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one for me, or if I’m better off choosing another candidate from amongst the profiles you
curated? There are so many. I think part of the reason I’m such a mess comes down to fear I
won’t have made the best choice.”
Finch cleared his throat. “That’s… understandable.”
“I’ve never entertained the notion of finding a mate before.” Hugh rested his elbows on his
thighs and hung his head, watching as he worried the thumb of one hand over the knuckles of
the other. “All I ever wanted was a clutch, but now I have the potential to gain so much more.
The stakes are higher than they were before. If I make a poor choice, it could mean a lifetime
of unhappiness, but how am I to know what a poor choice looks like?”
Finch was silent for a short while, undoubtedly considering the question—the faraway look in
his eyes gave him away. At last, he said, “The other Mr. Drakes ought to have better insights
into this than me.”
“Sebastian, you mean?”
“Any of your brothers, sir. I believe they’re all mated now, aren’t they?”
Hugh frowned and folded his hands together, following the zigzag pattern made by his woven
fingers with his eyes. “All of them but Bertram, yes. But I’m not sure I can ask them. It would
arouse too much suspicion—particularly from Everard, who’d find a way to flap his gums even
if his mouth were taken away.”
To Hugh’s surprise, Finch laughed, but by the time he’d lifted his gaze, all signs of it had been
stricken from Finch’s face. “My apologies, sir.”
“For what?”
“For laughing. It was inappropriate.”
“I made a joke, Finch.” Smiling, Hugh laid a hand on Finch’s thigh and squeezed. “It’s all right
to laugh at it, even if it was at my brother’s expense. Lord knows he’s done the same to me.”
A shiver ran the course of Finch’s spine, culminating in a tightening of his posture. Hugh,
confused, took his hand away. Why was it that Finch was so averse to his touch? Not for the
first time since Finch had come under his employment, Hugh wondered if the man secretly
despised him. But that was foolish. Finch was his model employee, and the only one Hugh
trusted with his innermost thoughts and feelings. If Finch bore any kind of hatred in his heart
for Hugh, it would have come back to bite him long before now.
