Page 45 of The Duke's Spinster Bride
“Of course. I have no desire to go back to the way things were at the start of our marriage.” He thought of the way her eyes had flashed whenever he entered the room, the constant bickering.
Though when he thought of the more flustered and halting exchanges they had had of late, he found himself almost missing the bickering.
“There must be something wrong with me.” He murmured.
“Oh, there definitely is.” Thomas agreed, making Frederick realised he had uttered his thoughts aloud. “But I’m fond of you regardless.”
Frederick laughed, but the tightness in his chest remained.
* * *
“And there was Felty holding the cake above his head, grinning like a triumphant maniac.” Thomas poured out another glass of wine, leaning back on the sofa as he did. “And then we hear footsteps coming down the hall.”
He and Thomas had convinced Andrea to join them in the drawing room after dinner for wine and games. His surprise at her acceptance had grown into something considerably more prickly as time wore on.
He managed not to fold his arms across his chest by digging his fingers into his thighs.I must keep smiling.His cheeks ached with the effort of it.
Frederick gritted his teeth. “Perhaps we should speak of something else, I doubt the Duchess wants to hear the rest of this story. It is not very exciting.”
Her eyes flicked towards him before returning to his cousin, gesturing for him to keep speaking. “But I want to know what happens next. You cannot simply end the tale with him holding the cake above his head.”
“We have not even gotten to the best bit.” Thomas grinned at her.
Andrea’s face brightened. “It gets better?”
“I really do not-” Frederick began but his cousin cut him off with a wave of his hand that sent several sploshes of wine spilling to the floor.
He frowned at the spilled liquid.Why has that irritated me so much?It was hardly the first time his cousin had spilled wine on the carpet, nor would it be the last.Perhaps it was because he cut me off?
“- shush Felty. I am telling a story.” Thomas stood up, swaying slightly as he ran a hand through his hair. “Now, where was I? Ahhh! Yes. So Felty is in the kitchen, cake held aloft.”
Thomas demonstrated this by raising his arms above his head, placing one leg on the sofa as though he were an explorer planting a flag upon a mountain top. Frederick saw Andrea smile at his cousin’s ridiculous antics. His brow furrowed even more.
Thomas made a show of peering around the room. “Footsteps sound. We know we’re done for if the cook catches us, but Felty will not abandon the cake. Mind you, he’s a pipsqueak of a boy at this point. A stiff wind would carry him away.”
“Because you were so much taller than me, cousin.” Frederick replied, sarcasm dripping off his every word.
“I was.” Thomas dropped his arms and straightened. “Just because you are the taller of us now, does not mean you were then.”
“Then your memory is failing you.” Frederick straightened as he looked down at his cousin. “I was definitely taller than you at that age.”
“I rather like the image of a small Duke clutching a giant cake.” Andrea looked between the two of them and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “There is something rather sweet about it.”
“She thinks you are sweet Felty!” Thomas reached over and squeezed Frederick’s cheek.
Andrea giggled from the sofa, and Frederick batted his cousin’s hand away, massaging his face. “And you are drunk.”
“No, you are.” Thomas poured himself another drink. “And if you are not, you should be.”
Frederick watched as his cousin poured Andrea a healthy glass and then poured Frederick a glass. He then proceeded to drink wine from the bottle.
He expected Andrea to chastise his cousin, but she did not. He looked at her and arched an eyebrow, but his wife looked away, cheeks a delicate shade of crimson.
He took a steadying breath and said, “at least drink from the glass, cousin. We might have wanted more of that wine.”
Thomas grinned at him, wagging a finger. “You are just being difficult because you know how this story ends. And you know what a fool you will look like.”
“I was not the one who spent the entire next day unable to leave the chamberpot.” He gave his cousin a smug smile as Andrea’s eyes widened.Now let us see who looks the fool.
