Marblestone Mansion 01 - Scandalous Duchess

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    At last they arrived, bringing a wagon full of things for McKenna’s new room – far more than anyone expected them to find in a town that size.
    As soon as they pulled up, Keith was waiting to help her down. Sassy was not so sure she liked Keith; he had an odd way of looking at her. Nevertheless, there was no one else, so she accepted his offer. Then she hurried into the house to put her purchases away.
    Among the things Prescot brought from town, were three catalogues acquired from the post office. Hannish hoped Prescot would bring a letter or a telegram, but he was again disappointed, so he went out to help the men carry everything up the stairs. The rocking chair and one of the two upholstered chairs, he decided, would do well in the empty second floor sitting room.
    McKenna chose a room in the far corner of the second floor, as far away from Olivia’s room as she could get. The bedroom didn’t have much of a view of the back yard, but she didn’t intend to spend much time there anyway. She had the furniture rearranged three times before she got it just the way she wanted, while Sarah and Charlotte made the bed and Sassy began to unpack McKenna’s Steamer Trunks. Sassy was fascinated with all the beautiful gowns her employer had and took her time feeling the cloth and hanging them in the largest closet she had ever seen. Even so, she was worried when they wouldn’t all fit, until McKenna assured her it was all right to leave some in the trunks. They would need to be cleaned before McKenna wore them anyway.

    “ How did she do?” McKenna asked as soon as she was able to get Sarah alone.
    “ You would have loved watching her. Sassy simply had to touch everything, yet she spent only fifty cents and it was hard to get her to part with that. She is saving the rest.”
    “ For what?”
    “ She would not say,” Sarah answered.
    “ What did she buy?”
    “ The softest silk undergarments she could find and a blue ribbon for her hair. It is the same color as her eyes. I promised to help her tie the ribbon every morning.”
    “ Then I shall make certain to comment on its beauty. Thank you.” McKenna gave Sarah a quick hug, watched her leave, and then pulled a paper and pencil out of her pocket. She sat in a chair and started to make a list of what more they needed for the upstairs sitting room. The room faced the front yard with a grand view of the town through the trees, and she expected to spend a lot of her time there. A lamp would be nice and a table and chairs for playing cards.
    McKenna leaned back, closed her eyes, and sighed. “Olivia will hate it no matter what we put in here.”

    Just before bed and in the privacy of their third-floor sitting room, the servants gathered to share the pies Halen made for them the day before.
    “‘ Tis nearly morning in Scotland,” Alistair mentioned, helping himself to a piece of pie. “My eyes see darkness outside, but my mind thinks ‘tis time to get up.”
    “ I am the same,” said Jessie.
    “ Is the duchess truly as awful as you say, Sassy?” Halen asked.
    There was a shortage of chairs, but sitting on the floor was nothing new to Sassy and she quickly made herself comfortable. Before she answered the question, however, she glanced at Alistair. When he didn’t give her that warning look, she felt free to answer, “She be worse than the put-her.”
    “ The put-her?” Prescot asked.
    “‘ Tis what we called Old Mrs. Forthright. Each and every night we prayed God would put-her out, you see.”
    Sarah giggled, handed Sassy a piece of pie and then sat down beside her on the floor. “A put-her, the duchess is too, then?”
    Sassy signed. “I was forced to add the duchess to my prayers right after I got a good tongue whipping from her on the ship.”
    Said Jessie, “Mr. MacGreagor will not put the duchess out; he loves her. When they first married he was so smitten, he knew not half of what he was doin’.”
    “ He was much younger then,” Blanka reminded.
    Keith nodded, “He has grown up a lot in the time I have known him.”
    Halen scoffed. “And what do you know of growing up, or of being in love? You are a boy yourself.”
    “ I am twenty-three, I’ll have you know. I…”
    Jessie ignored Keith, “‘Tis not easy to fall out of love. I still love a lad, even though he be the worst sort of lad, and I have not seen him in twenty years.”
    “ Mr. Hannish will not let love keep him from seein’ her for what she is,” Donnel