“You should stick to what you know. Be a lady and stop being trouble,” he huffed out at last.
Not wanting to risk her talking back at him, Owen turned on his heel and left. The library and his wife disappeared behind him. Down the hall he went and back up to the greenhouse.
His plants would be safe and secure up here, where they couldn’t talk back or irritate him. Locking the door upon reentering the space, he paused and let out a heavy sigh of relief. This was his sanctuary. He didn’t have to leave here for any reason for hours. He could have peace here.
There was a small shuffling sound up ahead. He frowned, reopening his eyes.
Out came his gardener. Davies sniffed at the sight of him and then frowned right back. “Where’s the book?”
Right, the book. The book Owen had promised to retrieve from the library. The book he had forgotten about since he had found his wife there and saved her from breaking her neck.
“Hang the book,” Owen muttered. “We don’t need it.”
CHAPTER19
“Stick to what you know,” Georgiana repeated to herself for the hundredth time the following morning. “Stick to what you know, Georgiana. What utter nonsense.”
She was still stewing over her husband’s words.
It’s not just what he said yesterday. It’s everything. I’m certain now he is avoiding me. His reaction was enough of an answer to that question. If only he would talk to me! That man is so stubborn that it makes me want to shake my fist at him. He’s utterly ridiculous. What must he think of me? And yet I could have sworn, for a single moment, that we might have…
Shaking her head, Georgiana tried to push the thought away. It couldn’t be true. Owen would not have kissed her. What a silly idea that was.
Since she hadn’t seen him since their incident in the library, she had little hope of seeing him again for another week or so.
“Stick to what you know.” She huffed. “I know many things, thank you very much. Stubborn man.”
“Your Grace?”
Georgiana whirled around. She had forgotten she wasn’t alone. Wide-eyed, she asked her housekeeper innocently, “Yes, what is it?”
Tilting her head, Mrs. Helen studied her for a moment. She finally gave a shake of her head. Neither of them had mentioned the incident either, for which Georgiana was grateful.
“I only wished to see if you had found whatever it is you were looking for,” the housekeeper said at last. “I’m afraid it’s rather dusty in here. Do you need another candle?”
One of the many things Georgiana was confident that sheknewwas managing the redecorating of the house. Since most of the staff wasn’t particularly used to being here, it had taken a while for everyone to be able to find everything they needed. Like art.
Georgiana wanted to redecorate the front hall with art but would much rather use what might already be under the roof instead of having to buy something new.
Looking around the attic in which she stood, she slowly shook her head. Already she had sneezed more times than she could bother to count. It was quite dusty and filthy. There would surely be a layer of silt on her skirts. All she had were two small lanterns to light her way.
It wasn’t much fun, but Georgiana thought she was beginning to enjoy herself. She eyed the large frames before her with great interest.
“Come help me with these,” she instructed. “I think we’re about to find what I was looking for.”
“Oh, certainly.” Mrs. Helen stepped up to her side, raising a candle for them to sort through the art.
There were seven assorted frames. All of them were covered in cloth to keep bugs and dirt away. One by one, Georgiana uncovered them, so she and Mrs. Helen could study them and decide what to do.
“I adore this landscape,” she said. “Let’s put this in the library. We’ll move out the prince portrait. It’s nice, but this palette is much more stately. And… goodness me. Let’s put this out in the front hall.”
Mrs. Helen beamed. “You found what you wanted! How wonderful. I’ll have the servants assist you right away, Your Grace.”
By the following afternoon, the paintings had been replaced.
Georgiana entered the library gingerly, attuned to every sound in case her husband might come upon her again, and decided she had been right about the landscape by the window. Then she traversed to the front hall.
Seeing the painting nearly made her cry.
