Chapter 495
[ 527 words ]
Chapter 495:
Caroline sat back down on the sofa, unfazed. “And what is the lady of the manor supposed to do all day? Sit around and plan parties? Go shopping?” She shook her head. “Is that what you want for me, General? To be a pretty, useless doll?”
He was momentarily speechless. He’d never considered it from that angle. “You… you could learn to manage the staff,” he sputtered, trying to regain his footing. “That’s a significant responsibility.”
“I’m sure it is,” she said, her tone gentle but firm. “But I prefer to do things myself. I like creating value with my hands, not just telling other people what to do.”
She saw the look of consternation on his face and decided to offer a compromise. She held up her hands in a gesture of surrender. “Okay, okay. I promise I will never, ever do my own laundry. The laundry room is all yours. Deal?”
𝗬𝗈𝘂r 𝖽𝘢𝗂𝗹𝘆 d𝘰𝘀e о𝗳 𝗇𝗼v𝖾𝘭𝗌 𝘰𝗻 𝗀𝗮l𝘯o𝘷𝘦𝗹s.соm
He looked at her, at the mischievous sparkle in her eyes, and the scowl on his face melted away. A low chuckle rumbled in his chest. He sighed, a sound of complete and utter defeat. He was hopelessly, irrevocably charmed by this girl. She didn’t just fit into their world; she was quietly, stubbornly, reshaping it to fit her. And he found he didn’t mind at all.
The General watched her, the firelight playing across her face, highlighting the exhaustion that still lingered in the fine lines around her eyes. A wave of fierce, paternal affection washed over him. This girl had been through so much. She had faced down death, navigated the viper’s nest of his family, and endured his grandson’s volatile temperament, all with a quiet strength that humbled him.
“That soup was wonderful, Agnes,” Caroline said, breaking the comfortable silence. She turned to the General, a playful glint in her eye. “But it’s not as good as my beef stew.”
The General’s eyebrows shot up. He leaned forward, instantly intrigued, like a child promised a new toy. “Is that so?”
“It is,” she said with absolute confidence. “I’ll make it for you tomorrow. For lunch.” She held up a single finger. “But you have to promise me you’ll eat a whole bowl. A big one.”
He clapped his hands together once, a gesture of pure delight. “It’s a deal!”
“Good,” she said, her tone shifting, becoming firm and businesslike. “And in return, you have to promise me you’ll go upstairs to bed. Right now.”
He opened his mouth to protest, to argue that it was barely past midnight, but she fixed him with a look, the no-nonsense, unarguable look of a nurse dealing with a difficult patient.
His protest died in his throat. A weary sigh escaped him. “It’s this damned arthritis in my knee,” he admitted, his voice dropping, the bluster gone. “And the worry. Haven’t been able to lie down for more than an hour at a time for days.”
He realized what he’d said, how much vulnerability he’d just exposed. He immediately tried to take it back, his voice rising to its customary parade-ground volume. “Not that it matters! In the trenches, we’d go three days without sleep and still fight! This is nothing!”
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