Claiming His Wife (Domestic Discipline 4)

Yet he'd let Alex through the door.

Maybe if she and Alex truly managed to reconcile she'd feel better about forgiving Peters. Even if it was unrealistic to expect him to protect her from his true employer, she'd still trusted him. Up until the day he'd let Alex in, she would have sworn that Peters was on her side. That had been half the reason she'd hired him.

She was drying off when Alex came in and immediately began stripping off his clothing.

"Alex," she said, rather sharply, as Rose squeaked in dismay, halting the shedding of his clothes. She looked at her maid. "You may go, Rose."

"Thank you, my lady," Rose said, hurrying from the room, avoiding looking at Alex even though he was still quite respectable in his shirt and pants.

"I forgot she was here," Alex said, chagrined, as he began to take off the rest of his clothing. "I'm so used to it being just us." The warm way he said it, and the almost loving look that accompanied the admission, made Grace's heart dance inside.

"You'll have to get used to more of the servants being around," Grace said mildly. Brookeside required a much larger contingent of staff than the small house they'd stayed in when they were in Bath. Especially now that Grace was in residence. It wouldn't surprise her to know that, other than his valet, Alex rarely had to contend with servants inside his bedroom. But if he wanted Grace in his rooms, he was going to have to accustom himself to Rose being there as well, as well as some other maids.

Grimacing, Alex stepped into the tub, lowering himself into the lukewarm water. "I suppose I will."

Unlike Rose, Grace had no desire to look away from his long, lean body, enjoying the view as he began to scrub away the dirt of the road. However, there were still things to do.

Sighing, she pulled on a simple day dress, one that she didn't need Rose or anyone else to help her with. Since they were at Brookeside and not expecting visitors, there was no need for her to dress up at all.

"I'm going to go arrange dinner," she said, pulling her hair back in a simple tie. "I assume Mrs. Stewart is still in her position?" The housekeeper had been as efficient as a general in the army, Grace couldn't imagine Alex dismissing her.

"Yes, and she'll be happy to see you," Alex said, his lips twisting into a wry smile. The older woman was starting to get on in years and, although she was quite practiced in her role, she'd been the first in the household to start pushing Alex to either collect his wife or get a new one. Surprisingly, she hadn't seemed to have a preference, although Alex had assumed she would be disapproving of Grace. Servants could sometimes be even more prudish than the upper classes when it came to scandal.

He thought he heard Grace mutter something as she went out the door, but he couldn't quite make out what. If she was worried about her reception from the servants, she shouldn't be. Alex had prepared his staff, they all knew that he'd be bringing her home and that they should treat her with the respect due the lady of the house. He'd gotten the impression that most of them weren't resentful over her absence, just relieved that it was now being rectified and their household was finally going to become like any other.

Just as soon as they had their talk.

******

Grace had been tempted to stay and watch Alex bathe, but she also wasn't quite ready to give up the dreamy happiness that she'd found and ruin it with the discussion that she knew was coming. Once she confronted him about why he wanted to reconcile with her, things were going to change irrevocably, one way or another. She wasn't avoiding it exactly... but just putting it off, holding onto the illusion that everything was wonderful, if only for a little while.

Doing something as normal and mundane as seeking out the housekeeper only added to that illusion of a happy husband and wife.

"My lady," Mrs. Stewart said, as soon as she caught sight of Grace heading her way, immediately interrupting directions she'd been giving to a maid. Grace was surprised to see a look of pleasure on the older woman's face.

Somewhere in her sixties, the steely-haired, sharp-eyed hawk of a housekeeper wasn't the type to put up with any nonsense. Part of the reason Grace had wanted to seek her out while Alex wasn't around was in case Mrs. Stewart wasn't very respectful. She knew very well that Alex wouldn't let the woman go, and so she'd hoped to have a private kind of confrontation, but from the welcoming expression on Mrs. Stewart's face, it appeared there wasn't going to be a confrontation at all. Maybe Alex hadn't been sarcastic when he'd said Mrs. Stewart would be happy to see her.

"Mrs. Stewart," Grace said, trying to sound confident, although she could hear the slight hesitation in her voice. "If you have a moment, I'd like to talk to you about the menus for this week, now that Lord Brooke and I are here."

"Very good, my lady," Mrs. Stewart said, giving a nod of approval as if Grace was a young student who had just said something clever. Looking at the maid, Mrs. Stewart waved her hand. "Go on girl, just don't let me find a speck of dust anywhere or you'll regret it."

The maid bobbed a curtsy to both of the ladies before rushing off, looking both determined and worried. Mrs. Stewart's standards were incredibly high.

"Would you like to sit in the yellow room?" Mrs. Stewart asked, although it sounded more like a firm suggestion than a true question. Grace couldn't help but smile, rather astounded that Mrs. Stewart remembered her preference for that small but cheery room. She was also aware that she was being herded into the "proper role" of lady of the house by the housekeeper.

But she much preferred that over being met with accusing eyes, recriminations, resentment or disrespect.

Mrs. Stewart was prepared, not that Grace expected anything less. They spent the next hour in the yellow room, at one of the small tables, going over the purchases Mrs. Stewart had made in advance of the Brookes' arrival and devising menus for the week from it. Something that she had done quite often on her own, but now she was thinking about Alex too. Remembering his preferences, his dislikes. And Mrs. Stewart dropped several helpful hints along the way when Grace's memory failed her.

The housekeeper also filled Grace in on the state of the house, the number of servants currently employed, her recommendations about what linens needed to be replaced and what rooms needed to be looked at. When Grace asked about the bedroom usually reserved for the lady of the house, Mrs. Stewart coughed delicately and said that the lord had decreed it was not to be opened up for any reason. She looked slightly scandalized as she said it, which nearly made Grace giggle.

Apparently her own scandalous behavior was going to be forgiven, but the staff was still a bit taken aback by the sleeping arrangements. After all, it just wasn't done. Of course, neither was deserting one's husband without giving him an heir. She was glad that Mrs. Stewart wasn't holding a grudge, but sometimes she just didn't understand the way the staff viewed things.

"I think that's it," Mrs. Stewart said cheerfully, gathering her papers back up. "Thank you for your time, my lady. It's good to have you back where you belong."

The words were said perfectly respectfully, but at the same time carried subtext indicating that Grace had better fulfill her duties as Lady Brooke or Mrs. Stewart would have something to say about it. Grace nodded her head to indicate understanding. Perhaps she should call Mrs. Stewart on her implied directive, but she was too relieved it wasn't worse. Housekeepers of Mrs. Stewart's quality were coveted by the ton. Certain positions within a household were much harder to fill than others, and Mrs. Stewart was an exemplary member of her kind. It was the same reason Grace had ultimately decided to keep Rose on as her lady's maid, finding and training a new lady's maid would be difficult, and other than working for Alex, Rose was a wonderful lady's maid.

"Thank you, Mrs. Stewart," she murmured, keeping her face composed. It wouldn't do to show her amusement or her relief. The housekeeper probably wouldn't consider it proper.