Page 3

Of all the other members of their group, Hudson was the least inclined to leave his estate. That he had come out to accompany Ethan on his attempt to cleanse himself with copious amounts of alcohol spoke a great deal to the man’s loyalty.

Unfortunately, he also had the tendency to speak much more logically when his friends would rather wallow in their misery.

Ethan regarded his old friend with a dark frown. “I may have indulged a little that night, but I was not that foxed as to be thoroughly unaware of what I was doing.”

“Who you were doing, you mean,” Hudson remarked with a cold, grim smile.

“Your humor has not improved at all, my friend. You should try leaving that musty estate of yours more often.”

“And be felled by some scheming wench on the prowl for a husband?” Hudson shot back with a raised eyebrow. “I think not.”

Ethan stiffened and proceeded to pour himself another glass, even when he would much rather be drinking the whole bottle. He was still a gentleman, after all.

“I swear I did not touch that woman!” he protested fiercely.

“Why? Touching is customary, even encouraged, in such settings.”

Ethan grimaced. “It was certainly that kind of affair, I admit, but lately… I have steered clear of the usual offerings.”

Hudson’s eyebrow shot up lazily in interest. “Indeed? What brought on this profound change in your character?”

“Not so much a change in character,” Ethan scoffed. “More like I have grown weary of these things.”

“You? Will wonders never cease?”

He shot Hudson a dark look, but his friend merely regarded him with a coolly raised eyebrow. There were very few things in this world that could penetrate the Duke of Wolverton’s calm, and Ethan’s current predicament did not appear to be one of them.

“The point remains that the lady in question is currently with child,” Hudson remarked with a voice devoid of inflection. “What do you intend to do about it?”

“I suppose I will have to marry her,” Ethan spat out in obvious distaste.

Was the child in question even his? He highly doubted it.

However, the whole ton was simmering with that particularly delicious tidbit, and the lady—and he used that term very, very loosely—had already begun dropping obvious hints here and there and just about everywhere about the connection between them.

Soon, it would not even matter that the entire manor had engaged in debauchery. All that would matter was that he was involved with a lady and had supposedly gotten her with child.

It was an absolute disaster.

“To your upcoming nuptials, then.” Hudson raised his glass with a sigh. “Although, if I was in your position, I would steer clear of spirits for a good long while.”

With what, then, was Ethan going to numb the seething rage within him? All he could do was pour himself another glass when someone bumped into his elbow, splashing some of the fine brandy onto the polished wooden surface of the counter.

“Sorry about that,” the newcomer mumbled, his voice sounding oddly like a nervous squeak.

However, it was not just his voice that was strange, but his entire demeanor as well. The clothes he wore appeared much too large for his body, but even that could not hide the stiffness of his gait or the awkwardness of his movements as he struggled to seat himself properly.

Hudson eyed the poor idiot with a hint of distaste in his eyes.

“You go on ahead,” Ethan told him. “I shall stay here a bit longer.”

His friend raised a dark eyebrow at the unfortunate sod, before nodding slightly. “I shall see you soon,” he said, clapping a hand on Ethan’s shoulder. “Hopefully, everything will have resolved itself by then.”

Ethan highly doubted it, but he gave Hudson a slight smile that was far more reassuring than what he truly felt.

“Give me the strongest drink you have!” the strange man yelled to the bartender, just as Hudson was retrieving his coat.

Both men turned towards the spectacle, and Hudson shook his head before turning to leave.