A Noble Marriage - Chapter 45

Chapter 45 – Innocent as a Baby (2)

“You’d better taste it first, maybe it would be better to just sell it.” Anna said.

“How come, madam, the eggs I beat with my hand in this manor can never taste wrong!”

Annushka and Anna both laughed.

Sasha tasted it and her eyebrows raised. “Look, I was right. This is so tasty. What inspired you to do this madam?”

“Actually, I wanted to make it for Alexei.” Anna said shyly.

As she revealed this, she was surprised to see the worried look on Sasha’s face.

“What’s the matter?” Anna asked.

Sasha looked at her mistress and tried to school her expression. But it was too late, so she continued very carefully.

“Madam, lease don’t mind my saying so but maybe you don’t know much about Sir. He doesn’t like sweets.”

Anna was a little surprised, she should have guessed. Karenin didn’t seem like a person who would enjoy dessert.

“I don’t know, I thought it would be a good idea.”

Upon seeing her desolate face, Sasha tried to comfort her.

“Madam, it really is a good idea. These things are really delicious.”

Anna shook her head and sighed, “No matter how delicious it is, it’s no use. He doesn’t like sweets.”

Sasha didn’t know how to comfort her mistress. Fortunately, Anna didn’t mope around about it and talked about other topics and finally said she wanted to give her all the dessert she had made.

“I know that you have a pair of grandchildren, and I think they will like these.”

Sasha’s two grandchildren of course liked sweet things, but she felt regretful in taking all of them. After all, her cooking was really delicious.

After the afternoon tea, Anna was not discouraged. On the contrary, she felt optimistic about learning more about her husband. So, she asked Sasha a lot about Karenin’s preference for dishes. But a bit to her dismay, she learned that Karenin had no special preference for food, except that he wasn’t too fond of desserts. She understood that it wouldn’t be a good idea to express her gratitude with food.

Anna crossed out this idea and thought about more ideas again because no matter what, thanking him was necessary. When Karenin came back home that day, it was too late. She had already fallen asleep, tired of all the baking she had done.

Karenin entered the hall, and Kearney took his coat. He was going for the stairs when the cook came out, as if she was waiting for him.

“Yes? What is the matter?” Karenin asked.

“Oh, sir, although it may be nothing important, I think I’d better talk to you.” Sasha kept her voice low.

Generally speaking, it was right for a servant to mind their own business, but she couldn’t help but want to talk about the day for her mistress.

“Go ahead.”

She told Karenin about Anna’s hard work during the day. She was relieved when she observed that her master had listened carefully and hadn’t scolded her.

“Even when I told her you don’t like desserts, she wasn’t discouraged. She asked me about your other preferences. You really found a good wife, Sir.”

It was the first time for Karenin to hear such words from another person. He felt a novel emotion, love mixed with pride. But he didn’t intend to show it to the cook as he was still the reserved man. He nodded and bid her goodnight.

Karenin went to his wife’s, or rather, their bedroom. He saw his wife wrapped up in the quilt, sleeping on his side of the bed. He crossed the room and sat next to her slowly, so as to not wake her up. Her soft snores and the slight smile on her face made Karenin’s lips turn up too.

“Innocent as a baby.” He whispered to himself.

Her happiness, her personality was infectious. She was sunlight personified and he realized how she was changing everything around her. He leaned down and kissed his wife, something he never would have done before.

Anna woke up at dawn. She looked around for Karenin and her shoulders slumped when she saw that he wasn’t there. But she saw a little note. She picked it up and upon seeing Karenin’s handwriting and the words, a bright smile bloomed on her face.

“You can include blueberries in the favorite sweets category.”

That night, Anna finally said her thanks, and Karenin ate a delicious blueberry pie made just for him.