Page 20 of The Duke's Spinster Bride
“I am not going to have you call me Your Grace or Duke Caverton for the rest of our lives. You can call me Frederick or Felty if you would rather. I hate all this titled nonsense.” He shuddered.
It was true. He loathed how the people of the ton bowed and scraped before him. He had always found the title of Duke to sit uncomfortably on his shoulders. He hated the way people seemed to expect him to be hard and arrogant as soon as they learned who he was.
“I think Frederick will be fine. Felty seems far too close to a nickname.” Lady Andrea made an addition to her papers.
“My cousins almost all call me Felty.” He pointed out.
“And I am not your cousin.” She retorted. “Are you hoping I will say you can call me Andrea?”
“Only if you want me to.”
“It seems rather intimate.”
“One would argue that marriage is rather intimate.”
“It will not be, not for us.”
“Does that mean we cannot even be friends?”
She surveyed him, an unreadable expression on her face. “Do you truly want such a thing?”
“Why not? It seems better than being constantly at one another’s throats.” He ran a hand through his hair.
“I suppose. We can at least aim for civility.” Lady Andrea chewed her lip thoughtfully.
“Very well.” He signed his name with a flourish and then gave her a mischievous smile. “As we have the formalities over and done with, we have no need to be serious.”
Andrea sighed. “Perhaps I should have dragged the process out a little longer.”
“Come now, in time you will come to adore my silly carefree ways. Who knows, maybe you will even pick up some of your own.” He chuckled to himself, the image of her being silly seemed so entirely unrealistic that it almost turned his chuckle into fits of laughter.
“I very much doubt that.” She replied folding her hands over her chest.
He shrugged but said nothing more. The carriage trundled through the country side, and before long they found themselves packed into Mosley’s.
Unsurprisingly, his fiancée was efficient in her selection of rings. She had lingered for a moment around some simple, but expensive designs but ultimately had left them alone. More to break the tension than anything else, Frederick tried on a few rings, wriggling his fingers at Andrea in an attempt to make her laugh.
It did not work. He ignored the stab of disappointment as she turned away from her.It is only because I am not used to being around someone so serious. That is why I want her to laugh.
“An excellent choice, madam,” Mosley said from the counter.
“So you have made a decision?” Frederick looked at the ring Andrea had picked out—a simple thing, made of white gold with a small sapphire at the centre.
“Your lady has excellent taste.” Mr. Mosley said, smiling broadly. “I was just showing her the matching necklace and earrings.”
Mr. Mosley gestured to the necklace and earrings that lay on the counter before them. Fredrick saw the way Andrea’s eyes darted to them, her fingers stretching as though to touch them before she shook her head.
“There is no need-” Lady Andrea began, but Frederick cut her off “We will take them and the ring.”
“Wonderful. I shall just fetch a box for them; be back in a moment.” Mr. Mosley disappeared through a small door at the back of the shop.
“We had an agreement.” Andrea glared at him.
“You said no surprise rings. And this is neither a ring nor a surprise. A win on both counts.” He winked at her, enjoying the faint flush that crept up her face. “Besides, it is clear you want them.”
“That does not mean you have to buy them.”
“Perhaps I just wanted to do something nice for you. Consider it a wedding present.” He smiled. “Now is the part where you say thank you.”
