Alexander avoided looking at his assistant who had buried his face in his hands and was groaning loudly.
“Your first day together since the wedding and you’ve already made her mad,” Theo muttered forlornly. “You promised me you would try!”
Tugging lightly at his collar as he stared unseeingly out the window, he said, “I did try. We were getting along fine. Right, Troy?”
Theo met the driver’s in the rearview mirror. Contrary to the message Theo was picking up from that look, Troy said, “Yes, Your Grace.”
He heaved a sigh. The Duke was a spectacularly sharp businessman, but sometimes Theo worried that there was nothing in his head besides work. Since he had taken over the dukedom from his sickly father, he had not stopped working. It had been four years. Theo had hoped that his employer’s marriage – though arranged – would help him with his workaholism. Gods, Theo hadn’t had a day off in nearly three years. Besides the couple’s parents, he had probably been the most excited for the marriage. A three-week honeymoon had sounded like an angel’s choir. He was going to take a ship tour along the northern coast of the Empire.
How had he ended up tagging along instead?
It was a shame, really. Artizia Azulrain had seemed like the perfect match for the Duke. She was known to be exceptionally intelligent, on top of being stunning. The first time Theo had laid eyes on her, he had felt his face heat up and his heart thump wildly in his chest. The first time she had smiled at him—
Snapping back to the present, Theo sighed again. The new duchess was also supposedly easy to get along with. None of the staff had anything bad to say about her, and even when she was angry, she wasn’t making a fuss.
Theo felt sorry for the poor girl. Other than his looks and money, the Duke was a terrible partner for a woman who had just come of age. He couldn’t help wondering if their marriage would last.
“Stop it.” The Duke’s voice broke him out of his thoughts.
He blinked. “Stop what?”
“That look,” Alexander said. “You look like you’re pitying me.”
Theo shook his head. “Not you. The duchess.”
The Duke frowned. “What?”
“Nevermind.” Theo sighed again. Was he going to watch a tragedy unfold?
“…Fine,” the Duke said. “Since you’re here, let’s continue where we left off.”
Theo exchanged glances with the driver again but pulled out the documents without any protest. Truly, what an unfortunate duchess.
The second car was silent for a long time after they left. Artizia had laid her head against the window and fallen asleep as soon as they were back on the road, and Margaret was flicking through the book that she had been told to pick up. It was an unexpected book for the young mistress to read on a trip. She typically favoured fiction as it was a lighter read for the road.
“I am truly sorry, ma’am.” Margaret looked up, meeting the driver’s eyes in the mirror. She glanced at her mistress who was still sleeping soundly.
“There is nothing for you to apologise for.”
“The Duke is not a bad person,” the man, Lee, continued. “He is just… unaware of certain customs.”
Margaret said nothing for a while. Then, “You should not be making excuses for your master, Lee. And I am not the person to be apologised to.”
Lee’s gaze flickered to the new duchess. Even asleep, she was mesmerising. He quickly returned his eyes to the road. “You are correct, ma’am. But I hope you will help Her Grace understand that His Grace means no harm.”
“Don’t worry,” Margaret said gently. “She is not angry.”
“Is that so? Are you sure?” The doubt was obvious in the driver’s voice. He looked at his new mistress in the mirror again. It was hard to tell when her face was relaxed in sleep, but she really didn’t seem perturbed.
“Yes,” the older woman responded. “If she were angry… you would know.”
Margaret bent her head, but not before the driver caught a glimpse of an expression that made him swallow hard. Her hand brushed over the book cover as she recalled the last time her mistress had lost her temper. It had happened years ago, but the memory was still fresh in her mind. Though the man had deserved what he had gotten, Margaret and the other onlookers had felt pity for him by the time Artizia was done.
Hopefully the Duke was a quick learner. Her mistress had a lot of patience, but a short fuse for repeat offenders. He would find himself in hot water very quickly if he failed to clean up his act. She almost felt sorry for him.
Margaret sighed. Hopefully this would not end in tragedy.
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