Page 2 of Love, the Duke
“After all that,” Wyatt remarked, “you must read the message aloud.”
“What are you saying?” Hurst huffed a laugh. “Are you telling me to read my personal correspondence to you before I peruse it myself?”
“You must,” Rick added to Wyatt’s bold statement, and pointedly looked at the quill and ink while stifling a grin. “If you don’t, the suspense of it will finish us off. The chap followed you for two days in a sleeting storm to deliver that. By the looks of him you would think someone had fetched him from the Thames.”
In truth, Hurst had few, if any, secrets from his two broad-shouldered friends who wore their privilege as well as they wore their clothing, which was damned well. He’d known them since their last year at Eton. All three were restless and reckless, but only Hurst had already learned to manage and harness both impulses. He’d had to. Over the years he’d kept the two from attempting one daring and risky escapade after the other. Until their marriages, of course. That had finally settled them down.
Wyatt and Rick were shrewd enough to know they needed a sensible friend. And Hurst was. Most of the time. He’d had to be sensible when he was growing up.His father never was. But, with his father long passed, Hurst did his best not to think about those days anymore.
He rolled his shoulders to ease stiffness from the carriage ride and brushed his blond hair away from his forehead, a long-held habit he’d had no success breaking. Without guilt, he muttered a couple of oaths under his breath, opened the letter, and read aloud, “Dear Your Grace, we haven’t spoken in years, but I hope you will remember me.”
Hurst glanced down at the signature. His heartbeat thumped up a notch. Yes, he remembered Winston Stowe.
Having been stricken with an illness that has left me weak and unable to fight off the fatigue of it, I feel my days growing shorter. I’ve had time to contemplate life. When you made the vow to help me in any way, I knew it was only an emotional promise given the moment I rescued your life. I’m not insisting you repay your debt, but only asking that you consider marrying my sister. Ophelia has a good heart and an even better soul. I know you could easily love her and be a good husband.
I will always be thankful for our years of close friendship.
With much respect and admiration, I am always gratefully yours,
Winston Stowe.
A stitch of concern tightened the back of Hurst’s neck as he stared at the page.Marry?That was an incredibly serious matter. Hurst remembered Winston had a sister, but she was still young enough to be in the nursery when Hurst last saw him. Even if she’d been older, girlswouldn’t have been allowed to tromp around in the icy snow or boggy woods the way Winston and he had when they were together.
Wyatt casually leaned forward and rested an elbow on his knee. “I don’t recognize the name.”
“No reason for you to,” Hurst answered, his eyes scanning the words again as he tried to assimilate what he was feeling about Winston’s unusual request.
“Who is he?” Rick asked.
“A childhood friend who lived on the estate next to where I lived at the time. We were like brothers and often explored the woods, ponds, and marshes together.” Hurst recalled fondly the tawny-haired boy with rounded cheeks and a friendly smile. “I don’t think I’ve seen or heard from him in several years.”
“More importantly,” Wyatt remarked dryly, “did he save your life?”
“Yes. And then he taught me how to swim.” Hurst stared at the serious expressions on their faces and realized he didn’t want to relive that memory from his past any more than he wanted to think about the years with his father. Bad memories made a person feel bad, and Hurst was at the private lodge to hunt, drink, play cards, and enjoy himself.
He folded the letter and laid it on the table before picking up his drink and downing a hefty swallow.
“I’ll also add,” Hurst continued, “he was always a gentleman about saving my life and never mentioned it again.”
“Until now,” Rick responded. “No matter how veiled it was, it’s presumptuous of him to ask you to marry his sister.”
“Presumptuous or desperate?” Wyatt asked. “And really, what has the man to lose by asking? He’s not thefirst person to want you to marry his sister, or daughter, or cousin. Nor will he be the last. With you being the only eligible duke in all of England, when the Season starts you will be sought by families of all the belles in London. You can be sure that right now every young lady and her parents are plotting to take you off the marriage mart and straight to the altar to say,‘I do.’”
It was true. Hurst grunted. Ever since he became a duke, fathers, brothers, uncles, and strangers had been approaching him with promises of lucrative dowries in exchange for offering their daughters’ hand in marriage. At parties, dinners, and balls, mothers unashamedly praised their daughters’ admirable qualities. He’d always listened to what they had to say but had no interest in any of them. Whenever he met the lady he was to spend the rest of his life with, he’d know it. He was sure. It wasn’t any kind of mental powers he had, but a feeling inside him.
He couldn’t say with 100 percent certainty but felt sure he could live with any of the bevy of young ladies looking for a husband. They were all beautiful in their own way. The issue had always been that he didn’t just want a lady he could live with. He wanted the one lady he couldn’t live without, and he had to believe he would know her when he saw her.
However, Hurst couldn’t forget the concerning fact that he was getting older and had no heir for the title.
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully and pushed aside that thought. The blaze from the fire and the potency of the brandy heated him. “I suppose what concerns me most is that he says he’s ill and the urgency of having his messenger wait for an answer.”
“With fever probably,” Rick replied. “Perhaps the same type of intermittent fever that comes over me time and again without warning.”
“Whatever the case…”
Wyatt leaned forward again and gave first Rick and then Hurst a questioning expression. Hurst had a feeling he knew what his friend was going to ask, and he didn’t have an answer.
“What do you suppose he meant by she‘has a good heart and an even better soul’?” Wyatt’s unwavering gaze stared straight into Hurst’s green eyes.
