Page 44 of A Bride for the Cruel Duke

“Worried, were we?” she chided.

“It is a rather large home,” he said. “I thought perhaps you had become lost. I was ready to send out a search party.”

“No need to worry,” she said. “Where indeed the home is large, all I had to do was follow my nose.” She sniffed the air. “What was it you compared me to once? A stray dog?”

“A stray dog would have been here on time,” he joked. “Nor would it look as good as you do.”

She looked away, feeling her cheeks flush at the compliment. Such a small thing but it was so rare for anyone to comment on her looks, and she could probably count on one hand how often it had happened.

“Speaking of food,” she then started, changing the subject. “What is it that…” She trailed off when Anthony stepped to the side and revealed the spread that sat on the dining room table.

She had never seen so much food before. And such variety. From one end to the other, every inch of the table was covered, and with every dish imaginable.

Roasted chicken and duck. Baked pork and ham. Mutton chops, lamb, steaks, brisket, sausages and goose and indeed any meat she might think of. There were vegetables too, cooked in a hundred different ways. And soups and breads and pots filled with different types of stews which bubbled and hissed as steam wafted from inside.

Her jaw dropped as she stared.

“I take that to mean you are hungry?”

“What is this?” She edged closer to the table, her tummy rumbling.

“Dinner,” Anthony said simply as he came in behind her. He stood closer to her, his body mere inches away. She could feel his breath on the back of her neck, and she shuddered and had to fight the urge to lean back.

“What is that saying?” she said, forcing herself to step around him so as not to be too close. “The way to a woman’s heart is through her stomach. I see what you are doing.”

He shrugged. “My thinking is that as you live here now, it would do to have an understanding of what foods you do and do not enjoy eating. So, I have had the cooks whip up every dish they can think of.”

She snorted. “And we are to what? Eat it all?”

A slight smile, the most he would ever give her. “We are to sample one of everything, together. Starting from the end of the table, we will work our way down. Think of it as a game.”

“A game?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

“Not a race, but a test of...” He considered. “Of endurance. We eat until we cannot stomach anymore. The first one to stop loses.”

“Loses?” She shook her head. “And what does the winner get?”

“Whatever they desire.”

She rolled her eyes. “Ah, now I understand, Your Grace —”

“Anthony,” he cut her off. “Call me Anthony.”

“Oh...” She blinked, surprised, and a little bit thrilled by the formality. “Anthony,” she said. “You intend to simply out eat me and then as a prize demand that I give you an heir, I must say, I am disappointed in your unoriginality.”

“You misunderstand me,” he said. “And frankly, we really need to work on your trust issues. I was being serious when I said that I wanted to give you a chance to get to know me better, and I feel that I have done nothing to prove otherwise so far.” He raised an eyebrow at her.

“Oh…” She winced with embarrassment. “I… I suppose you are right. For now, anyway.” She raised an eyebrow back, determined not to appear as if she was giving in.

He is right, however, and perhaps it is time I stop being do distrusting. At the very least I need to give him a chance. Isn’t this what I wanted in the first place?

She looked back over the table of food and then dared to look at her husband. He was dressed in a dark suit, all black, which matched him perfectly. As always, there was a sinister nature to the man, a sort of danger which she sensed that he liked others to feel when around him. But there was something else...

There was a smile behind his eyes and on his lips. The suggestion that he was looking forward to this. That he was even excited. Again, she thought to this morning and how he had treated her, and now, not presumptive or overly charming. Kind and concerned, instead. It was a side to him that she was seeing more of, the complete antithesis to everything she had thought she’d known about him.

Despite herself, Caroline felt her excitement grow as she started to believe that maybe, just possibly, there was more to this marriage than she had expected…so much more.

“Shall we begin?” Anthony said, walking down the end of the table.

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