The Duke Didn't Want Love — He Wanted a Practical Wife. Then Her Carriage Arrived 40 Minutes Late
Chapter 4
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Avery entered carrying two books of household summaries and stopped when he saw her work. "I beg your pardon. I did not mean to interrupt.""You have not.""Would you prefer a new pair?"Helena's needle paused. The old humiliation was familiar: a well-meaning offer made her feel suddenly poor. He seemed to recognize it before she replied."That was clumsily said," he added. "You appear perfectly capable of deciding whether a glove deserves mending.""It does," she said, relieved despite herself. "Its seams have never betrayed me.""A distinction some people might aspire to."She smiled, and he returned it without quite remembering to be solemn.He placed the revised draft before her: the line forbidding contradiction of the steward was struck through; beneath it, he had written that domestic concerns should be heard directly by him and discussed before decisions were made."You changed it," she said."You made a reasonable objection.""Reasonable objections are not always welcome.""I am beginning to gather that yours will arrive whether welcomed or not.""That depends upon how reasonable you remain."This time, his laughter came more easily. Yet when she rose to leave, she noticed him glancing toward the stained passage again. A household could appear orderly while hiding a little damage in its quieter corners; she understood the feeling rather well.At the carriage door, Avery asked whether she would prepare a short list of questions for their next visit: not to manage his servants, he said, but to see whether they could learn to make decisions together. Helena agreed.As the horses moved away, she found herself wondering when she had last been asked for her judgment without having to defend her right to give it.The cottage stood near Mossfield village, less than two miles from Briarcombe Hall. A low wall enclosed an herb patch and a narrow path; rain had turned the soil black beside the door.Ruth Elwood greeted Lady Marian and Helena with the formal courtesy of a tenant accustomed to avoiding complaint. "I had not expected visitors," she said. "My sister is fetching water, and the house is not quite in order.""A house need not be in order to be visited," Marian replied. "May we come in?"Ruth glanced at Helena before stepping aside.Inside, the smell of wet wood met them at once. Two folded blankets had been set on a chair far from the chimney. A basin stood beneath a crack in the ceiling, and the plaster around it was stained brown."Has the rain been getting through all summer?" Helena asked."Whenever it comes from the west. They mended the worst place in June, or said they had. Two days of hammering, then the men went away.""Did you report it?"Ruth's fingers tightened on her apron. "I spoke to the steward. He said the work was finished, and that old cottages were never perfect."Helena looked at the damaged blankets, but did not make a speech about injustice. "May I ask whether the water reaches the place where you sleep?"