’s table. He was likely cutting down on food expenses. If Opal was fed in such a fashion, she was curious to know what, then, the servants here ate. She didn’t want to steal Mrs. Notham’s role, however, and decided to remain silent; the servants didn’t look like they suffered from malnutrition anyway.

House McLeod hadn’t hosted a banquet or a tea party until now. There were rumors that Hubert didn’t like to mingle with others, and Opal had assumed that he didn’t want to invite outsiders to the manor while Stella was ill. But if this simply was due to Mrs. Notham being ignorant regarding what kind of mannerisms a true mistress of a duke’s house should have, then it made sense that there weren’t any events. And of course, their financial troubles played no small part in the lack of festivities.

A mistress of the house needed to both manage the internal workings of the manor and be an excellent hostess to guests. These were two different roles, but being able to fulfill both was the sign of an excellent mistress. Since Opal had married Hubert, surely, many nobles were hoping for more parties at House McLeod next year.

Ugh, what a pain... But if I don’t do anything, I’d be mocked for my lack of skill as a mistress.

No one was willing to openly criticize the duke, of course, but all the nobles loved to gossip and spread rumors behind each others’ backs.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.