A Solemn Promise

VI

"Every long separation is a test: A test to see how powerful or how weak the will of reuniting is!" Mehmet Murat ildan

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VI.

"You two, come with me."

Grace and Ruby were beckoned by a maid dressed all in black, the dress of a lady's maid. Grace did not know her name, but she knew that the woman worked for the duchess.

She was perhaps forty or so, with a stern, no-nonsense air about her, and a hard, cold stare.

The two girls had just finished attending to the opening of the ladies parlour. The furniture had been uncovered and plumped, the fire laid, and every surface dusted twice.

"I am Miss Naismith, maid to Her Grace," the lady's maid introduced herself, leading Grace and Ruby out of the hallway and into the internal staircase with ease and experience. Grace did not recognise her, but then she did not imagine that she would have taken much notice of the duchess' lady's maid when she was a child.

"I am Ruby Trickett," Ruby replied, keeping up with Miss Naismith's quick pace up the stairs.

"Grace Denham," added Grace.

Miss Naismith paused for the briefest of seconds upon hearing Grace's name, before continuing on her path. "You are both to change the duchess' linens, quickly and quietly."

Grace tried to ignore the feeling of dread that bubbled in her stomach at the idea of being in such close proximity to the duchess. Really, she was sure that she had nothing to worry about. Grace was certain that the duchess would have forgotten all about her, not that she ever paid much attention to Grace in the first place. The duchess did not seem like the type of woman who conversed with her housemaids anyway.

They emerged from the internal staircase and out into the once familiar hallway that housed the great bedrooms belonging to the Beresfords. Grace struggled to compose herself as she walked past the pictures of the historical painted faces that once frightened her. They passed window after window, until they came to the very place where ...

... where she had felt love for the very first time. Lord, it seemed a lifetime ago now that she had been running about with Adam. How much had changed.

Miss Naismith opened the door to the duchess' bedroom and led Grace and Ruby inside. Considering the richness of Ashwood House, it ought not to have been a surprise at the grandeur of the duchess' bedroom. But it was.

Central to the far wall was an enormously imposing white bed, with gold detail on the frame. A red velvet canopy hung from the ceiling and draped down around it, the curtains fixed to the posts with a thick, golden rope. The rest of the furnishings were just as rich and luxurious, namely a white marble fireplace with a golden fire poker set. Grace wondered if they were real. Lord, if they were, such an ostentatious item could feed the whole village for a year!

Grace recovered from her amazement quickly and was thankful to see that the duchess was not in her bedroom. She and Ruby quickly set to work in stripping the bed of its linens. They looked and smelled clean, and Grace wondered at the necessity, but she then supposed that rich people could have whatever they wanted.

"I've never been in here before," Ruby whispered to Grace as she pulled the pillows from their slips.

Grace could see that Ruby was just as amazed as she was. Miss Naismith then left them, closing the door behind her.

Together, they folded the duvet and left it on the trunk so that she could remove the sheets from the mattress. The sheets themselves felt divine to the touch, and Grace could not bear to gather them up in a crumpled pile for laundering. She folded them as well, and together with Ruby, they went to make their way out of the bedroom.