26. Burnt Pastries

We were down in the kitchen, me, my eldest brother, and Lord Hastings. While I was busy fiddling away with the oven and some dough, the two men lounged and watched me in a humoured, detached sort of way. They were sipping on some brandy for good measure.

Anthony took a swill from his glass, glancing over to the duke tipsily. "So good to have you around again, old boy. I hated having to hate you for a time there, but now that you and Daphne will soon be legally parted, all is forgiven," my brother said with that dry, cheery tone of his. Lord Hastings sipped at his own beverage, not nodding his head. "It's good to have your friendship again, Bridgerton. I'll try to keep it this time." "Haha, indeed," Anthony laughed before taking another drink. Both men gazed back at me bemused, as a strong drink or two will do to a fellow's vision.

"Tell me again, what are you doing down here, sister? You don't know how to cook anything." Rude of him to point it out, I internally rolled my eyes. "I'm baking some pastries for Prince Frederick, or at least trying to." "You're not doing a very good job of it," my fiancé remarked with a cheeky smirk. My brother burst out laughing at this, slapping him on the shoulder. "Isn't she, though? Daphne can't bake to save her life, and why should she? You're a lady, sister; you don't need to know how to bake anything." "Your encouragement is appreciated, brother, but I think his majesty might appreciate something handmade by me at our next meeting." "Only if he can digest it," Anthony smirked along with the duke. My eyes couldn't help but roll exasperated again.

The duke finished off his liquor and smacked his lips. "Why are you even bothering? It's not an act of affection on your part; more so a polite "courting" ritual- a senseless one, I might add." "Hastings is right. The prince doesn't need such trifles to show your friendship, Daphne. Your pleasant company and kindness are all the charm and allure he'll need to fancy you," Anthony declared, earning the first frown from the duke that night- not that he noticed. I did but chose to ignore it, concentrating instead on my pastries. "It's the thought that counts, brother. Besides, if there's any leftover, I'll give them to Father," he does love a good pastry, and I owe him a great deal for his willingness to move abroad with me. Anthony rolled his eyes. "Oh yes, I'm sure Father will love some burnt, inedible charcoal bricks." "I haven't even finished them yet!" I shot back annoyed. Lord Hastings pointed to the oven, raising an eyebrow. "Is that so? Your oven's smoking."

I looked over, only for my eyes to widen and my heart to drop. "No! No, no, no!" The men watched me scramble over to it while pouring themselves another drink- great timing on their part. I meanwhile opened the oven door for a massive cloud of dark smoke to hit me right in the face. Coughing up a storm, I stood there covering my mouth and clutching at my chest. Anthony's eyes rolled yet again, and he set down his cup to come over to my side; or to my "rescue" in his opinion, I'm sure. He put both his hands on my shoulders, making me step back away from the smoke.

"See? This is why I said you should just buy his highness some pastries. You can't bake, sister." "I wanted it to be special," I cried. "Oh, this IS special. How bad are they?" The duke also came over to where we were standing. Anthony took some oven gloves and pulled out the tray of overly-burnt cakes. He frowned staring down at them. "Pretty bad," my brother stated and I sucked in my lips. "I don't have enough dough to make another whole batch…" Was my utterance as my arms began to tremble. "Well what did you expect would happen? I've said it once and I'll say it again: you can't bake, Daphne." "But I thought that….. I followed the recipe and did everything Cook told me to do… I don't know where I went wrong….." Even my mouth was quivering now.

The duke watched me a moment before letting out a long sigh. "You need to be more realistic, Miss Bridgerton. You've never baked before so you shouldn't expect it to turn out your first time," he said with that typical matter-of-fact tone of voice he's a master of. When I didn't respond though, he sighed again and rolled his eyes. He took a few steps toward me, gazing from me to the pan of burnt goodies now sitting on the stovetop.

"Alright. Let me try one of these."

He said this and my eyes shot wide open. My head spun to him rapidly with a look of horror. "What?! But you can't! No! They're all burnt and…..!" Ignoring my protests, the duke broke off a piece of a mildly burnt one and stuck it in his mouth. Anthony and I observed in sheer amazement as he chewed it silently and swallowed. It took him a second but eventually Lord Hastings wiped his mouth with his sleeve and his smirk returned. He eyes shown down onto me. "Heh, your brother's right; you CAN'T bake," he told me, making my jaw drop. My fiancé's smirk curled into a half smile now. "There's no way you can give those things to the prince; he'd be rightly offended… But I'm glad I'm the first man to ever try your baking, even if you're horrible at it," the duke proclaimed with a softer tone. My eyes grew a little in astonishment. "Lord Hastings…" I breathed dumbfounded.

Anthony nodded his head approvingly, giving the duke a friendly slap on the shoulder. "Quite right. It was very nice of you to be my sister's test subject, old friend. But he's right, Daphne; you can't present these to Prince Frederick. They shouldn't leave this kitchen," my brother declared to me. Lord Hastings nodded in agreement. "He's right, Miss Bridgerton. If you wish to bring the prince some pastries, we'll buy some before we go for tea." "You're going with her?" Anthony asked the duke somewhat surprised. "Of course. She'll… I mean they'll need a chaperon." "Don't you think our father or the queen would be better suited for that?" "Perhaps, but I want to go too. If I am to remand your sister to that man, I'd better make sure they're well-suited for each other." Anthony shrugged. "If you say so. It's kind of you to be so protective over Daphne still….. Despite your engagement soon to be broken off." Lord Hastings's eyes drifted from Anthony back over to me. They immediately lowered onto mine upon arrival. "Miss Bridgerton is legally still my whole responsibility- one I take very seriously….." This gentle half-smirk, half genuine smile drew across his lips as his head lowered a little.

"And I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy having complete charge over her."