Wesley kept his society face in place as he said his goodbyes. Sebastian had gone nearly silent, only speaking when necessary to keep their cover.
You’re being a child about this.
It’s just a damn fox—a glorified rodent, a pest and a nuisance.
Christ, can’t you move past this already?
Those were the kind of things Wesley would have said only months ago, even to a lover. But he didn’t say any of it now. It wasn’tjust a foxto Sebastian and he was genuinely upset. Yes, Sebastian had a ridiculously soft heart, but somewhere along the line, Wesley hadstopped seeing that as a character flaw and it had instead become a valued rarity.
They stood together at the top of the stairs, waiting for Arthur to bring the Bentley around. Sebastian still hadn’t spoken, and his gaze seemed to be on one of the ram cufflinks.
“Um.”Come on, Wesley, think of something.
But what could he say? He’d promised Sebastian there would be no fox hunts, and now he’d broken his promise.
Arthur pulled up in front of Beckley Park a few minutes later, and Wesley and Sebastian climbed into the backseat.
As soon as they were heading down the driveway, Rory turned to look over his shoulder. “Valemount was the big one in the billiards room, yeah?” When Wesley nodded, he said, “Is he a dick? He looks like a dick.”
“Thank you, Brodigan, for describing His Grace in such choice terms,” Wesley said dryly.
“Anyone who might’ve let Hyde loose is a dick, I promise you,” Rory said. “You get any sense of whether Valemount’s behind all this? Could he be the so-called relative who took Hyde outta that asylum?”
“If Valemount kidnapped a paranormal, it’s certainly an interesting choice to invite us to his home.” Wesley relayed the news to Arthur and Rory about their invitation to Valemount’s fox hunt.
“Well, that’s not suspicious at all,” Arthur said sarcastically. “The duke coming up with an excuse to invite you to his home?”
“Us and a whole party,” Wesley pointed out. “They can’t all be in on it, can they? My cousin is coming,along with a baronet. Thornton is coming too, and hell, Ryland is bringing his wife.”
“What do you think, Seb?” Rory asked.
Sebastian hadn’t spoken yet on the ride. After a long moment, he said, “I don’t know what’s going on. And I think we have to go to this hunt to find out.”
I’m sorry, Wesley wanted to say.I swore there would be no hunt and now I’m a liar.But those were paltry words only meant to ease his own conscience while not fixing the actual problem, and he and Sebastian weren’t alone anyway. Wesley swallowed it all down.
“Well, Rory and I are coming too, at any rate,” Arthur said firmly. “You said the Valemount estate is near a village, correct? We can find lodgings there. We’ll follow behind your train tomorrow in the car.”
“It’s a long drive,” Wesley said.
“Respectfully, Wes,” Arthur said patiently, “what you consider along driveas an Englishman and what I consider along driveas an American are not the same thing. We’ll be fine.”
A short while later, they were pulling back up at the inn. Arthur parked the Bentley, and the four of them went into the inn’s lobby.
“I’m going to talk to the innkeeper,” Sebastian said to Wesley, before they reached the stairs.
Wesley hesitated. Was Sebastian about to ask for another key to one of the rooms upstairs? Did he want to sleep alone tonight—because he was angry with Wesley?
Wesley could hardly blame him. “Sure,” he said, and turned and went upstairs.
In the room, he stripped off his tailcoat and dressed in his pajamas. He wasn’t particularly tired, but heturned off the main lights, leaving the bedside lamp on. He got into the bed, put on his reading glasses and picked up his book. He held it open in his lap, but his gaze was on the door that almost certainly wasn’t going to open.
For fuck’s sake. He’d slept alone for thirty-two years. If Sebastian wanted his space, Wesley would handle that. He forced his eyes to the page.
The door suddenly swung open.
Wesley blinked.
Sebastian walked into the sitting area just past the bed, already shrugging the dress coat off his shoulders. “I told the innkeeper we’re heading to Dartmoor tomorrow.” He was undoing first one cufflink, then the other as he spoke.
