Pricing The Heart

Chapter 6

The weeks slipped by slowly, taking with them Eloise's fears of an uncertain future. Oakham Hall embraced her, and soon, she found her walks through the grand hallways to be beyond fascinating, and her morning horse rides through the vast lands soothing.

David's absence also helped to ease her anxiety. In the two months since her arrival, he had journeyed three times and was now on his fourth trip. She knew not the purpose of his journeys, but she welcomed them, for his absence ensured she was not sitting up in bed at night, fearing he might show up in her room and force his needs upon her.

She settled into a comfortable routine with the servants, choosing to work closely with Mrs Edward in the running of the house. Eloise did not like that the masterpiece that was Oakham Hall was left to rot because its master chose to spend half his time away, and so she enlisted the help of the servants in cleaning out the rooms, washing old curtains, mending pillows, dusting paintings, and scrubbing floors. She made plans to set to work in the abandoned garden after the snow melted completely, and once the flowers bloomed, she planned to place some in vases around the house.

The library was another place that drew her attention. She found the locked room in the course of one of her explorations of the building one evening. It took the servants two days to discover the key to the room, and when it was unlocked, Eloise found an assortment of books that were being eaten by moths.

Determined to restore the room to life, she took on the cleaning and organization of it as a personal project, for she was unwilling to trouble the servants further. There were but a handful of them—seven in all, including Mrs Edward and Mr. Sullivan—with a massive building on their hands to care for. She already felt guilty about forcing them to help clean out the guest bedchambers; pulling them away from their chores to clean out a library that was not in use did not seem fair to her.

Perhaps it might take a few weeks to clean out the massive library by herself, she thought, her gaze sweeping the shelves that touched the ceiling. But she didn't care; working took her mind off unpleasant thoughts and set her hands to usefulness. Besides, what else did she have to do?

Wiping the dust off of the hardcover of a book, she placed it on a rising stack of clean books and turned to pick up another dusty book, when a knock pulled her attention to the door.

"Come in," she called. The door slid open to reveal a young maid.

"Forgive me, Mrs Taylor, for the disturbance." She curtsied.

Eloise smiled, shaking her head. "There's no need to apologize, Greta. Can I help you with something?"

"His Grace is here," Greta said, a small frown tugging on her brows.

"His Grace?"

"The Duke of Newcastle," Greta confirmed, further confusing Eloise. Eloise wondered if she must question the maid further as to the identity of this duke, but quickly decided against it. Her false claims of being David's cousin made it nearly impossible to claim ignorance about his affairs.

"What does he want?" Eloise asked, hoping to learn more about the duke by learning of the purpose for his visit.

Greta frowned. "I'm uncertain, but he's here with the young master; it cannot be pleasant news. Seeing as my lord is unavailable to receive him, I have informed him of your presence. He sits in the drawing room awaiting your presence."

Two visitors...

Uncertain what to make of the maid's announcement, she nodded and rose to her feet.

"Very well, I shall see them." She smoothed her dress, shoving off the specks of dust and cobwebs that stained the yellow fabric, before turning to leave the room. She followed the familiar hallways to the drawing room, pausing by the entryway when her gaze fell on the man who occupied the brown sofa.