“What is it, Sophia?” Duncan inquired. “A bad hand?”
“I cannot tell you that,” she replied, keeping up a neutral expression.
“I am only telling you so that you can forfeit in advance. I do not know about you, but my brother, Jacob, certainly does not take well to losing,” Duncan shrugged.
“Well, I will have you know that I am not Jacob, and I have my own strategy,” she replied confidently.
Duncan raised his eyebrow.
“I thought you were a beginner? You certainly do not act as though you are one,” he noted.
“Well, let us just say that I am someone who learns quickly,” she explained. “But we are only wasting time by chatting. I am being made to believe that perhaps it is you who has the worst hand then, and you are deflecting so that your inevitable loss is delayed.”
Duncan was stunned by how easily she had picked up on his strategy, despite never having played a game together with him. He felt even more motivated to beat her in the game now.
“Ladies first,” he said, gesturing to the table.
Sophia examined her cards for a long moment, but then she put one down finally. It was an ace.
“Starting off strong, I see,” the Duke noted and looked down at his own cards.
He could not have gotten a worse selection. His next move had to be strategic if he had any chance of getting the lead.
“Starting off strong and hopefully finishing off strong, too,” she smiled back.
“Oh, she definitely has the confidence,” Jacob laughed, seeming amused that his brother had finally met his match.
“Well, if you have decided to start off strong, then I have no trouble following your lead.”
The two of them played back and forth. Despite Jacob’s commentary in the background, the Duke found Sophia to be a very pleasant opponent. The Duke liked the challenge of trying to win for the third time in a row, and Sophia was putting up a good fight, despite not having much experience.
“Your Grace, are you sure that you are a beginner?” Jacob questioned as the game progressed on, and Sophia had a clear upper hand.
When she played her final card, a victorious smile spread across her face. At that moment, the Duke realized that he did not mind losing to her at all.
“Incredible work, Lady Sophia. That was some class craftsmanship that you just displayed here,” Jacob congratulated and then turned to the Duke. “How does it feel to lose your winning streak?”
The Duke shrugged, “I cannot complain too much about losing to the Duchess. They call wives the better half for a reason, I suppose.”
Sophia’s face turned bright red at his words, and he realized that they must have sounded a lot more flirtatious than he had intended them to.
“Shall we rematch?” he offered.
Sophia shook her head. “Oh, no. I must be heading to my room soon as it has been a long day. I did not intend on staying for long.”
“Please stay for some more time. You have not even tried the freshly baked pie that was delivered to us today.” Jacob offered a slice to her.
“It was a wedding gift from one of my great aunts,” Duncan explained. “You must try it. The both of us loved it growing up.”
Sophia took a bite of the pie, causing the jam filling to ooze out from the pastry and spread across the side of her cheek. Instinctively, Duncan leaned forward and cleaned it with a napkin.
“I… oh,” Sophia muttered, surprised by his gesture.
“Oh, I did not mean to startle you,” the Duke offered as an explanation, pausing immediately.
In the background, Jacob exploded with laughter once again, seeing the two of them interact like this. The Duke groaned internally. He knew that he would not be hearing the end ofit any time soon as Jacob already loved to tease him about a brewing romance between the two.
“Well, thank you, anyway,” Sophia said, getting up from her place on the table. “It has been really lovely sitting here with the both of you, but now, I believe I really must go.”
