Page 17 of The Duke’s Wager

“Alfred… what do you know about Lord Scarborough?”

The question left his lips before he could stop it, and Alfred looked at him with mild surprise.

“I know that he is new in town.”

“Yes… and?” Edward knew rather well that his line of questioning could be perceived as extraordinarily strange. He had never shown any interest in the new people at these events – especially not the men. Alfred watched him intently.

“Why do you care about the good Gareth Goodwin?”

Edward sighed deeply. His friend knew him far too well – of course he would be suspicious. He had to think quickly.

“He is new in town. I was merely wondering if he were the type of man we would invite to our outings.”

“Really?”

His answer did not do anywhere near enough to appease Alfred’s curiosity. Edward turned around and allowed his eyes to linger over the dancing figures.

The Ice Queen seemed to be quite a capable dancer. She moved across the dance floor effortlessly – as though her feet did not need to touch the ground.

Lucy never danced at these events. Edward could not help but wonder what it was about Gareth Goodwin that made her want to engage in the frivolous activity.

He himself was not much of a dancer either. He would dance with a lady now and then, but only if it had the potential of turning into more than a mere dance. The act of dancing in itself was far from pleasurable – in fact, he found it mind-numbingly boring.

“Why would you want to invite him to our gentleman’s club?”

He had forgotten all about his absurd excuse. Edward hesitated. Finally, a smile spread around his lips.

“I was merely extending kindness, Alfred.”

Alfred did not look like he believed him one bit. He simply stared, mouth gaping and blinking stupidly.

“Why?”

Edward could not help but smirk. This had turned out to be rather entertaining. Perhaps it was the fact that he was on his fifth drink that made fooling Alfred so spectacularly fun, but he could not deny that he was enjoying it.

Alfred, on the other hand, seemed to find little to no enjoyment in the conversation. He seemed to be getting irritable. “Why do you want to extend kindness to someone you hardly know?”

Edward sighed. Why was he so curious about the other man? Simply because he had the courage to dance with the Ice Queen? Or was it because he was envious?

He did not want to explore these feelings, so he slapped Alfred on the shoulder good-naturedly.

“You know what, Alfred… you’re right. We do not know this man, it was a silly notion.”

Alfred still seemed dubious, but at least he agreed to let it go. He shot Edward a stiff smile and jerked his head to the side.

“Let’s retire to the patio and share a smoke, my friend. I find the air inside to be a bit stuffy.”

Edward’s eyes were once more on the dance floor, searching for Lucy – who looked nothing like the Ice Queen at this moment. In fact, she had quite a radiant smile on her face.

He did not like the look of it. Not one bit. He turned to Alfred, who was looking at him expectantly.

“Yes, my friend. Let’s go outside.”

—

My dear reader,

I apologize for the interruption…