Chapter 29
Jered set down his empty glass and looked up at the guests around the table. His eyes met Victoria’s naturally across the way.
Unlike her usual self, his cousin was barely speaking. Normally, it was the Countess Benford’s role to laugh cheerfully and toss out cynical jokes at such gatherings. Jered knew exactly why his cousin was so quiet today.
‘You only met that lady two weeks ago. You’ve only seen her twice in your life.’
Victoria disapproved of this marriage. She believed he had decided too hastily, viewing it as an impulsive mistake born from the shock of a broken heart. Her perspective wasn’t entirely wrong, but it was far from the truth. While Jered had indeed decided to marry following the end of his first love, it was no mistake.
It was an awakening. Not a mistake.
‘Do you think you would have been yourself if you had married Miss Dale?’
He knew. The future he had wanted was impossible from the start. From the moment his two older brothers died, from the moment he had to take their place, his future had been set.
It was a simple logic. The future he had dreamed of belonged to Jered Glenn, but now he was the Duke of Windberg. The two could never coexist.
It had taken him a long time to accept that fact. Hurting the woman he loved, receiving just as much hurt in return, and wandering for over three years—it was all for that reason. Only after paying such a heavy price could he finally accept it.
Jered Glenn was no more. Only the 13th Duke of Windberg remained. His duty was to manage what he had inherited and pass it safely to the 14th Duke.
To fulfill that duty, he needed a wife.
He simply needed a woman who would play the role of Duchess just as he played the role of Duke. A woman with noble blood and refinement. A woman with responsibility and ambition. A woman who would willingly and faithfully perform her duties as Duchess.
Therefore,
‘You don’t even know that lady yet.’
There was no need for that.
‘I think we need to get to know each other.’
Truly, there was no need for that at all.
“Miss Fairfield. May I take a closer look at your ring? It’s a bit of vulgar curiosity, but I simply can’t suppress it. It’s my first time seeing that famous diamond in person.”
Jered turned his gaze toward the person who had raised her voice to draw attention. It was his cousin-in-law, a plump noblewoman.
“Well said, Clara. To be honest, I’ve been wanting to bring it up myself. I heard Diane gave the Ellen Diamond to her daughter-in-law.”
“The Ellen Diamond! Is that true, Miss Fairfield?”
“Yes, Marchioness. Actually, I only found out right before dinner. If I had known it was such a historic piece of jewelry, I would have moved my hands with much more care.”
“You may handle it however you like, Rosalyn. As you can see, it has survived for three hundred years,” Diane remarked.
“That is very kind of you, Dowager Duchess. I only hope I don’t prove to be the most careless person in those three hundred years.”
The guests laughed at the future Duchess’s joke.
Jered joined in with a polite smile, watching his fiancée. In the dining hall, Rosalyn addressed his mother as the Dowager Duchess. Since she was still only his fiancée, she was maintaining a manner appropriate for her role in front of others.
That humble attitude satisfied his mother. His relatives also didn’t hide their fondness for Rosalyn. She was certainly the type that elders liked—kind, gentle, and possessing just the right amount of charm. The very image of a proper daughter-in-law.
So, really, was this not the best choice?
Jered glanced at Victoria again. He smiled at his cousin, who happened to be looking his way.
Victoria was the one who had witnessed everything that happened here three years ago. So she would know well that today’s gathering was the exact opposite of that day. In every way, it was the perfect inversion.
Trying to feel a sense of satisfaction, he looked at the glasses before him. His empty wine glass had been refilled at some point. He reflexively reached for it but changed direction and picked up the water glass instead.
If he drank too much wine, the whiskey wouldn’t work at night. He didn’t want to take sleeping pills tonight, so he had to be content with water from now on.
Dessert was already being served. It would soon be time to wrap up the dinner and move to the smoking room. Since he was already craving a cigarette, Jered began to gauge the right moment to end the meal while listening to the guests’ conversation.
The first day at Maxville was easier than expected.
Last night’s dinner had stretched late into the evening. After the long meal, the guests moved to the drawing room, sharing endless small talk over tea and spirits.
Because Diane Glenn mentioned that her future daughter-in-law was a wonderful pianist, Rosalyn had to sit at the piano, playing three songs in a row before she could pass the turn to the next person.
The Duke seemed close to his maternal relatives. He appeared particularly intimate with the Countess Benford; she was the lady Rosalyn had seen him with in front of the department store once before. Thinking back to how relieved she had felt upon being introduced to Victoria, Rosalyn realized she must have been subconsciously bothered by her presence.
‘Otherwise, why wouldn’t he have married by now? It’s been over three years since he became the Duke.’
Perhaps, without realizing it, she had taken those words to heart.
The gathering finally broke up after ten o’clock. The Duke, ever the gentleman, escorted her to her room himself. Since it was the day he first welcomed his future wife, it must have been a long day for him as well.
Though he must have been tired, he showed no sign of it, maintaining a considerate attitude toward his fiancée until the very end. Her thanks were truly sincere.
‘There is no need for thanks. It is only my duty.’
The Duke gave a casual smile. Then, after a final greeting, he saw his fiancée into her bedroom.
‘You worked hard today.’
You worked hard.
Lying in the large bed of the unfamiliar room, Rosalyn chewed on the strange lingering resonance of those words for a while before falling asleep.
When she woke in the morning, a maid brought breakfast to her room. From eating breakfast in the sitting room attached to the Master Suite to bathing and dressing, the entire process was leisurely.
The clothes she had brought from Andover were all hanging on racks, meticulously pressed. The servants of the ducal mansion were thorough and attentive.
After spending the entire morning preparing at a relaxed pace, she went to the drawing room at the Dowager Duchess’s summons to be introduced to the staff. There was the Head Butler, Liam Sterling, and two butlers under him. The Head Maid, Maggie Weber, and two assistant head maids. And finally, the attendant who would be in charge of assisting Rosalyn.
“This is Miss Edith Cheshire. She was the attendant to the previous Duchess, so she will be of great help to you.”
When Diane Glenn said that, Rosalyn was momentarily confused. She thought the Dowager Duchess was handing over one of her own attendants. But the previous Duchess was not Diane, but Jered’s sister-in-law—the woman who had left Maxville after losing her husband only six months after becoming the Duchess.
The attendant who had served her was an unmarried woman in her mid-thirties who, surprisingly, was a university graduate.
“I’ve never actually met a woman who went to university before.”
“That is understandable. The first female university student in the Empire only emerged the year before I enrolled.”
“I’ve gained someone very dependable indeed.”
“I will do my best to assist you.”
Rosalyn smiled at Edith, who replied with polite formality.
After returning to her room and talking about various things, it became clear that Edith Cheshire was a true professional. While she didn’t seem particularly warm, she was clearly going to be a great help.
“From today, I will assist with your general activities and schedule management. I will handle your individual schedule as well as coordinate joint schedules with His Grace’s office. If you have any instructions regarding these matters, please let me know at any time.”
“I understand.”
Edith nodded and opened a green notebook. It was the notebook she had been holding since they were introduced in the drawing room.
“Today at two-thirty, you have a thirty-minute ballroom dance practice with the Duke. After that, you will move to the tea room. The practice location is the Hall of Mirrors on the second floor, so I believe it is time to head out.”
“Is he coming to tea as well?”
“No, miss. His Grace has another engagement today.”
Answering without hesitation, Edith continued with precise pronunciation.
“The tea time was hosted by the Dowager Duchess. The location is the tea room in the west corridor on the first floor, and four noble ladies are scheduled to join you.”
