Page 4 of Love, the Duke
“And always preferably a duke like you,” Wyatt added.
Rick offered a crooked smile. “I’ve always been grateful you saved me from that fate worse than death but would never assume I owed you a debt because of it. It’s simply what friends do for each other.”
“We can’t count the times you’ve saved us from doing something beyond our reasonable expectations to master,” Wyatt agreed. “As when we raced our curricles down Rotten Row in the dark of night. Any one of us could have overturned.”
“Or run up upon a slowly moving carriage.” Hurst remembered those days.
Rick sipped his fresh drink. “We never would have even remembered you swore an oath to us.”
Hurst considered all the two said. Renewed concern nipped at him. He tried to shrug it off.
“After we finish the hunt, go see him,” Wyatt suggested. “Check on his health and perhaps meet Miss Stowe.”
That suggestion had merit, and he did want to see Winston, but it wasn’t something he could do right away. “You know from here I’ve promised to go north to see Aunt Sophie. She’s already planned for me to attend several house parties with her. You know I can’t let her down after all she’s done for me.”
“The parties are for you to meet young ladies in hopes of making a match, are they not? And for her to meet older gentlemen, I presume.”
Hurst chuckled. “Either way, I can’t disappoint her.”
“In the meantime,” Wyatt said. “What are you going to tell your childhood friend? You can’t leave him agonizing about what your decision will be while you attend to other things. He went to great lengths and sent a loyal servant to find you. He deserves a quick answer.”
Hurst looked at the messenger standing patiently by the door. Taking the stopper out of the ink jar, he dipped the quill into it and spoke the words aloud as he wrote them on the paper the man provided.
Dear Winston,
It was good to hear from you after so long a time. I am concerned to know of your illness, but feel your strong, youthful constitution will withstand the troublesome illness and you will be hardy by spring. I will plan a visit to see you soon.”
Hurst hesitated, sighed, then nodded before continuing.
It is with deep regret that I must decline your request to marry your sister.
Love, The Duke.
“‘Love’?” both friends questioned skeptically at the same time and with the same degree of consternation.
Hurst discarded the quill and said, “I acknowledged I loved Winston as a brother at one time. What do you think I should have written?”
“Why not, ‘Yours truly, the Duke’?” Wyatt asked.
“Or, ‘Sincerely, the Duke’?” Rick suggested.
Hurst deliberated over both suggestions, before saying, “The endearment stands.”
