The Duke Who Didn't (Wedgeford Trials, #1)

by Courtney Milan

“White and Whistler’s Pure English Sauce is also zero percent English. British people love their non-British sauces, as long as they don’t know they’re not British. It needs a name like…” She trailed off, thinking. “Two Hundred Percent English Sauce: Now Twice as Much English as Pure English Sauce.” Her father still didn’t smile at this jest. “That sounds like it’s made of English people.” They stared at each other in silence for a moment, before her father let out a snicker. “Sauce of Britannia,” Chloe supplied. “England in a Bottle.” “Definitely Not Foreign Sauce.”

The noodles were perfectly, beautifully chewy, and the vegetables were both crisp and tender. He could taste a hint of soy sauce, a touch of anise… Beyond that, there were so many subtle seasonings that he’d never be able to identify them all. They gave the broth a glorious flavor, savory with a hint of sweet and sour, so utterly unlike the long-boiled British fare that was served with the accompaniment of salt and maybe pepper.

“Chloe, my dear, I am half-Chinese. Being wealthy does not stop me from being half-Chinese. My wealthy neighbors will always know that I am half-Chinese. A wife who took their side over mine would be intolerable. I could not live with such a person. A wife who is committed to mild revenge on my behalf, however, who makes the neighbors feel that they have no choice but to treat me with respect? That’s who I want.” “Oh.” She swallowed. “Well. Actually. That does make sense.” After a pause, she wrote this on the list: mild revenge acceptable.

“Look at it from their perspective. It would be exhausting if everyone who was white kept asking you things like ‘where are you from?’ and ‘how did you get here?’ Nobody ever asks you that, Mr. Wilderhampsher, and you’re not actually from Wedgeford.”