Chapter 10

The next morning I get up slightly earlier than my usual wanting more time to prepare the tenant's baskets before William is ready to leave. Before I'd retired last night I'd let Marguerite know my plans so that she'd be here early as well to help me. She'd promised to have the baskets ready so all we'll have to do this morning is to fill them with items that should be useful to the tenants.

I hadn't been sure what to put in the baskets but Marguerite, as ever, was incredibly helpful. She suggested a mixture of food and practical items so we'll add some needles and several spools of thread that will be of great use to the female tenants. Then go down to the kitchen and procure some bread, cheese and cold cuts of meat that will likely be of much higher quality than what the tenants can afford themselves.

"Good morning your Grace," Marguerite greets bringing my breakfast in with her.

"Good morning Marguerite. Is everything ready for the baskets?"

"Yes. I spoke with the cook, Mrs Tapps, this morning about the food. She'll have some ready for us when you're done with your breakfast,"

"We should not keep her waiting then," I reply making quick work of the bowl of fruit that's been prepared for me. Nodding in agreement Marguerite sets about preparing what I'll be wearing for today. As soon as I finish the bowl I'm helped into a simple white cotton gown decorated with beautiful embroidery at the bottom of the skirt and dots all over.

Collecting the needles and thread we leave my room and together we head downstairs to the kitchen. Well Marguerite leads me down there as I've never had a cause to venture into the kitchen before and Mrs Merrick hadn't seen fit to show me where it is either. And there was no way that I'd have found it on my own either as the entrance that Marguerite leads me to looks no different than the rest of the hallway.

Even though breakfast has just passed the kitchen is still full of activity as kitchen maids scurry around fulfilling the orders of who can only be Mrs Tapps. A heavy set woman of average height and appearance she nonetheless commands the kitchen with all the skill of an experienced general.

"Mrs Tapps," Marguerite calls over the organised chaos, "Her Grace is here about the baskets."

"Oh, welcome your Grace. The baskets are over here," Mrs Tapps says wading through a flurry of kitchen maids to walk us over to a table where, just as she said, the baskets are waiting. Next to them are a matching number of loaves of bread and chunks of cheese. "I'll fetch the meat for you now."

While Mrs Tapps is away Marguerite and I start filling the baskets, placing the small boxes containing the needle and thread at the bottom. Next the bread and cheese go in just as Mrs Tapps returns carrying the tray of meat which we start portioning out. Each portion is wrapped and placed within the baskets which between the three of us are soon finished.

"Thank you for your help Mrs Tapps," I say as she orders some of the kitchen maids to take the baskets upstairs to be loaded onto a cart. William should be ready to leave soon and I don't want to keep him waiting.

"Happy to help your Grace," She replies sending the last basket up with a maid, "It's a nice thing you're doing for the tenants," She seems surprised that I'd do something nice for them which I try not to be offended by as we've never met before so all she knows of me is what Mrs Merrick has said. With our work now done Mrs Tapps returns to ordering her kitchen maids about as Marguerite and I split up. I head upstairs to meet William while Marguerite remains downstairs to see to the cleaning of some of my dresses.

"I'm not late am I?" I ask finding William waiting for me at the entrance. As always he's ready before me and it never fails to make me think that I've kept him waiting. The last thing I want to do is delay his work as he surely has more important things to be doing than waiting around for me.

"Not at all. I'm just waiting on my horse and I called for a carriage for you," He informs me holding out his arm. Grateful for his kindness I take his arm letting him lead me outside where a stable hand soon arrives with William's horse and following not far behind is the carriage and cart containing the baskets. "I've also called for some footmen to accompany you and help hand out the baskets in the village,"

"Thank you. That's very kind of you William," I reply a few steps away from the carriage as he releases my arm to make his way over to his horse instead. One of the footmen that William had promised is waiting by the carriage door to help me in, I take his hand to steady myself as I climb inside.

The ride to the village doesn't take long so I'm soon helped back out of the carriage. I'd thought that William would have gone straight ahead to visit the tenants but I find him dismounting his horse as I step foot on the ground.

"My visits to the tenants shouldn't take more than a few hours but if I take too long please return home without me. Don't exhaust yourself," He says to me then turns his attention to the footmen, "I leave the Duchess in your care,"

"Yes your Grace," The footmen reply with a bow acknowledging his order. The warning tone in William's voice left no doubts that if they failed the consequences would be severe. Not that I can imagine anything going wrong when we're just handing out baskets. Nonetheless it fills me with a warm feeling that he cares enough to assign guards to me.

His orders given out William mounts his horse again and rides off. I go over to the cart containing the baskets to get ready to start handing them out as my mind lingers over William's words. Thinking over it I realise that it may not be me he cares about. My hand rests briefly on my abdomen where our child is growing, the one the Duke truly wants to protect and keep safe. And for now that means keeping me safe for now.

Pushing that realisation aside I focus on gifting the baskets. Curiosity has brought many people out of their houses so I start handing them out with a pleasant smile on my face. This is a great way to meet the people living on our land and to create some goodwill with them, high society and the servants might hate me but at least our tenants may like me.

The baskets seem to be appreciated by those who receive them and it makes the time pass quickly, helped by the short conversations that I have with those collecting them. Most of them are the wives of the tenant farmers who've come into the village for the market and those who are not married to a farmer are the child of one.

We're down to the last few baskets as William comes riding back into the village. It seems his visits to the farms hasn't taken as long as he'd thought, the farms must all be in good condition then. I'm sure if there were problems then he wouldn't be back so soon.

"You're back sooner than expected," I greet as he dismounts and walks over to the cart.

"The steward has done well. All the farms are in good condition and the tenants have no complaints,"

"That's excellent news William. The baskets have nearly all been given out," I inform him watching as the footmen hand over the last basket, "Well I suppose that I'm done here now,"

"Very good. We should return to Knole House for luncheon," Nodding I head back to the carriage while William returns to his horse.

Our return home is just as short as our journey here. Luckily Mrs Tapps is able to organise a light luncheon for us despite the short notice, we hadn't expected to be back until after midday so she hadn't expected to have to serve anything for us.

After luncheon I head upstairs to change as my dress is rather dusty after standing in the village all morning. William has retreated to his study again to do some more estate work so I make myself comfortable at the pianoforte in the library. I run through some scales first to warm up before launching into playing some Bach as William seems to favour his work and after how kind he's been today I want to play something that he'll enjoy.

In this manner William and I spend the next month living peacefully together. We've been getting to know each other and so far there has rarely been a meal that we haven't eaten together. Much of the time he's busy with managing the estate but when he's had free time we'll sit in the library together. Sometimes I'll play the pianoforte while he reads while others we've quietly read together, both focused on our own book.

One memorable afternoon, a fortnight ago, though he surprised me by asking to play a duet with me. I'd quickly learnt that he enjoys music but he hadn't hinted at being able to play himself. Wanting to hear him play I agreed shifting over on the seat slightly to make room for, despite that we're sat close enough together that we're touching.

Just that slight touch of his leg against mine is distracting but I try my best to push it aside and focus on the music. At William's recommendation we play one of Mozart's sonata for four hands, something that looking over the sheet music is within my capabilities to play well. And as it turns out so can William. Music flowed around us in perfect harmony and I felt closer to him than I ever had, even more than when he'd visited my room in the first week of our marriage.

We'd only played together that once yet the memory of it has replayed often in my dreams in the two weeks since that afternoon. I'd like to play another duet with him but have been too nervous to ask. Things have truly improved between us and I haven't wanted to strain this new found goodwill by asking for too much.

During this month as well I've really started feeling the effects of my pregnancy. According to Doctor Blundell the exhaustion that I'd felt before was likely due to the baby rather than the long hours spent reading. That has thankfully eased off slightly now that I know to rest more. Instead I've recently been feeling rather ill in the mornings that tends to linger and limit what I'll eat for breakfast.

Over the past few days though William has been busier than normal so I'm not sure if he's noticed my lack of appetite in the mornings. He's been skipping eating luncheon with me choosing instead to eat in his study while he continues working. It had started with the arrival of a letter just after breakfast but what it was about he hasn't told me. Perhaps he will soon but as each day goes by with no explanation I doubt whether I'll get one.

At least until we come to the end of dinner today. Throughout the meal William has been strangely quiet compared to previous days although it's not any different to his silence since that letter arrived. Putting down his knife and fork he clears his throat to get my attention.

"I'm leaving for London in the morning," He blurts out to my shock, "A few days ago I received a letter from the solicitor of a distant relative who has recently died. He was unmarried, childless and he left no will so they tracked me down as his nearest living male relative, I've inherited everything. I will need to go to London to settle the matter."

"So you'll be back in a few days?" I ask hopefully not wanting to be left here alone again.

"Unfortunately not. It seems this relative, much like your brother, was a bad gambler. I'll be able to settle the debts in London but after that I want to visit his estate which, from what the solicitor mentioned in his letter, is in near ruins. I don't know how long I'll be gone as it'll take me near a week to reach the estate from London and after that it'll depend on the state of the estate. Perhaps a month or more."

"Thank you for letting me know," I breathe out rising from my seat, "If you'll excuse me I don't feel quite well." I all but run from the room dread filling me at the thought of him leaving.