She pressed a hand to her chest and blinked out the window.
Yes, a marriage of arrangements was just fine.
The door snapped open, and she couldn’t stop her gaze from flying to it, heart tripping at the expectation of seeing her husband again.
But it wasn’t Ashbourne. It was the coachman.
“Beggin’ your pardon, Your Grace. Are you ready to depart?”
She blinked at the empty seat opposite her. “Yes, but where is the duke?”
The coachman pulled on the brim of his hat. “Gone ahead, Your Grace. He prefers to ride atop his steed for this journey.”
“Yes, of course,” she said quickly to get the coachman to close the door.
He did with stunning speed, and the carriage rocked with the force of it.
Blissfully, she was alone, and the tears came of their own accord.
She swatted at them, hating herself for having any left to give.
He didn’t wish to ride with her. Well, that was all well and good. She would enjoy the privacy for a bit anyway. With her sisters always about in her younger years, she’d grown used to them prattling on with constant frivolity. She may even enjoy the quiet around her for a bit.
Henry whined, sensing her distress, and she scratched his head.
“It’s all right, old boy. It’s just you and me as it always is.”
She pulled her carpetbag up on the bench and unlatched it long enough to tuck her spectacles carefully inside. Her fingers deftly undid the bow of her bonnet and relief swamped her as she pulled it from her head. Last, she kicked off her slippers, propping her feet on the opposite cushion.
“See?” she said to Henry. “Just divine.”
She leaned her head back, and Henry settled on the bench beside her, his head in her lap. She had not slept at all the previous night. When she’d left Ashbourne in the drawing room, she’d returned to her rooms prepared to let sleep take her, but it had refused her, her mind awash with possibilities of what was to come.
She had always seen her future as a spinster. It was an obvious enough occurrence. She’d never seen herself trapped in a marriage of such coldhearted regard though. Absently, she stroked Henry’s fur. There was nothing to be done about it. She’d just have to make the best of it.
Her other hand settled on her stomach. When children came, it would be different surely. She would be consumed in the raising of them. Ensuring they had proper tutors and governesses. Teaching them the things her sisters and she had done. There were so many adventures to be had when one was a child. She smiled for the first time in days at the memory of her escapades with her sisters when they were but children.
She closed her eyes, the smile still lingering on her lips.
She wasn’t sure how long she’d slept, but as she’d been utterly exhausted, she wasn’t surprised the rocking of the carriage did not wake her. She woke when the cadence of the wheels changed, and she found them turning.
Sitting up, she rubbed sleep from her eyes and scrambled to pull her spectacles from her carpetbag. Shoving them on her face, she peered out the window.
The sun was a fading light in the distance, sparking bursts of orange and yellow through the perfectly straight line of trees that bordered the road.
No, they were on a drive. This must be Ashbourne Manor.
In the distance, she could just make out the delineation between land and what must have been ocean. The sun was fading, but surely that expanse of darkness just beyond her line of sight was water.
“We’ll need to explore it in the morning,” she whispered to Henry, belatedly realizing he was no longer next to her.
She searched the small confines of the carriage to find him sprawled on the opposite bench, blinking lazily at her. She smiled and returned her attention to the window.
The carriage slowed even more, and she heard the distinct sound of gravel crunching beneath the wheels of the carriage as they must have entered the proper drive of the manor house. Finally, they turned, and the manor house itself rose up before her. The sun struck it at an angle, casting its features in varied spaces of light and dark. She was surprised to find the house rather Palladian in style with a sweeping arch in the center of the main house flanked by two wings on either side disappearing into the fading light.
She pushed her feet into her slippers while her hand went for her spectacles and hastily tied her bonnet in place. Finally, she wrapped Henry’s leash comfortingly around her hand as the carriage rolled to a stop, and the door snapped open with the precision of a well-trained servant. She pushed to the door, steeling herself to see Ashbourne as surely he would have arrived before her, only to find the jowly, stern face of what could only be the butler.
“Your Grace,” he said with a small bow of his head.
It took her a moment to realize he referred to her. It was going to take an age to get used to her new title.
“Allow me to welcome you to Ashbourne Manor. We wish you much happiness and congratulations on your union, and we look forward to serving you.” The words were spoken with a deep timbre of sobriety and polish. He straightened. “I am Stephens. It is my honor to introduce you to the rest of the staff.”
She moved her gaze from the butler to see the line of servants spilling down the front stoop, all perfectly ironed and standing at attention. There were several footmen and maids, perhaps a cook and a stable lad, and at the very top, a smallish woman who was likely the housekeeper. The light had nearly gone now, and the line of servants were mostly undefined blobs of black, and a wave of uneasiness overcame her at such unfamiliarity.
She swallowed it down and attempted a pleasant smile. “Thank you all,” she said as loudly as she could as the housekeeper was quite some distance away.
Henry gave a bark then, startling some of the maids in the line, and Eliza quickly stepped down so they could see he was harmless. She ignored the butler’s proffered hand. If her new husband was not there to help her alight, she required no assistance at all. Henry dropped down beside her, eliciting a giggle from one of the maids.
Eliza stepped back. “Henry, say hello.”
Henry dropped to the ground in a regal sit before raising his front paws to wave at the line of servants. More giggles erupted.
“Henry, say thank you.”
Henry dropped his front paws and dipped into a low bow. The giggles turned to laughter, and she didn’t miss the butler attempting to hide a smile.
The trepidation of unfamiliarity eased somewhat with the hope that she’d made a good first impression. She allowed her gaze to drift, taking in the rest of her surroundings, but she didn’t see Ashbourne anywhere.
She could ask Stephens if he’d arrived, but she didn’t wish to appear eager. Instead she allowed Stephens to bring her up the line of servants, introducing her and Henry as they went. When she arrived at the housekeeper, a Mrs. Donnelly, the exhaustion of travel and unfit sleep overcame her.
She smiled tenderly at the woman. “Mrs. Donnelly, it has been an excessively long day. I wonder if I could have a bath brought up to my rooms. I’ll take my evening meal there as well.”
Mrs. Donnelly nodded quickly. “Of course, Your Grace. I’ll have the footmen set it up immediately.”
Eliza turned to Stephens. “Stephens, Henry is in need of a good run. As I’m not familiar with Ashbourne Manor, and it’s growing dark, could you please advise on the best place where I may take him?”