Page 58 of A Duchess Mistaken
Lord and Lady Reeds seemed very irritated with those words, grumbling to each other. Agnes ignored them.
“Do you know what is on the menu?” Agnes asked her brother.
“Not yet,” he said, then he looked up at the pub owner who was still anxiously hovering over them. “Tell me, good sir, what is the best meal offered at this fine establishment?”
The pub owner flushed at the mention of his pub as a ‘fine establishment.’ He cleared his throat. “Well, I would recommend the lamb roast and meat pie.”
Agnes perked up the same time Christopher’s head swiveled towards the man. “Meat pie?” they both said in unison.
Agnes looked at the duke’s brother in surprise. “Do you like meat pie as well?”
“Like?” he echoed. “I adore it! I cannot imagine a single thing on this earth I enjoy more than a good meat pie. I reckon I may be able to eat it every day for the rest of my life.”
“As could I!” Agnes agreed heartily. “When I was younger, I would always try to convince our cook to serve meat pie every day. It worked, sometimes.”
“How did you do that?” Christopher asked. He leaned forward with interest. “Tell me your secrets so that I may apply the same practice to our cook at Claymore Castle.”
She mimicked him with a wicked gleam in her eyes. “I took to bribing him.”
“Did it work?” Mary interjected in an idle tone.
“Nice try, Mother, but Cook would never accept it. If he did give in to my pleas, it was only out of pity or exhaustion, but never because I offered him anything worth taking.”
“Bribing,” Christopher said, testing the word on his tongue. “Why did that not cross my mind?”
“You will not attempt to bribe our cook,” Johnathan spoke up. Though his words were serious, his tone was light with humor.
“No, no, brother, of course not. I would not dream of it.” He winked at Agnes and she laughed.
Johnathan chuckled. He seemed to be the only one who remembered that the pub owner was still waiting because he turned to him and said, “Bring me several servings of each dish.”
“Yes, Your Grace.” And the pub owner was off.
Agnes realized suddenly that Caroline was quiet, observing the banter between her and Christopher with slight interest. This was her chance. Everyone was together at the table, spirits were high—save for the dour couple still sulking on the other end—and both Caroline and Christopher seemed to have droppedtheir guards. What better time to show everyone what a splendid match they would make than now?
“Did you know, Christopher,” Agnes began, “that Caroline is quite a natural cook?”
Christopher’s brows raised just as Caroline’s eyes widened. “Is she now?” he said with surprise.
“An unusual skill for a genteel lady, yes, but she so adores baking and cooking. And I have had the pleasure of sampling her meat pie. It was quite lovely.”
“Agnes,” Caroline murmured. She glanced nervously at her uncle. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing,” Agnes said innocently. “I am only boasting about my dear friend, something I do not believe I will grow tired of.”
She kicked Johnathan discreetly under the table. Without hesitation, he said, “I can only imagine how lovely it would be to return home from a ride to such a hearty meal made with love. Wouldn’t that be nice, Christopher?”
“Why, yes, I do believe so,” Christopher responded bemusedly.
“Is that not odd?” Agnes said. “Sometimes I wonder if you two would make a much better match.”
She laughed, kicking Johnathan lightly again. It might not have been as light as she attempted it to be because he winced before saying, “I am beginning to wonder the same thing myself.”
Caroline’s only response to that was to frown at Agnes as if she was trying to figure her out. Agnes only gave her a small smile.
“Enough talk about matches,” Paul spoke up. “I want to know what happens during the summer festival in the village. I have heard tales about such activities in London but I have never gotten the chance to attend one myself.”
“For good reason,” Agnes said. “Letting you loose in such a place would be nothing but chaos.”
