"Let the Widow Eat in the Kitchen," Her In-Laws Said — The Duke Carried His Plate Down to Join Her
Chapter 11
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"Why?" said Grace. "Why go to all that trouble for a letter?"He was silent for a while."Because I promised him," he said. "He was the best friend I ever had in 12 years in India. He was the only man who ever made me laugh." He raised his eyes to hers. "And because of you. Because of 5 years of Sunday suppers on your veranda. You were the only home I had in that country, Grace. When they told me you were dead, I thought I'd lost the last of it."The Duke of Aldridge picked up his knife and fork."Do you mind," he said, "if I finish this? It's the best lamb I've had since Madras. I suspect I know why."Grace looked at him, and then, for the first time in 2 years, she laughed. It came out of her quite suddenly, a little cracked and rusty, like a door that has not been opened in a long time. Mrs. Dawlish laughed, too, behind the range, and the two kitchen maids, and then all of them were laughing in the warm, fire-lit kitchen while the Duke of Aldridge ate his roast lamb at the servants' table and pretended not to notice.When he had finished, he wiped his mouth and folded his napkin and reached into the inside pocket of his evening coat. He laid the letter on the table in front of her.It was creased and stained, and the paper had gone yellow, and the red seal on the back had never been broken. Grace looked at the eight words on the front for a long time without touching it:"To my wife, Grace, into her own hands only.""He wrote it the night he died," said Nicholas Fane quietly. "You were holding the candle. He made me promise to give it to you in England when you were safe, into your own hands." He pushed it gently across the table toward her. "I'm sorry it took me so long, Grace. I've carried it in my pocket every day for 3 years."She picked it up. Her hands were shaking so badly that she could hardly hold it."I can't read it here," she whispered."I know." He stood up. "I'll call tomorrow, if you'll let me." He hesitated. "And Grace, if you want to leave this house tonight, at any hour, for any reason, you have only to send one of these maids to the Swan at Alresford. My carriage will be there until morning."He bowed to her. Then he bowed to Mrs. Dawlish and to the two kitchen maids, who went scarlet. And he went up the back stairs and out through the front door of Ashdown Park without going back into the dining room at all.That night, Grace sat on the narrow bed in her little room under the eaves with a single candle on the washstand, and broke the seal.The handwriting was so shaky that she could barely read it at first. Then, slowly, the words came clear: