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After his bath, Alexander had a carriage readied and paid a visit to his parents’ home. After spending the past few days eating an early breakfast alone before shutting himself in his study, he was lonely and wanted to spend time with them. He met Baldwin in the hallway.
“Young Master Alex, I am happy you chose to visit us today. I see you have not brought your lovely wife,” he said looking around. “How is she?”
“I am sure she is doing very well, Baldwin. How are you? I certainly hope you have been staying indoors?” he squinted at the elderly man suspiciously.
Baldwin rolled his eyes. “I am fine, young master. I assure you I am capable of taking care of myself.”
“I know you are, Baldwin,” Alexander replied. “Are my parents not home?” The house was rather quiet.
“They are not, young master. They decided to go for a stroll as the day is so lovely. Young master Colin is here, however.”
“Alright, thank you, Baldwin,” Alexander said, leaving Baldwin to his wandering as he rushed up the stairs to Colin’s room.
Alexander was sure he would find his brother still in bed, as he was in the habit of staying out late into the night and sleeping in until whenever he wanted. He burst into Colin’s room, not bothering to knock, and was not surprised when he saw that his brother was indeed still passed out in bed.
Alexander moved toward the heavy drapes and drew them open to let in the sunlight. He faced the bed to see that Colin had turned his face to the other direction and had placed a pillow over his head in an attempt to continue with his sleep.
Alexander laughed at his antics and bounded to the bed, removed the pillow from his head, shaking his brother until he groaned.
“Get away from me and out of my room, you savage brute,” Colin grumbled in frustration, causing Alexander to burst into laughter once again. There were very few ways Alexander could toy with his brother, unlike Colin who had found many creative ways to do the same to Alexander, so he enjoyed it whenever he could.
“I shall not leave, Colin, so you might as well get out of bed and come talk to me.” His brother let out a resigned sigh and got out of bed.
“Fine, you win. Just know that you will pay for this. Some of us need our beauty sleep, Alex. I know you cannot understand, not with how ugly you are, but ,being this handsome, it is stressful,” Colin said, a tired grin on his face as he took a jab at his brother, patting his cheek as he moved passed him.
Alexander rolled his eyes at his brother and said, “I shall have the cook make breakfast for us. Meet me in the sunroom.”
Alexander walked out of the room and, after requesting breakfast from the cook, took a stroll around the gardens to clear his head before heading to the sunroom. It was his mother’s favorite room in the manor and so breakfast was almost always held there, even in her absence.
Alexander looked up to see his brother walk in, just as an assortment of plates were placed before them. “Right on time, have a seat.”
“Should you not be at home right now, immersing yourself in marital bliss in the arms of your beautiful wife?” Colin asked, a frown on his face.
Alexander let out a sigh, “Let us eat first. We shall talk about that after. I am starving.”
For the rest of the meal, the brothers joked around, dabbling in various subjects but failing to address the most important of them all: Alexander’s marital life.
“So, who is the woman that kept you awake all night?” Alexander asked.
"I understand I have a reputation, but you wouldbe surprised to learn that there was no woman.I was merely in the company of friends," he paused and looked thoughtfully at his brother. "And speaking of women, how is yours? And married life?Is it really that bad?"
“It is no different than when I was unmarried,” Alexander said. He paused and gathered his thoughts. “Come to think about it, it is vastly different, and not in a good way.”
“How so?” Colin asked curiously.
"Well, I amsure there are advantages to marrying a woman you love and who loves you back, or at least one you chose. I did not choose to be with her; circumstances did. I do not understand her either. She acts as if she is as frustrated as I am about all this, yetshe planned this with her mother." He sighed and rolled his eyes.
Colin chuckled. “Well then, perhaps you weren’t the knight in shining armor she expected.”
Alexander snorted. “She should have gotten to know me first then, before tying me down in a marriage that is now torturous to us both.”
"I cannotimagine you in a solemn household.Does she ever jest?” Colin inquired.
Alexander laughed. “Jest? The only time Iever sawher laugh or show any emotion other than indifference or anger was when Baldwin came to visit us. Until that point, I had assumed she was incapable of expressing such feelings."
“That is utterly sad. In any case, after your wedding night, you have at least become intimately acquainted. There is no chancethe walls you have built between yourselves will not begin to crumble. I am certain it isonly a matter of time before things settle down," Colin said sympathetically before seeing Alexander's expression.
“What is it? Are you shocked by my profound wisdom or is there something else you are not telling me?” he asked.
