Duke of Sorrow by Whitney Blake

Author:Whitney Blake [Blake, Whitney]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Historical
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2019-05-05T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

Lord Ainsworth’s manor possessed the most beautiful grounds that Augusta had ever seen, much less walked. The gardens were charming, and everything around the house had such an air of tranquility and grandeur that she was enthralled.

There had only been a few times that she’d experienced anything remotely like this, but nothing that she had beheld matched what she saw spreading before her. It wasn’t just that the estate was enormous, though it was. It was simply that all of it seemed so well considered and executed that she could hardly understand how everything was maintained. There seemed to be a small legion of gardeners and groundskeepers who largely paid her and Lady Jane little mind while they were on their strolls.

When Augusta’s mother had been a maid who worked largely in the scullery, she had taken Augusta to her employers’ homes a few times out of necessity when she was still very young and could not be left on her own. Depending on the employer, she was either met with scorn or delight. Whether her presence was embraced or not, Augusta was always set small tasks to prove that she, like her mama, was willing to work and be made useful. Thinking, Augusta came to the realization that those houses had belonged to people who gained their substantial incomes from trade or agriculture.

While they had certainly been rich by her standards, they would not have been considered so by Lord Ainsworth and his ilk.

None of their homes could hold a candle to any of this, she thought.

She had never imagined anything quite like it. The gravel walk was smooth and long, winding gently along the front and back of the manor, and the gardens were maintained to give the illusion of wildness with none of the unfortunate weeds.

Meanwhile, the manor itself sat regally as though it watched over all in its sight. Even her untrained eye could tell that it had been added to and changed over the years, but the front facade was, if a building could be called such, stately and serious.

While they walked for a fourth time, Lady Jane let her keep her thoughts to herself. Augusta was glad, for she did not want to confess that even though it was the start of her third week here and she knew she should be considering moving on, she did not want to in the slightest.

The duke kept her here as much as anything else.

True to her word, Lady Jane had hastened Augusta to the gardens as soon as her guest could walk sedately without a wince of pain. Lord Ainsworth had given his leave that this was acceptable, but he also said that under no circumstances was his patient to overexert herself. Augusta smirked as she thought of his words, which had been addressed more to the capricious Lady Jane than to her. She was enjoying the lack of pain too much to tempt fate and court a repeated injury, so she was far more sedate than the sprightly lady.

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