Page 56 of A Bride for the Cruel Duke

“At least I can say one thing is true,” Roderick started again as he finished his ale and slammed the tankard down on the table. “Marriage has not changed you.”

“Is that right?”

“Ha!” Roderick laughed. “Not from where I am sitting. Still the same ice-cold prick you were before succumbing to the farce that is matrimony. Truth be told, I worried you might not come today...” He flashed his eyes mischievously. “Thought that perhaps your dear wife might have unmanned you.”

“As your fiancée has you?” Anthony shot back.

Roderick’s face dropped. “That is not—we are talking about you.”

“Are we now?” Anthony responded coolly. “Then why does it feel as if you are projecting? Is it possible that you, Roderick, are starting to fall for your betrothed? I thought it felt chilly today, a sure sign that hell has frozen over.”

Roderick scoffed. “Do not be absurd. If that was the case, then would I still be going through with my original plan? To marry Violet and then ship her off to her own estate, as far from me as possible?” He nodded rightly. “If it seems that I am eager for this marriage to happen, it is only so I can be done with it once and for all.”

“Sounds like a match made in heaven.”

“The woman is pretty enough, do not get me wrong….” He drifted off for a moment, and Anthony might have been imagining things, but he could have sworn he saw a smile on Roderick’s lips. “But to have her there, always hovering about. No thank you.”

“I am sure she says the same of you.”

Roderick barked a laugh. “I am sure that she does. Honestly, I am doing her a favor as much as anything. Ending up with me as a husband…” He shuddered. “I can’t imagine a worse fate. Well….” He smirked at Anthony. “That is, of course, with the exception of ending up with you as a husband.”

“How very droll.”

Anthony watched Roderick guzzle more ale, unable to hide his disgust… or perhaps that was pity? Hard to say, as Anthony wasn’t one to waste emotions worrying about a friend who would never do the same for him. But in this moment, he could not help but wonder at how Roderick was behaving, as he saw in his best friend a side to him which was as ugly as it was miserable.

Is that what I have in store for myself? If I continue to deny how I feel or question it? If I refuse to accept what Caroline and I might be, and why? Because I am afraid of being happy? What is even the point?

“And how is that pretty little wife of yours,” Roderick said.

“What?” Anthony stiffened.

Roderick waved him down. “A compliment, man. Do not get so stiff about it. She is a fine sort, I must admit. But be careful. Women like that, they know what they are doing. Little use to them, besides the obvious, but she will have you slobbering like a hungry pup if you don’t set ground rules early.” He chuckled. “Lord knows she’s probably as dull as a bowl of porridge, anyhow.”

Despite his best attempt, Anthony turned rigid to hear his wife spoken about like that. He knew deep down that he shouldn’t have cared what Roderick was saying, as he had once thought the same. Only now...

Is it still worth trying to convince myself that I don’t care about Caroline?

“Careful now, Roderick,” Anthony said with forced calm. “That is my wife you are speaking of.”

Roderick frowned as if in confusion. “Truly?”

“Truly,” Anthony said with a snarl. “Now, apologize. Before I make you.”

Roderick leaned back. “I was only speaking in jest, man! Just in jest.”

“Apologize,” he repeated.

“I am sorry…” He blew through his lips and then took another sip of ale. “A man makes a joke…”

“A joke is one thing, but you speak of my wife like that again and you will be sorry that you did.”

Yes, Anthony was falling for his wife and with that in mind, as he rode home from the gentleman’s club, he found his mood soaring like it never had before. What had started as a marriage of convenience had transformed into so much more; a marriage that had a real shot at being a happy one.

The only problem that Anthony could foresee now was the very real chance that he might screw it all up. Caroline still did not trust him fully. If he tried to force her in any way, she would assume his goals to be impure and rightly push him away—she had told him that she would, and he was inclined to believe her. Worse than that, if she did deny him and Anthony’s temper roared, that amorous lust which he had managed to keep tame for all this time, then he might just prove to her and himself that he was exactly what people said of him. The Cruel Duke, indeed.

He needed to tread carefully.And most importantly, if I find myself in a similar situation to last night, I cannot allow it to go too far.

That, Anthony knew, would be the hardest part of all.

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