The Inconvenient Duchess

wished to give her new husband, one of profligate spending while his back was turned. She’d hoped that the new draperies would be up, the paper hung and the debts hidden in the accounts. Men seldom noticed improvements, once they were in place, and the changes would not have been drastic. An enormous pile of boxes, however, made it all look worse than it was.
    ‘I can explain,’ she assured him.
    ‘Then let us retire to the study, and you may explain.’ He strode ahead of her, leaving the boxes behind them. Once in the room, he sat at the desk and began going through the stack of mail that had accumulated in his absence.
    She stood in silence, in front of him, waiting for an opportunity to begin.
    ‘Well?’ He addressed her without looking up.
    ‘The boxes in the hall…’
    ‘Are no doubt filled with some frippery which you do not need to explain to me.’
    ‘Are filled with curtains and paper for the dining room,’she corrected, with a glare. ‘When we attempted to clean the room, the velvet shredded as we touched it. And I understand the value of the silk on the walls, but it was so stained under the grime that it was beyond redemption. I’ve made no great change in the colour or style of the room, but once the new purchases are installed, I’m sure you will appreciate the difference.’
    ‘You attempted to clean the dining room,’ he repeated.
    ‘Of course. It needed doing. I have not touched any of your private rooms—’ as yet , she thought, glancing at a particularly noxious spider’s web in the corner ‘—but felt the common areas of the house could stand a thorough scrubbing.’
    ‘Come here,’ he commanded, and she stepped closer. He reached out and took her hands, turning them palm up and running a finger along the softening calluses. ‘I trust you were not carrying out this work all by yourself.’
    ‘You have servants, your Grace, although I found it necessary to find some extra help from the village. I’m sure that it is only a temporary expense.’
    ‘And what did the housekeeper think of your plans?’
    And here is where he’ll speak his mind, she thought grimly. ‘She had very little to say after I sacked her. The new housekeeper was most agreeable to change.’
    ‘Sacked her?’ he repeated.
    ‘Um, yes. She did not prove willing, and I felt that there was no going on if I was to remain here.’
    She thought she saw the barest flicker of a smile before he went on. ‘So you’ve spent several hundred pounds on new hangings and sacked the housekeeper. Is there anything else?’
    There was a delicate cough, which announced the presence of Wilkins the butler.
    ‘Not now, Wilkins, I’m speaking with my wife.’
    ‘No, I suppose this would be as good a time as any to speak with Wilkins.’ She was emboldened, having survived so far without incident. ‘For I’m sure he’d like to speak with you. I’ve not sacked him, yet,’ she added, ‘since he is an old family retainer, and I thought that it might be better if you handled things.’
    His eyebrow arched. He was unaccustomed at being told by anyone that it was his job to ‘handle’ anything.
    ‘Wilkins has been unhappy of late, and this unhappiness has led to an unfortunate dependence on your wine cellar and the brandy decanter. I have not calculated how much you are losing, but the amount is considerable and it’s affecting his ability to complete his duties.’
    ‘Is this true, Wilkins?’
    Wilkins must have hoped to come and plead his case before the duke had had a chance to talk to his mad new wife, and was at a loss as to how to continue.
    ‘Things have been somewhat better this last week, and I think I’ve found a solution,’ she hurried on.
    ‘Oh, really?’
    ‘I’ve been looking at the household expense books, which is why I got the idea for the new curtains. Your mother did not—your mother was—’ She hunted for words that would express the truth without speaking ill of the dead. ‘Although the servants are devoted to your mother’s memory, your mother had not adjusted their salaries in several years.
    ‘The rate of pay here, from the butler to the scullery maids, is much lower than what I’m accustomed to seeing.’ She should know, she thought, since she was intimately familiar with the pay of a servant.
    ‘Are you seriously recommending that we reward drunkenness and theft with a rise in salary?’
    Wilkins looked as though he’d rather die on the spot than suggest such a