"Quickly now, if cook doesn't see his helper right away, we will be lucky if we see lunch, and we can forget about breakfast."

The wispy young girl tied her apron around her waist with a yawn, hurrying from her room and down the hall toward the servants' staircase. "Sorry Matron, it won't happen again!"

Diana Teague sighed and closed the little kitchen girl's door with a muted thump. She said it would never happen again, but at least once a week, staying in bed would feel more important than her work, and someone would have to go and drag her from her bed. Luckily, Cook had a few other helpers, and breakfast would be on the table for his grace the same as it was every morning. Still, it was disrespectful to everyone else trying their best in the kitchens when one person came to their work whenever they felt like it.

As she had every time she walked through the servant quarters over the last few days, her eyes lingered on a door near the end of the hall. Nobody said a thing to her when a guard was ordered to gather Miss Joseph's things. If Matron had not seen strange items in the guards arms that she recognized as he walked past her, she might have thought the girl up and disappeared. That was not common, but in the manor of the cursed Duke, it was not entirely unheard of. Some of the young people listened to the rumors and thought that the curse would spread to them if they got too close. Ridiculous. She had worked in the manor her whole life, first as a scullery maid and over the years working up to the matron of all the staff. Although she would not show any of the young ones her bare skin, she could assure them that it was unblemished and curse free. Miss Joseph had not seemed at all worried about such things, so it did not make sense that she would run away because of it. But why had his grace moved all of her things somewhere else?

After leaving the servants quarters, Matron Teague hurried around the manor, making sure everything was running as it should be before gathering up the weekly bills and going to Duke Berber's office to have him sign off on the expenses. While standing in front of his desk, she mustered up the courage to ask, "Sir, might I inquire as to where Miss Joseph has gone? Her quarters are empty, and nobody has said a thing to me..."

The duke looked up at her, and she could not see his eyes from where her eyes were glued to his desk, but she could feel his good humor. "I have moved her into my quarters. I have need of her there, and it seemed like a waste of energy to have a guard escorting her around the building."

"But...sir! She is no longer a young girl but she can't stay in an unmarried man's quarters! She won't be able to find someone who would agree to marry her later on!" Her mind caught up to his words, and she could not help but look up at him in confusion. "Why would she need to be escorted by a guard?"

"Look at me, Matron Teague. What do you see?" Duke Berber reclined in his seat and watched her as she hesitantly drew her eyes across his features. For the first time in as long as she could remember, the man did not have his hair hanging across his face. It was pulled back by a velvet ribbon and hung draped across his shoulder. Her eyes finally stopped when they got to the side of his face and then dropped to his neck.

"Your grace! The markings! They have retreated!" The dark lines no longer covered his neck and the outer edges of his face. In fact, they barely peeked out from above his collar. "But how, sir?"

"It would appear that Miss Joseph harbors some secrets. As long as she spends the night near me, she reverses the effects of the curse for a short amount of time." He leaned forward again, signing his name at the bottom of another paper.

"But, your grace, why does she need a guard? Surely, nobody here would wish her ill if she is helping you so much!" Matron Teague wrung her hands in front of her. "And what will your betrothed say about you keeping another woman in your bedroom? Not that it is my business, I beg your forgiveness."

"The saintess will have her own quarters, as most noble wives do. But I imagine she would be thrilled that someone else is taking some of the work away from her in the manor."

"Work... you don't mean..." a wrinkled hand dashed to cover her mouth in shock. "Sir, think of Miss Joseph's future!"

"Of for...not that kind of work, Matron Teague. I have no interest in that girl for anything like that. She is simply needed to cure me, and I believe she is doing it far better than the saintess could do, or would choose to." With a heavy scrawl, his name was put on the last of the bills, and they were handed back to Matron Teague. "Do not worry, Matron Teague. If Miss Joseph could improve the health of the Duke of Berber just by being nearby, she couldn't possibly have any issues with that, could she?"

He smiled at her, and for a moment, she was startled into silence. She hurried to take the papers and excused herself, leaving the office quickly and quietly. When she entered the hall and closed the door behind her, she let out a long sigh. It was good that his grace was feeling better. Less than a week had passed since Miss Joseph became his personal maid, and he was already looking healthier. His skin was glowing, his eyes no longer seemed to sink into his face, and his manners seemed much more pleasant and charming. If all that could be from just the help of Miss Joseph, then surely this old matron no longer had to worry about her noble charge and could concentrate on other things, like the arrival of Saintess Anna the next morning. There was much to do. The room needed to be aired out and given a final cleaning, for one, and that task could not be entrusted to anyone else without her direct supervision. She moved her old and tired feet as quickly as she could, summoning a few maids to help as she went.

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The next morning, before the sun would have completely cleared the treetops if there had not been so many clouds blocking it and it could be seen, a large but plain carriage pulled up to the front of the manor. A young runner was sent to fetch Matron Teague, who called out the alert to the staff to present themselves to the future lady of the manor. By the time a foot servant was sent out to the carriage with a large umbrella overhead to escort the saintess inside, all staff that were not tied up in something that could not be abandoned were lined up in two rows in the main hall. Only cook and the guards were excused, the first for obvious reasons involving cooking fires and breakfast prep, the others for security reasons. The saintess walked in the main doors slowly, her dark eyes looking around at everyone curiously. Upon seeing only staff waiting to greet her, she heaved a sigh of relief and broke out in a wide and sunny smile. It was clear that she was happier not having to greet his grace as soon as she walked in.

"Where shall I have my bags taken?" Her eyes settled on Matron Teague, who was leading the greetings for the group.

The old woman gestured to two more footmen to go out and get the bags before escorting the flaxen haired woman toward the great stair in the middle of the hall. The saintess did not ask any questions as they walked along. Her head tilted and turned with every step as though trying to take in everything at once.

"I will show you to the dining hall after you have had a chance to rest and freshen up," Matron Teague advised her in that kind voice of hers. "This afternoon, if you are up to it, I can take you on a tour of the manor so that you can begin to learn your way around."

"That would be nice. I am afraid I am no good with directions, and I will need quite a bit of help getting around. This manor is so large! I lived at the Basilica for over ten years, and as of the morning that I left there, I still would get lost going to rooms that I had been to hundreds of times before!"

The two talked comfortably as they walked up the several flights of stairs and down and along broad corridors with burgundy carpets along the center of their stone floors. As they approached the T intersection where they would turn left to enter the private wing of the lady of the manor, the sound of a door closing to the right drew their attention. The Duke of Berber strode down the hall, straightening his tie against his chest and buttoning up his vest to cover it. A scowl briefly passed his face upon seeing the slight blonde woman staring at him, but he smoothed it out quickly into a mask of neutrality.

"Saintess, I see that you have arrived in one piece. I trust that your journey was without trouble?"

"Yes, your grace," Anna responded, curtsying deeply and holding it until she was given permission to rise. She did not see the cold look that passed across the man's face, his face carefully blank when she was given leave and straightened herself upright once more. "Matron Teague was just showing me to my quarters."

"Good," he said shortly, flicking the long and carefully done braid that lay across his shoulder toward his back. "I will trust Matron Teague to help you settle in, and after a few days, she will show you what your responsibilities will be in the manor. If you would excuse me."

With not even a nod of his head, he walked away toward the more populated areas of the manor. Saintess Anna let out a held breath and patted her chest gently. "Oh my, he is certainly intense."

Matron Teague nodded mutely, holding her hand out to indicate that they should turn left and head for the quarters that the lady would be staying in. Being truthful, the old woman had never seen the duke behave so coldly to anyone before. Even when dealing with the intense pain brought on by the curse daily, he was always polite if distant, whether it be to visitors or staff. The betrothal was not his choice, a forced marriage arranged by the King, but even political marriages could end up fostering real feelings if given a chance. If the duke was going to be cold to his future wife, though, it might be many years if ever before that happened.

A brief tour of the lady's bedroom, sitting room, and solarium that all resided in her little wing had the young woman cheerful once more, and Matron Teague left her to rest after showing her how to summon a servant to assist her. A personal maid would be assigned once the lady was settled in so that she had a chance to interact with several of the young girls and decide which she felt most comfortable with. For the time being, they would rotate. With one last statement about breakfast being served in an hour, Matron Teague left the room and closed the door quietly behind her. A small smile crossed her face as she thought of having a cheerful and bright lady to serve. As she exited the lady's wing, the smile slowly slid off of her face. Across the way, down at the end of the duke's personal wing, a guard was standing at attention against the wall across from the duke's bedroom door. He did not look her way, even though she was not trying to mask the sound of her footsteps. For a moment, she looked at him and then turned to go back toward the center of the manor and the many things she needed to complete for the morning. As she walked, the conversation in the office the previous day entered her head, and she realized that the duke had not answered her question as to why Miss Joseph needed an escort. With that thought, she realized what it was about the guard that had bothered her. Rather than facing out into the hall to protect the little maid from anyone who meant to harm her, he had been facing the door, almost as if he was there to keep her from leaving...