To Deceive A Duke

Chapter 36

Out of Daniel's forty-five house staff, zero of them know about the true nature of his business. He explained to her that he keeps his two lives incredibly separate and that in this house he is simply the Duke of Richmond and not a dangerous black-market criminal. Any work that is related to The City, Whitechapel and his people is conducted out of the house and away from the prying eyes of the maids. Therefore, within Lygon Place, Clarissa must act the proper duchess and wife that she is pretending to be. As time goes on she hopes that this will become easier as relationships naturally break down so the staff will not suspect if she and the duke grow distant, and with so many rooms she will surely find one to be herself in. For now, however, their act needs to be kept strong. 

"This is our floor," Daniel tells her as they reach the top of this set of stairs. 

Clarissa does a double-take, halting on the top step, "I am sorry? Did you say our floor?"

She glances around the third-floor landing, noticing the lack of paintings and portraits that adorn the walls of the other floors. These are then cast into darkness as Daniel walks a few paces down the corridor that runs the full length of the house. He turns around when he realises she isn't at his side, the light shows the annoyance on his face. 

"Why do you need a whole floor for our rooms?" She asks, catching up to him.

He shrugs, "It was the way it was designed," 

Clarissa scoffs, how ridiculous, what sort of person needs that much space? She decides not to comment and continues walking after him until he stops in the centre of the corridor.

"There's a wall here that splits this floor in two," He tells her before pointing to the right, "This side of the wall is all yours and the left side is mine." 

Clarissa blinks up at him in shock. She had expected that she would have bigger quarters than her old room, but half a floor? She looks down the corridor and in the dull light, can make out the outline of several doors on both sides. Daniel heads to the right and stops at the last set of doors before the end of the corridor.

He points to the single door opposite, "This is the door to your maid's quarters, Mrs Hill made sure that she settled in this morning." He turns to the set of double doors on the left wall, and says, "This is the main door to your quarters. The other doors lead directly to your other rooms but you can access them all through this door," 

"Why doesn't Alice sleep in the servants quarters?" Clarissa asks, glancing at the closed door. 

"This house is very old, it's the way it was I suppose, the mistress of the house needed her personal servants in close proximity," Daniel says, adjusting his arm so he can see her better. She nods and turns towards her own rooms. When she realises that he is waiting for her to open them, she places both hands on the two knobs and turns them. Clarissa feels her mouth fall open as she steps over the threshold and into her new room. 

This room is twice the size of her old bedroom and decorated beautifully. Her feet make no sound as she walks across the thick cream carpet, to stand in the middle of the room. A four-poster bed with stunning pale blue curtains rests against the right wall and roses have been carved into the wood of the headboard and columns. The sheets are an icy blue and an arrangement of white, blue pillows and cushions have been placed at the head of the bed. At the foot of the bed is a solid chest, covered by a matching throw. 

Clarissa turns away and her eyes travel over the collection of chairs that face the fireplace opposite the bed. These cosy white chairs surround a small tea table on top of a thick fur rug, and above the fireplace is an oil painting of London in the winter. A few meters to the left of the fireplace is a wide archway that leads into the next room but she is too in awe of her bedroom to explore more of her quarters. Three long windows, framed by floor-length sheer white curtains run the width of the room, opposite the door, and compliment the baby blue colour of the walls. In the corner, to the right of the fireplace, is a collection of drawers made of the same polished dark wood with vases of white roses on the top.