“No matter how pretty they look together, it is best to keep some plants separate while they are still growing. When they have matured enough and can be plucked, you can allow them to shine together then,” her mother had told her once.
And now that she has witnessed the mistake, she felt duty bound to fix it. She glanced around and spotted what was likely the Gardener’s shed. In mere moments, she had rummaged around in it and retrieved what she had set out to find — a hand trowel.
Armed with her tool, Phoebe got down to her knees and set to work. It felt peaceful, doing something manually by herself, without feeling as though she had to report to someone else and have them take care of it. She did what she could to carefullyextract the tulips from the soil and transfer them to another empty prepared section of the garden.
She had been at it for about fifteen minutes when she heard a scream. Startled, she dropped the trowel and rose to her feet.
“What? What’s wrong —”
“What on earth are you doing, Your Grace? Why are you — good lord, your dress. Oh, it is ruined!” Jenny wailed as she clung to Phoebe’s arms.
“It is only grass stains. I can wash them off —”
“Wash your own clothes? Whatever for?” Maude questioned approached them looking absolutely aghast.
“Well, I did get it dirty so I should be the one to clean it,” Phoebe reasoned, looking down at her dress and frowning at the stains from the dirt and grass. “As soon as I am done here, I will get it cleaned.”
“I do not know why you are even committing to such a menial task, Your Grace. A woman of your title –”
Phoebe dropped down to her knees again, raising her eyes up to the housekeeper with what she hoped was a placating look.
“I noticed something was amiss with the plants and decided to fix it. It really is not a difficult task and I should be done soon –”
“What are you doing?”
Phoebe’s eyes widened at the sound of her husband’s voice and she quickly glanced backwards. Jenny and Maude swiftly turned around to bow to him but he simply breezed past them, he narrowed gaze trained on her. She swallowed nervously, aware of her less than appealing state and she willed herself to speak up.
“Good morning, Your Grace. I-I was just –”
The words had scarcely left Phoebe’s lips before Edward’s strong hands braced against her arms and pulled her to her feet, moments later lifting her into his arms. Phoebe was too shocked to even scream, blinking owlishly as he nodded at the staff, instructing Maude to, “Find someone to fix this,” before he carried her into the house.
“I-I’m sorry, Your Grace – I did not mean to upset you. Those flowers should not have been planted together and I knew that. Rather than fetching the gardener, since I was there, I decided to fix it,” she quickly told him, hoping he would listen and understand.
Edward stayed silent as he continued to make his way through the house with her in his arms, a few members of the staff giving them surprised looks as they lowered into bows. Phoebe could imagine that they made quite the sight, and was starting to feel alittle ashamed of her current state. He ignored them as well, not stopping until he arrived at a drawing room.
The duke walked in, shut the door and lowered her to her feet before he asked,
“What were you doing?”
Flustered, Phoebe tried to run her hands down the skirts of her dress, but her palms were still dirty so all she did was make herself look even worse. Edward’s gaze lowered with her hands and he raised it to her eyes when she immediately regretted her actions, as though he was waiting to hear her explain why she had gotten herself into this situation.
“I have always fixed things that were amiss in my home, Your Grace –”
“I told you to call me by my name, duchess.”
Phoebe inhaled sharply, working up the courage to continue.
“It was not a strenuous task. I do like gardening and it really was no trouble to simply rectify the issue. I did not mind.”
“You should have minded your position at least, Phoebe. It is not about the nature of the work, but what it means for you to kneel in the dirt while the staff watch. It is undignified. You are a duchess now and while you might not pay much attention to the expectations of those around you, it is vital that you rememberyour status. If you act like a servant, the servants will not feel inclined to respect you, because you would have given them the impression that you are just like them. And you are not,” he told her strictly, his demeanor unusually tense and cold.
This side of him was new to her and it made her feel rather conflicted. She did have a reputation to uphold and by doing what she had, it was likely that she had embarrassed him.
“I find it hard to believe that they would refuse to respect me simply because I toiled in the dirt. Although I did not do it for the sake of earning their respect, I find it is much easier to think positively towards people who understand the meaning of hard work. Privilege is nothing to be ashamed of, but I would not expect that you would understand what it is like to be the only one whose efforts can be relied on for certain things,” she heard herself say in an empty tone.
Edward laughed, but there was not a trace of humor to be found in his voice.
“That is where you are wrong, duchess. While I have no doubt that our circumstances differ greatly, I am familiar with the weight of responsibilities that cannot be handed off to another. And that is why I am telling you not to taint the good fortune you have been given by your need to control everything that is awry before you. Some things are not worth the time you waste on them, no matter how noble you deem the cause.”