Page 34 of A Treacherous Bet to Win a Duchess

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Tulk. Would you be willing to start right away? I’m sure Colin already informed you of this, but most of our kitchen staff has fallen ill. But we hope that one or two of them will be ready to resume work tomorrow morning.”

Laughter erupted from the other side of the room as Kenneth mimed being a rabbit.

“It is an honor to meet you, Your Grace. I hope my cooking will be to your liking. Might I ask how you managed luncheon if most of the kitchen staff are still unwell?”

Anthony found it difficult to concentrate on the task at hand due to the boisterous conversation happening on Kenneth’s side of the room.

“Hmm? Oh, yes. Well, we had some of our maids assist our governess in preparing the meal. I can have them assist you as well, Mr. uh…”

“Tulk.”

“Yes! Mr. Tulk. I am so sorry, I’m normally quite good with names. But I am finding myself somewhat disoriented at the moment due to today being most unusual.”

What on earth could Kenneth possibly be saying to make Miss Meyer laugh so much? I’ve known the man practically all my life, so I know for a fact that he isn’tthatfunny.

“It’s all right, Your Grace. I completely understand. I’ve had plenty of those days meself.”

“Tony, what on earth are you looking at?”

Colin’s question prompted Anthony to realize that he was staring at Kenneth and Miss Meyer. Endeavoring to cover up this fact, he answered, “So sorry, old boy. I thought that a wasp had gotten in somehow and was preparing to warn Kenneth and the ladies about it.”

This caused Colin and Mr. Tulk to look around the room, “Good heavens! A wasp? Where?”

“I am afraid that I have lost sight of it. Or perhaps I was mistaken. Where were we?”

And so it was agreed that Mr. Tulk would begin his duties at once. Anthony gave orders for Fletcher to help Mr. Tulk with his bags and to also write to the registry office that the position had now been filled.

With this matter settled, Anthony felt as though a hefty weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

“Thank you, Colin. You have saved me a great deal of trouble.”

“It is no problem at all, old boy. The idea came to me over breakfast this morning. I asked our chef if he could recommend anyone, and well, here we are.”

At this, Anthony turned to the group by the fireplace, “The sun has weakened a bit. Shall we go outside?”

* * *

“Lord Farellshire! You’re cheating!”

“Nonsense, Lady Cecilia. Precisely how can one cheat at Stone Paper Scissors?”

“You always wait for me to reveal my choice first, and then at the very last second you select a choice that beats mine!”

Colin interjected, “Now, now, you two. If you’re going to behave that way, might I suggest playing a different game?”

Anthony and Miss Meyer watched the petty conflict unfold. Again, he found that the afternoon sunshine really suited her. The past few days had been quite tumultuous to say the least, and he felt he needed to give her a proper apology.

“Miss Meyer, may I request a meeting with you tomorrow morning?”

“Of course, Your Grace.”

Even this simple interaction was enough to suddenly refill Anthony’s stomach with butterflies. He found this quite unnerving because even though he had heard about it from schoolmates and had read about it in books, he had never really experienced it himself.

“Ouch!” yelped Kenneth.

“What’s wrong, Kenny?”

“I think a cursed wasp stung me.”