“No!” he replied with a bit too much alacrity. “No,” he repeated, “of course not. I have no desire to live a scholarly or domestic life.”
“And yet you haven’t decided on a course of action since leaving Oxford.”
Four years in which he should have found a purpose in life had turned into a decade of frustration and idle pursuit of pleasure, distractions from the reality that his life lacked meaning, from the darkness pressing in from the edges…
Henry blinked hard, pulling himself out of his haunting thoughts. “But what aboutyou?”
Confusion clouded her delicate features. “Whataboutme?”
He huffed. “Youare my best friend. Don’t you think it’s… disloyal to you?”
She chuckled low in her chest and looked at him as if he was a silly child. “Henry, this isn’t a competition. You’re still my friend and allowed to have others. Besides, I doubt Alex could bring Egglesford to tears during a lecture and send the gossips’ tongues wagging. I’m the only one you can depend on for entertainment of such caliber.”
Henry laughed again, feeling more of the tension leave his body. He gave a quick peek about the room and dropped his voice to a low whisper. “I think Alex would faint if heheardthe term venereal disease.”
Ellie leaned forward, covering her mouth with her fingers as she spoke in a conspiratorial whisper. “I believe we have a new challenge for his visit—what will make Alexander Carroway blush?”
Chapter 3
“Goodgod,man,youlook terrible!” Henry pulled Alex into a tight hug, clapping him on the back. “Married life is treating you poorly, as I expected.”
Alex laughed and clapped Henry’s shoulder in return. “It’s a wonderful torture, friend.”
With a grin, Henry led his friend from the modest parlor of apartments to the drawing room, where he poured two tumblers of whiskey. “To your triumphant return to the proper side of the pond.”
Alex raised his glass in a toast and winced as he took a large sip before sitting in the overstuffed leather chair with a sigh. Henry lifted his tumbler to his lips but did not let the liquid pass onto his tongue.
Alexander Carroway had been Henry’s best friend from their first days at Oxford, despite being nearly exact opposites. While Henry had been born into a life of privilege, Alex was from a working-class family and scrabbled and fought to earn his way to the pinnacles of academic success. Not long after, he moved to America with his new wife, and Henry had only seen him once since.
“How is Fleur?” Henry asked.
Alex leveled him with a glare. “You know her name is Fern.”
Henry winced. It was not intentional; he was terrible with names, the trait embarrassing him more than once over the years. Sometimes faces blended together, a blurry mass of indecipherable features. He had learned to cover for it with flippant remarks and aristocratic arrogance, but to miss the name of his best friend’s wife was too much.
“I’m sorry, truly. Fern. Where is she?”
Alex shook his head. “Her mother and Violet swept her up the moment we reached the station to do some shopping, which Fern will despise. I’m to meet her and her father for dinner tonight.”
“And how are her studies?”
Alex beamed. “Incredible. She will graduate early, next year in fact.” Fern was a brilliant mathematician who had met Alex while he prepared for his doctoral defense and convinced him to help her gain admission to Oxford while he courted her twin sister. Unsurprisingly, Alex had tumbled head over heels in love with his eccentric study partner and had joined her in Boston so she could pursue her studies at Radcliffe College, while he taught mathematics to undergraduate students at Harvard.
“That’s tremendous. Congratulations to her. Are you enjoying terrorizing young minds?” Henry felt a flash of unwarranted jealousy. He had never been a successful student, but the idea of being a person of merit, occupying a position of respect and admiration, thrilled him. He wanted someone to see him of worthy of respect for something other than his title, for something he created himself. Unfortunately, his mind never seemed to slow down sufficiently to allow him to concentrate on any area of study for long enough to finish his coursework, leaving him restless and craving something new. Alex had a single-minded focus and now was basking in the aftermath of his accomplishments.
“It’s exciting, but difficult. I never thought about how to explain mathematics before. I simply understood it. The worst is the young men who declare themselves terrible at maths and refuse to do it outright. They are my real challenges.” The gleam in his bright blue eyes made it clear the challenge thrilled him, and Henry was inordinately pleased for his friend.
“And you’re adjusting to life in the heathen Americas?” Henry could not show Alex just how profoundly he missed him. His friend was happy, so much happier than he had been in the previous decade. Henry’s melancholy would not diminish Alex’s joy.
Alex grimaced. “I’m learning to make do with coffee, as the tea is unconscionable. But… everything is right for us there. We bought a house with lots of space, and we can both walk to the universities.” He hesitated. “I’m bringing my mother back with us when we return at the end of summer.”
Henry raised his eyebrows. “Well, bringing my mother into my newlywed home wouldn’t be my choice, but all the best to you.” He took a deep drink of his whiskey.
Alex leaned forward, his eyes glittering. “We’re not newlyweds anymore, and we’ll need the help since Fern will be in school for a bit longer.” Henry gave him a questioning look, and Alex’s face broke into a wide grin. “We’re having a baby, Henry.”
A mixture of joy and abject horror washed over him. He got to his feet and embraced Alex, offering congratulations he hoped sounded heartfelt.
“We’re thrilled, obviously,” Alex gushed, settling back into his chair with flushed cheeks. “We saw the doctor before we left Boston and confirmed it. She was miserably sick at first, but now I can’t get her enough sweets.” He chuckled, then looked at Henry with wide-eyed wonder. “I’ll be a father before the year is out.”
