Page 16 of A Bride for the Cruel Duke (Claimed by Regency Devils #1)

Chapter Sixteen

I t was the following morning and Anthony once again found himself waiting in the breakfast room for his wife, and after how well last night had gone, he had to admit that more than a small part of him was looking forward to seeing her.

“Good morning.” Caroline appeared in the doorway to the breakfast room.

“Good morning.” He rose when he saw her. “How did you sleep?”

“Well,” she said with a slight smile; the morning sun shone across the room, illuminating her features in a way that wasn’t at all unpleasant. “I suspect being filled with five pounds of food was the cause.”

He exhaled sharply from his nose in agreement. “As did I. Hopefully, your appetite has not vanished entirely.” He gestured to the table where a plate of food had already been set.

“So long as there isn’t any pork,” she said as she approached the table.

Anthony chuckled. “I was surprised to hear that there was anything left for us to eat at all. After how much you consumed last night. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that before.”

“Me!” she pretended to look upset. “You ate nearly twice as much as I did.”

“I am nearly twice your size, and even I was struggling toward the end.”

She looked at him flatly. “Very amusing.”

They ate in silence for a few moments, but it wasn’t tense like it might have been. The silence felt companionable, almost natural, suggesting that, finally, they were getting used to one another. And not just used to the other, but accepting of the company. Dare I say it, this is beginning to feel like a marriage.

As they ate, Anthony tried his best not to study his wife, for he found that whenever he looked at her his stomach tied itself into knots. It was strange to sit across from a person who wasn’t actively trying to leave as quickly as they could, who didn’t tremble in his presence. Who might have even enjoyed sitting across from him.

“I was hoping I might ask of you a favor,” she spoke eventually, finishing her eggs with a satisfied sigh.

“I am surprised that you are asking.”

She tittered. “I wasn’t going to, but I am trying this new thing where I at least try not to anger you with everything that I say.”

“I don’t think it’s possible,” he chuckled.

“Let me know, won’t you,” she shot back with a coy smile. “As much as I enjoy fighting with you, it does get rather tiresome.”

Anthony couldn’t help but smile. “Ask me what you will.”

“I was hoping to visit my family today.” She picked up her glass of juice, holding his eyes as she sipped from it. “I know it has been but a day, but I would very much like to see them.”

“Oh…” Anthony blinked, surprised by the simplicity of the request. Although he no longer thought that Caroline was being purposefully combative or trying to push his buttons for the mere sake of it, he was still used to this being her natural state of being. As if she could not help it, just as he could not help falling into her traps. But this… it was such a small thing that he didn’t really know what to say. “That is all?”

“Were you expecting something else?”

“No…” He considered carefully. “I have told you already what this marriage is. You are not my prisoner. You are not in servitude to me. You are free to go where you wish, when you wish to. All I ask in return?—”

“Is for a child.” She cocked an eyebrow at him, slightly combative, but the smirk she wore told him she was only teasing.

“For peace and quiet,” he countered, returning the smirk. “Which I suppose having you out of the house for the day will achieve perfectly.”

She shook her head and laughed. “I will be back by this evening, do not fear.”

“So long as you are,” he said. “I was thinking that again, we might spend the evening together.”

“Oh?” She looked at him curiously. “Is this another one of your… how did you put it? Chances?”

“Do I need an excuse to want to spend the evening with my wife?”

“In this instance, yes you do.”

He laughed. “Then consider is so. After how well last night went, I would be a fool not to press my advantage.”

“Is that how you read last night? As it going well?”

“I did.” He looked right at her. “Unless I was wrong to do so.”

Caroline looked away sheepishly and he saw come color rise in her cheeks. This was all the confirmation he needed, that indeed last went had gone as well as it could have. And further to that point, tonight would be the same.

And just as I was this morning, I am looking forward to it.

* * *

Caroline’s visit with her family was a typically tumultuous experience. But what else could she have expected?

Her older brother, Daniel, was giving her the silent treatment, apparently still vexed with how this marriage had come about, treating it as a scourge upon the family name while furious that his own authority in the matter had been usurped. That wasn’t to say that he avoided Caroline entirely but chose to sit there the whole time and glare at her.

Her younger sister, Eveline, seemed intent on pushing Daniel’s buttons, trying to coax him into snapping at her by questioning why he was behaving in such a surly manner while also implying she might ask the duke to come and give him a talking to.

The youngest of the lot, Iris, was still upset that she was the cause of the marriage alliance, and she spent the entire time hiding behind her mother and refusing to so much as look at Caroline.

While Caroline’s mother, in a bid to pretend that everything was normal and without incidence was even more flamboyantly noisy than usual, speaking at a rate of knots, carrying on as if the marriage had been her idea all along and how wonderful it was that everything had worked out for the best.

It was a long and tiring morning, during which Caroline barely got two words in. She was asked many questions, but before she was able to answer, her mother would either cut her off or Eveline would say something inappropriate. So chaotic was the morning that it wasn’t until Caroline found herself alone with her sister, Aurelia, pulled into her older sister’s bedroom with the door locked behind them, that she was finally able to breathe.

“I bet you are regretting this little visit,” Aurelia laughed as she locked the door and waltzed toward her bed, where she collapsed in a heap.

“I used to hate being treated as if I were invisible,” Caroline admitted as she sat herself down on the chair by the bed. “Now, I find myself missing it.”

“Ha!”

“But what of you?” Caroline asked, wishing to turn the conversation to anyone but herself. “How have you been?”

“No, no.” Aurelia waved a finger at her. “Do not think that because we are alone I am going to let you off. It did not escape my notice that you answered next to none of mother’s questions just now and where she might be happy to carry on as if the world is turning and the sun is shining, I am not so easy to dodge.”

Caroline pushed her lips together. “I really would rather not talk about it.”

“And I would rather have a mother who does not treat me as if she did not give birth to me but rather that I appeared on the doorstep one night by mistake. So, come now...” Aurelia folded her arms and raised an eyebrow at Caroline. “How is it? Tell me everything.”

Aurelia and Caroline had always been the closest of the six children, and if there was anybody in whom Caroline could confide, it was her. In this instance, however, Caroline wasn’t so certain that she wanted to. Part shame. Part embarrassment. While knowing too that her situation was beyond her sister’s understanding—and even if she wanted to divulge, she had no idea where she would even begin!

It had been a constant battle raging inside of Caroline these past few days. One she wasn’t so sure she was winning. Or if she could win. Or what victory might even look like!

Still, she clung to the foolish notion that it was wrong to desire her husband the way she knew that she did. She felt dirty when she considered it. She felt morally abhorrent. She felt as if she was doing and wanting something that was wrong! And she knew not how to get past these feelings.

But she supposed that was the entire point of the deal that she had made with Anthony. Wasn’t it? To develop a relationship before they slept together. Even if it wasn’t nearly that simple. Anthony wanted an heir. She wanted companionship. Somehow, they had found a middle ground where they might both get what they wanted. Assuming nothing went wrong in the meantime.

It was all very confusing for her. Mostly because the more time she spent with Anthony, the more she enjoyed his company. And because of this, she was beginning to consider the very real possibility that this marriage might be more than one of mere convenience—everything Anthony had done so far suggested it could be. And because of this, she had even begun to wonder if she would be able to last through Anthony’s ‘five chances’ before giving in to her urges and letting him have her completely.

“It is fine,” she said simply, an answer which she saw immediately was not to her sister’s liking. “It has only been two days! Far too soon to have formed an opinion.”

Aurelia blew through her lips. “I would have thought an hour with the man would have told you everything you needed to know.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, come now...” Aurelia raised an eyebrow. “The Cruel Duke. That name did not materialize out of thin air. He has it for good reason, and I would have thought that by now you would have experienced firsthand what that reason is.”

“Oh...” Caroline blinked in surprise. “I... no. That isn’t at all what has happened.”

“Do not get me wrong,” Aurelia hurried. “It is not as if I want you to suffer, and I am glad that so far you have not. But... well...” Her expression turned worried. “You’re my sister, Caroline and I fear for you.”

“There is no reason for such a thing.”

“Is there not?” she pressed. “I wish to believe you, but then why the moniker? Why does everyone turn pale when his name is mentioned? And why are you the only one who doesn’t look as if they might wet themselves when they are around him!”

Aurelia had every right to be concerned about Caroline’s safety. Indeed, if the situation was reversed, Caroline would feel the same way. Based on what people said of Anthony, he was a terror unlike any other and no woman would count herself lucky to find themselves trapped in a marriage with him. How wrong they all are.

He wasn’t at all what people said. Yes, he was a little emotionally distant. And perhaps his temper could be a little short at times. But these last two days, Caroline had seen a new side to him, one that she was very much growing to like. She had seen a kindness in him. A caring heart. Dammit, he was the first person she had ever met who asked her questions about herself—who noticed her where others had not.

That did of course raise the question. Why the moniker at all? It must have come from somewhere. It wasn’t a fabrication borne from nothing. Was there more to Anthony than she had seen? Or was the Anthony she knew all a facade?

She needed to find out. And I will, even if it breaks apart this marriage and what it has slowly started to transform into. Whatever the cost, Caroline needed to know the truth. Thus, she determined that whatever it was that Anthony had planned for them this evening, she would broach the topic, and then deal with the consequences. Whatever they may be.

However, when she did return, it was just in time to see a pianoforte being delivered, as promised to her the previous evening. This had her smiling as she remembered the promise made, now given, and how kind he had been to grant her such a thing. He is so much kinder than people say. But then why the name? Why the rumors? Who is my husband truly?

It was time she found out.