Page 44 of Married to the Cruel Duke

She hesitated. “Well, you may have heard that William and I are going to start having dinner together.”

“I did. I must say it is nice to see you two getting on.”

“Well, he mentioned that the duchess would usually put together the menus?” Rebecca tried to sound confident, but her voice came out small and unsure.

“That’s right. Did you want to try your hand at it?”

“Perhaps, but I wanted to learn a little more about it first. For example, what dishes the cook is comfortable with and how many dishes there should be.”

Mrs. Anderson nodded. “I have a book of all the recipes our cook normally does and if there is something you want and you don’t see it we can always talk to her about it. As for the amount of dishes, we have abasic template we can start with and we can always modify them if you see fit for any reason.”

“Can you show me those?”

“Of course.” Mrs. Anderson looked through a few of the books before handing her two of them. “There you are.”

“Thank you,” Rebecca took them, carefully opening the first one. “Goodness, there’s so many of them, I don’t know where to start.”

“Why don’t we set the meals aside and start by looking at the dinner outlines ? That way we can get an idea of what is needed for different occasions?”

“Yes, that seems like a good idea. I won’t lie, all of this is a bit overwhelming.”

“I can understand that, but it isn’t so bad once you break it down. It just takes time and patience.”

“I’m glad you have such faith in me, I’ll try not to let you down.”

“You won’t, I can promise you.”

Rebecca wanted to tell her that her hope was misplaced, that all she ever seemed to do was let people down, but she held it in. There was no point in letting all that out now. She just had to prove herself wrong. She couldn’t let them down, not after everything they had done for her.

So instead, she forced a smile. “Please show me where to start.”

Rebecca hadn’t realized just how many types of meals there were. Formal dinners, semi-formal dinners, family dinners, formal family dinners, it seemed endless. And that wasn’t to mention all the types of lunches, and teas, and even breakfasts.

“Goodness!” she gasped when there was a moment to breath.

“I know, but we can start small.”

“What did you have in mind?”

“Perhaps an informal lunch would be easier than a dinner.”

She frowned. “But who could I have for it? I think William is only free for dinners.”

“Why don’t you ask him ? It can’t hurt, now can it?”

“But I don’t want him to feel like he needs to find more time for me. He’s already done so much.”

“If he doesn't have time, he will tell you, but I don’t think it can hurt to ask.”

She hesitated for another moment, “I’ll think about it.”

“Please do.”

From there they spent some more time working out a basic lunch plan until Mrs. Anderson sat back with a satisfied smile.

“I must say, I feel like this went rather well, especially for your first time.”

“Thank you. I’m so glad you think so. Is this what we’ll have for lunch today then?”

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