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Chapter Five
The following evening, a large shadow cast itself over Percy as he read the papers at his favorite table at White’s. Lowering the newssheet, he smiled to see his good friend, Sebastian, the Duke of Hartford, standing by his table. “Have a seat, Hartford,” Percy said. “When did you get back into town?”
“Only this afternoon,” the duke said, his blue eyes glowing with satisfaction.
He arched a questioning brow. “You traveled with great speed. You only departed last week to see to some estate matters in Derbyshire. The sense I got from you was that you might be away for a couple of weeks.”
A smile touched the duke’s mouth, and it jolted Percy to see the love and contentment within it. The duke had been Percy’s good friend for years, and he had always thought of him as a man who hardly smiled and was entirely too serious. As was expected from inheriting the dukedom and a large responsibility at a young age. To see him so relaxed and damn well happy filled Percy with a perplexing gamut of emotions. Shockingly, he identified a surge of…envy.
“When you have a lady as lovely as mine awaiting your return, you move with haste.”
Percy reached for his glass of brandy and took a sip. “You seem happy.”
“I am a married man,” the duke said mildly.
“Yes, and married to a lady you would never have selected to be your duchess a few months ago. I recall a time you thought Lady Edith was your perfect choice. But somehow, you ended up kidnapping a particular widow, acting very out of character, and behaved rather dastardly and ended up finding love. Something you did not seem to believe in.”
A footman placed a decanter of brandy before them and another glance before bowing and discreetly slipping away. Sebastian poured himself a drink and took a few sips before answering, “It was hardly a kidnapping, and why do you seem so reflective on my wife?”
Percy grinned. “You take issue with me thinking of your lovely duchess?” He tried and failed to suppress his curiosity. “How did you know you had…fallen in love with her?”
The duke leaned back in his chair and asked him, “Why are you thinking on it? Have you been struck by cupid’s arrow?”
Percy scoffed. “I am more thinking about young ladies and their romantic nonsense. Love seems so common but complex. I merely wonder what it bloody feels like.”
“You’ll know when it happens,” the duke said.
“I did not say I was looking for it to happen to me,” Percy said crossly, “and why are we sitting down chatting about love? What the hell are we, starry-eyed debutantes?”
“Have you seen your name in the betting book?”
A hiss of displeasure escaped him. “You know of it?”
“Apparently, your profligacy is waning. There are bets as to whom will be your next mistress. Viscount Thurgood has wagered one hundred pounds on Countess Bartlett.”
The duke said nothing more, and Percy looked him straight in the eyes. “Are you looking for a hint to edge your bet?”
“No, I know you will take none.”
Now that was interesting. “How do you know it when I am not certain of my own mind?”
“Because I know what loss of sleep looks like when one is haunted by thoughts of a particular woman. I suspect your specter is one Miss Frederica Williams. Has she climbed out of any other windows recently?”
Percy scowled, and the duke laughed.
“Worse, she wants seduction lessons so she can capture the poor fool she is in love with.”
The duke stilled. “Those were her words?”
“More or less.”
“And she wants these lessons from you.”
“Yes.”
“It makes sense. You are a rake and should know all about seductions.”
Sebastian gave him an enigmatic look but made no further comment on the matter. They chatted about a few motions they had worked on during the opening of Parliament that had not found favor with the majority and what it might mean for the House at the next session. They caught up for almost two hours, laughing and drinking before the duke excused himself to home.
