Beside her was Julian, laughing. “What a fine match this is.” He leaned forward to whisper, “You unsettle him. I like that. The man has been too comfortable and too calm for too long. Worry not, Your Grace. He looks at you.”
“What?”
“Stop whispering to my wife,” Sebastian ordered his friend once he had nudged Ward out the door. “Or I’ll toss you out on your backside. Again.”
Ashcombe raised his arms in surrender with feigned horror. “Not again, Your Grace, not again! Oh, don’t be ridiculous, Sebastian. You know I would only come back for my own revenge. Besides, I’m only telling your wife to stay warm in this drafty place. You two really should have come to Halewood House for the party.”
They had been invited to the house party? That was news to Isabel.
She frowned at Sebastian, but he wasn’t even looking at her while he nudged his friends toward the door. The gentlemen waved when she stood in the doorway, and she wondered how she was going to make Sebastian answer all of her questions.
CHAPTER 10
Sebastian brushed the droplet of sweat from his brow as he watched the carriage finally roll away from his house.
He liked his friends. He liked them very much. The four of them were close like brothers, and used to always be there for one another. But the years passed and as they all began to marry, it seemed they didn’t know how to handle the new strangeness.
I clearly don’t. This was an absolute disaster. How Isabel can pretend to be so calm, I cannot comprehend it. Why did they think it wise to come here to this miserable place?
Since his friends stepped through the door, he had hardly been able to breathe. Sebastian was never made nervous by his friends. And yet he could hardly breathe. His heart had hammered in his chest all night. He didn’t think he had slept a wink. It had been difficult to focus on anything that was said.
But as the carriage rolled out of sight and Ronan offered a final wave before disappearing, Sebastian could breathe deeply. He relaxed his shoulders.
And he supposed it hadn’t been a nightmare after all. Hadn’t they survived? No one had brought up anything personal or contrary that he could recall. He thought he recalled countless smiles and laughter.
“That went surprisingly well.” He straightened up, remembering Isabel was still in the doorway right behind him. He ushered them back inside as she added, “Don’t you think?”
“They’re nuisances.”
Her smile hardly faltered. “They’re friendly and kind. Very witty gentleman. I can see why you have all cared for one another for so long. As for the house party––”
Turning away, Sebastian started down the hall. “I didn’t want to go.”
It sounded like she huffed. He swore he could feel her warm breath tickling his neck. Sounding like she was close behind him, she said, “Sebastian, we could have talked about it.”
“No, thank you.” He picked up his step.
“I’m short but I’m not slow,” Isabel told him, pointing out she was onto his little trick.
But he wasn’t even trying yet. He widened his stride at once to get himself to the end of the hall before she could make it. “I need to address some work that was missed. That’s all. There’s something I need to tend to.”
From the sound of it, she stopped moving. “But I wish to talk with you.”
“Later,” he promised without much of a real promise.
A minute later, Sebastian was in his study. He always needed some time alone to think. To stew. To process. Pacing about the room, he knew he had been wrong to treat Isabel this way as he had done a dozen times. And yet he couldn’t stop.
It was the step to overcome this manner that was too much for him.
Last night… it was surprising. And I don’t like surprises.
There had been more than enough surprises in his life. That was why he had spent the following years managing them and besting them.
All of this learning had helped keep him alive. He could tell most folks’ class by their dress, their speech, their walk. Not only could he tell most jewelry and gold from fake, but he could also often note when someone carried a decent amount of coin. It helped him as a pickpocket as a child. Then he learned to survive in the ring, anticipating the next footstep and the next swing.When he returned to this life, he continued to grow these skills to be prepared.
“Except it wasn’t enough,” Sebastian muttered to his decanter.
He took a long drink and then settled back in his chair to think, to stew. Part of him didn’t even know why he was stewing.
