"This is getting ridiculous." Stomping my feet down the hallway, I searched for a spare table.

In a flurry of skirts and agitated gestures, Brigitte, Annie, and a couple of other maids scurried down the opposite side of the hall.

Going in and out of an empty room, Brigitte asked, "Do you see anything there?" She let out an exasperated sigh.

"No. No table. But I did find a dead roach." Annie's silvery voice rebounded inside another room.

Bridgitte stepped back from the door and slightly leaned forward as if ready to sprint. "Don't you dare!" she warned.

Ms. Rose's victorious yell stopped my fit of giggles. "I found one!" The sound of wood scraping against the granite floor came from the second floor.

Dashing up the stairs. I stumbled into my teacher, pulling a table out of a room. "Let me help you," I grabbed the opposite end. At the count of three, we lifted the table off the ground and crab-walked towards the stairs.

"Ok, now what?" Ms. Rose asked.

"Madam, wait a moment. We will get some of the guys working at the stables to help us out." Annie shouted from the bottom of the staircase.

"Don't worry. We can figure out how to bring this down by ourselves. Don't bother them."

"Madam, you're going to end up hurting yourself. Please, the guys can help." The maids begged.

"Let the guys come over to help. Because I, for one, am not fond of physical labor." Ms. Rose huffed. "That's one of the reasons I became a teacher." She added with a smirk.

⚜⚜⚜

The cool early spring air caressed my skin and ruffled my hair as we sat in the yard. Enveloped in the sun's warmth. I gazed at the thousands of small morning dew diamonds scattered through the grass as birds serenaded me with their melodious song. It's such a beautiful morning, I thought with a smile.

A muted thud came from the other side of the table. "Now, let's start with mathematics today." Ms. Rose placed another book in front of her. "Were you able to complete your worksheets?"

"Yes, ma'am." I handed her the worksheets.

"Good, and did you have difficulty understanding this section?" she asked while her eyes scanned the papers.

"Well, it was difficult. But I was able to push through."

"Ok, well, let's see how you did." After reviewing my answers, Ms. Rose set the papers on the table.

"Well?" I asked, inching forward in my seat.

She pressed her lips together and shook her head.

"Oh, no, I'm sorry. I'm such a failure." My back slumped, and in an attempt to hide the oncoming tears, I dropped my gaze to my lap.

"No, no. There's no shame in failing. We all fail a couple of times in life. What's important is to learn from them and keep going." She patted my back and added, "It's also important to know when to ask for help. I asked you yesterday if you needed me to explain this to you."

"I know, but we were so busy with the other subjects, and if I asked you to explain it to me, you would have been here till sundown. I would have inconvenienced you, and besides, I don't like to bother people. I'm used to figuring things out on my own."

"It's no bother, and we all need help from time to time." She shook my shoulder. "Now, come on, let's see what went wrong and try again."

The sun had risen to the middle of the sky when we had to carry our chairs back to the dining room for lunch.

With a huff, the chair was placed on the floor. Sinking into the seat, I stretched out my legs and said, "We can't keep going on like this. We're in dire need of more furniture."

Ms. Rose sprawled on her chair and fanned herself with her hand. "You don't say," she smirked.

We erupted in laughter.

"We are having a pleasant time today," commented Benjamin from his place at the doorframe.

"Yes, we are, now that you're here," I said with a sickly-sweet smile plastered across my face.

He huffed. "Butt kisser," he mumbled in mock annoyance.

His comment made me burst into laughter once again.

After eating the mouthwatering beef roast prepared by the kitchen staff. I continued with my studies until there wasn't enough sunlight to see my handwriting on the notebook.

Ms. Rose huffed and puffed as we carried our chairs back to the dining room for the second time that day. "I'm sorry, darling. But you have to do something about this."

Brigitte and Annie hummed in approval as they carried the table behind us.

"But I don't know where to get furniture. Apart from that, I will be spending the duke's money. I don't know if I can do that."

"You can ask Mr. Benjamin. I'm sure he can help you with that," Brigitte suggested.

"But he's very busy. I don't think he has the time to help me with this. I don't want to overwork him, especially when furnishing the house is not his job. It's the duty of the lady of the house." I argued, too aware of my endless shortcomings.

"Darling, ask him for his help. Remember, there is no shame in asking for help." Ms. Rose reminded me.

"But, what if he says no."

"I don't think that's likely since you're the duchess, but if he does say no. Then that's alright. It's not the end of the world. Besides, he's a very reasonable man. If he says no, then there must be a reason for that. You can ask him what that is, and depending on what he says, you can both work on it."

Annie and Brigitte nodded their heads and hummed in approval once again.

⚜⚜⚜

I tapped my quill against my propped-up knee as I revised my letter on the couch. Opened envelopes littered the office floor, and a tower of letters stood tall on the desk.

Its twin claimed the left corner of the coffee table close to my feet. "What do you think?" My eyes scanned through my words as I walked to the desk.

Adrenaline shot up my veins as Benjamin took my letter in his hands and surveyed my handiwork. "Very good. Ms. Laney will be so touched when she reads this letter." He smiled.

"I hope she will find some relief in my words,"

"She will." He patted my hand and continued writing.

Benjamin and I hunched over our sheets of paper, completely focused on our task. We were so absorbed in the work that we jumped in our seats when the clock chimed twelve.

"We should take a break." Benjamin stretched his back, and his spine popped.

"Ok." After finishing my last sentence, I placed the quill on its holder. Should I do what Ms. Rose suggested and ask Benjamin?

"What are you mulling over, madam? Would you like to say something?" He asked with mirth in his eyes.

My jaw dropped. "How did you know?"

He chuckled. "You pucker your lips and get this silly look like you're arguing with yourself inside your head. You do that every time you're contemplating something, and you were staring at me while you were doing that, so." He smiled.

I let out a small laugh. "Well, you caught me. Yes, I would like to ask you something." Taking a breath of courage, I said, "As you know. This manor is kind of lacking when it comes to furniture. To the point that we don't have enough chairs for more than three people in this house. So, I was wondering, could we furnish this place a little bit more? You know. So that we don't have to go out on a full-scale hunt for a spare chair every time someone decides to stay for dinner."

Benjamin's face lit up with excitement, and suddenly he was on his feet. "Oh, yes, madam. I would love to help you with that. I've been asking Iskander to furnish this house for years. It's so depressing to live in an almost empty house." His hands skimmed through one of the bookshelves and pulled out a leather-bound notebook. "I have the names and addresses of some woodworkers, stonemasons, ceramists, textile artists, horticulturists, and painters in the area that we can call." He flipped through the deckled pages. "If you would like, we can get started right away."

"Oh, um, alright, b-but shouldn't we consult this with the duke first? It's his money, after all."

"He has been hoarding his money for years. He can afford to spend a few on this manor. Besides, his assets are your assets, as well now, and this house is in dire need of some tender love and care. It's no problem." He grinned.

Following that conversation, we spent the rest of the week planning and enlisting the help of various workers for the manor's remodeling project.

⚜⚜⚜

The sounds of knocking at the front door echoed around the house. Footsteps from what I could guess to be one of the servants went towards the entrance, and I hastened my pace. Coming to the door just in time, I yanked it open, and the mail courier greeted me with a letter in his hands.

"I got another letter!" I yelled towards the inside of the house and turned back to the courier to take the letter from his waiting hands. "Thank you, Will."

"You're welcome, Your Grace. It came from the battlefront. I hope it's good news." The young man smiled and bowed his head. "Have a blessed day."

Benjamin walked out of the hallway and rushed to my side.

"Is it from him again?"

My heart quickened its pace as I tore the envelope open. "It seems like it."

The handful of servants peering at us from a distance huddled around me when I waved them over.

Benjamin's eyes scanned the letter as he stated what he already knew. "It's from him."

"Yes." A smile broke across my face. Only to drop in a matter of a second. "Oh, he's sick."

"He's never done well with the winter chill. Ever since he was a child." Benjamin commented while he read over my shoulder.

"It's been a month, so I hope he's better by now," I muttered.

Compelled to figure out if he was better. I immediately went to his office and sat down at his desk to write my reply.

⚜⚜⚜