Chapter 99
The time for dinner did not take long to arrive for the Duke. His busy schedule would make it so time flew without him noticing, and now, the time to deliver the request from the Royal Family and announce it to the rest of his family members had come.
As he was accustomed to, Orland arrived before everyone else in the Dining Hall. It was one of his pleasures to welcome each of his family members to their table. He preferred to wait for them than make them wait, making this custom one of the reasons he struggled a lot at the beginning of his daily meals with Marianne.
The Duke would always rush to her chambers, anxious about the thought of making her wait unnecessarily.
Now, he felt a certain peace for being the one waiting on her and his other children.
Soon, his wife and younger daughter arrived in the Dining Room.
In a joyous mood, Theressa entered the room along with her mother, who was still in a bit of a dazed state.
"Father! I hope you have had a wonderful day. I am so happy! You cannot imagine how I’ve missed our dinners together."
"Oh, dear... I’ve missed them too. Come quickly and take a seat with your Father. I want to see my little daughter up close. Elenaide... You too, come and take a seat, my wife."
Their meeting began with a nice ambience, thanks to the cheerful attitude Theressa was portraying after enjoying her dress’ fabrics selection. Although the Duchess was reticent to act as usual in front of her husband who had shaken her composure that morning, his thoughtful tone as he invited her to take her designated seat beside him, made her slightly relax and feel less conflicted under a confused mood.
Theressa began telling her father about the various materials she had been offered to make her dress with as he attentively listened to her energetic rambling, pleased to see that this time she wasn’t making trouble because of how unsatisfactory the products were.
Last time, she had huffed in dissatisfaction with the ones brought, and her capricious facet was put on complete exhibition during one of their dinners. Remembering how hard it was for his wife to placate her anger, made the relief to hear her current joy loosen his shoulders.
His youngest daughter was difficult to manage at times, but seeing how elated she became whenever she felt pleased was something that Orland would never get tired to witness.