“It is good to see you, brother,” Elias said cheerfully, holding him another second before pulling back. He was two years younger than Hudson and looked more like their mother than Hudson did—softer features, lighter hair, kinder eyes, and a toothy smile that was certainly not from their father’s side. “And dare I say that you are glad to see me...”
“I am not upset, if that is what you mean.”
“Ha!”
“Although, now that you are here, I am reminded of why these past two weeks were so calm and peaceful. I wonder if there is a correlation there...?”
“I see you have not changed.”
“Thirty years has not managed to do the job,” Hudson said. “I cannot imagine why you thought two more weeks might make a difference.”
“Hopeful, I suppose.” Elias slapped him on the arm, grinning from ear to ear. “Perhaps I am the one who has changed? Yes, yes, it has been but two weeks, I am aware. But Hudson...” Hissmile reached his eyes, which began to sparkle as if the sun was shining directly into them. “Love will do that to a man.”
There it is. I was wondering how long it would take my brother to pontificate on his marriage and the state of utmost love in which he has supposedly found himself. Thirty seconds... a new record.
It was just two weeks ago now that Elias had married the lady who he now declared without hesitation to be the love of his life. Previously Miss Blackwood, now Lady Albina Bond, a woman Hudson liked well enough. He was beyond happy for his brother that the two had found one another, even if he was getting a little sick and tired of the way they fawned when in each other’s company... and that of others.
Since they were boys, Elias had always been the more romantic of the two, and often he would speak of his desire to one day meet a woman who would ‘complete’ him as he would complete her.
Strange, as the brother’s upbringing should have impeded this idealistic notion of marriage. Their father was a cold man, bereft of emotion, seeming to care about his status in the ton, his reputation among his peers, and his business ventures only. It went without saying that Hudson was more like their father than Elias was. Not that he enjoyed this comparison. It was simply the way of things.
And it was because of this similarity, this eye toward pragmatism, that Hudson had very recently decided somethingabout himself. Something which he was certain would cause his brother to fall over from shock, once he was told.
“Let me tell you, brother...” Elias threw an arm around Hudson, leading him on the walk through the garden. “These two weeks have been perhaps the best of my life.”
“Is that right?”
“I knew that I loved Albina before we wed, of course. These past two weeks...” He chuckled and shook his head. “They have but confirmed it.”
“I could not be happier for you.”
“We have even begun trying for a son,” Elias continued, either not noticing his brother’s lack of interest, or not caring.
That was good news, and exactly what Hudson wished to hear. With no desire to marry himself, he had always worried about what this would mean where an heir was concerned—he was a duke, after all, and it was expected. But his brother’s zest for romance and desire to find a wife had made him realize long ago that, once he passed away, his nephew would inherit his title instead. Perhaps not the most traditional outcome, but good enough.
“Although Albina wishes for a daughter,” Elias chuckled and shook his head. “I suppose we won’t have much of a choice though, will we? Not to worry. I sense that we will not stop atone. Oh, brother...” His grip on Hudson’s shoulder tightened. “Can you believe it? Me! Married! What a time to be alive!”
Hudson was glad to see his brother today for two reasons.
The first was that he did in fact miss him. There were few people in this world who Hudson felt comfortable in the company of, few who he could speak openly with, and Elias was one of them.
This familiarity and trust that he had with his brother gave way to the second reason...
“I am glad you are here,” Hudson said, straightening up and shrugging his brother’s arm off his shoulder. “You and I need to have a talk.”
“Oh no,” Elias chuckled. “I know that tone. I have been gone two weeks and the sky has started to fall.”
“I assure you, it is nothing as drastic as that.”
“I shall be the judge.”
Hudson scoffed. “As you well know, these last few months, I have had some trouble concerning my bid to expand on certain business ventures. Most notably, just last week, my request to purchase farmland in Lachinshire—the land adjacent to that which I already own. You know the one?”
“Yes, yes, you told me you were putting in a bid for its purchase. What? Do not tell me that you were denied?”
Hudson’s lip curled. “Rebuffed on three occasions. So thorough was this rejection that they would not even do me the service of a counteroffer. I employed the broker Mr. Andrews to try and solve the matter, but he proved all but useless.”And then some.
Hudson still could not believe that it had come to this. For months now, he had been sensing a change in the air, that notable feeling that his name no longer opened doors for him as it once had—as it very well should! If anything, the complete opposite was true, and this most recent failure all but proved it.
