“He has only been dead for a couple days,” Christiana pointed out in her own defense.

“I know that,” she assured her solemnly. “But his death freed you from a cage of sorts. You should be fluttering about like mad, happy to be loose.

Instead you are still trying to be the proper little lady he insisted you should be. There is no sparkle in your eye, no bubbly chatter, no running about barefoot under your gown as you used to.” She used her hold on Christiana’s hair to tilt her head to meet her gaze, “And you stood there wooden as a doll when Lord Radnor kissed you before leaving this morning. Tell me you didn’t want to kiss him back. I could tell you did. Your hands balled up into fists to avoid the temptation and you swayed, and then caught yourself. You wanted to kiss him, didn’t you?”

Christiana blushed. “Yes, but it is daytime and I was not sure a proper lady would—”

“No man wants a proper lady in his bedroom, or in his house for that matter,” Grace assured her dryly. “Certainly, be proper when out in society, but you need not be so proper at home around him. Do you think your mother was always the proper lady? No, she wasn’t. Where do you think you learned to run about barefoot in the first place?”

Christiana’s eyebrows rose. She had only been five when her mother died and didn’t recall much of her. She hadn’t realized her mother had run about the estate barefoot.

“If you want marriage with a man who loves you, then you have to be the true you, not some proper lady you think he wants. That is the game Di—

George played to convince you to marry him. Do not play that game with Richard. Be yourself,” she said firmly.

“What if he does not like the real me?” Christiana asked unhappily.

“Then we shall pray he drops dead like George did and find you a man who will,” Grace said stoutly.

“Grace!” Christiana cried with shock.

“Oh, you know I am teasing,” Grace muttered, urging her to lean back so she could rinse her hair. “Do not worry about his not liking the real you. That won’t happen, my lady. Take it from me, you are easy to love.”

Christiana opened her eyes and met Grace’s gaze. She would have hugged the woman for the kind words if she weren’t reclining in the tub as the woman poured water over her hair to rinse away the soap. The best she could do was reach up and squeeze her arm affectionately. She then quickly closed her eyes as the soapy water splashed toward them and murmured, “I love you too, Grace.”

The maid “hrrumphed” at the words and continued rinsing her hair.

Christiana remained silent for a moment, her thoughts on how she had behaved this last year, and more importantly, the last few days with Richard. She wasn’t as miserable as she had been with George, in fact, she hadn’t felt a moment’s misery since the man had died, but she had still felt slightly restricted and tried to temper her behavior. Well, except for when she’d grown impatient back at Radnor when Richard had been hustling her back to the carriage and not listening to her. Biting her lip at the recollection, Christiana blurted, “I yelled at him at Radnor.”