Page 18

He had not felt so out of sorts for a long time.

Generally, his days were filled with routines and activities that distracted him from melancholy thoughts, but not today.

Perhaps it was the presence of his friends, but his thoughts kept returning to Gordon.

When he had lain down to sleep the night before, he had been plagued by visions of his best friend’s body every time he closed his eyes.

Even after all these years, the devastation that swamped him when he considered Gordon’s final hours was acute and unbearable.

It was maddening to still not know what had befallen him. Sometimes he felt that Gordon’s death had been more painful, more devastating than his father’s.

Staring out the window, he watched a bird pecking at the grass. He often saw robins and magpies from his study, and every day he would spend several minutes watching them.

This was a starling, a female, her beak puncturing the earth at intervals as her wiry feet skipped over the blades of grass beneath. The dark brown of her feathers and flecks of white looked like snowflakes that had been captured beneath her wings, and her jerky, sporadic movements helped calm him as he focused on her path across the lawn.

A knock on the door sent his mood plummeting again.

Can I not be given a moment’s peace?

Expecting the butler, or a footman, he barked an order for them to enter, only to be greeted with Michael’s jovial face as he poked his head around the door.

“Found him,” he said triumphantly as he entered the room, Isaac and Lucas following behind and closing the door with a click.

Seth tried to hide his scowl, but evidently, he was not successful, as Michael raised an eyebrow at him quizzically.

Isaac strode inside, ever the man of action. Lucas and Michael hung back, watching him warily.

Lucas was always the last to engage in any kind of confrontation, whereas Michael usually interjected when he had all the facts. Isaac would want to resolve things as quickly and efficiently as he could.

Seth watched them gather, not anticipating the impending conversation with any relish.

As usual, Lucas was the most flamboyantly dressed, with a gold and green waistcoat that made him wince. Michael and Isaac’s attire was more somber in color, as if they had been dressed by the same tailor.

Looking at the two of them side by side, one would have been forgiven for assuming they were related. Both were tall and muscular, with angular features, and the only difference was their hair. Isaac’s hair was thick and dark, while Michael’s wasblond and often flopped over his forehead in a way that always attracted the ladies.

All of them had the same knowing look on their faces, which only angered Seth further.

“You look rather irritated, Radcliffe,” Isaac noted, walking further into the room.

His gait was off, the limp from his injuries at war all the more obvious as the light played across his tan breeches.

It was yet another reminder to Seth of how long it had been since he had seen him. He had forgotten about the limp until now.

“I am having a few moments of solitude. Can I help you with something?” he asked angrily.

Lucas and Michael exchanged a glance, and Isaac plopped down in a chair opposite his desk as though he had been invited.

“Do youneedto help us with anything?” Isaac asked, leaving his bad leg on the floor and propping the other on the edge of Seth’s desk.

“I would rather there was a reason for your visit, yes,” Seth muttered, turning back to the window and frowning when he realized the starling had flown away.

“We came to find you,” Lucas said, his voice lighter than Isaac’s. “Is it not traditional for the groom to bepresentat his own wedding breakfast?”

Seth eyed his reflection in the window as Lucas fiddled with one of the brass buttons on his waistcoat and brushed something invisible from his shoulder.

I have never met a man who cared so much for his appearance as Lucas Oakley.

“Iampresent. I am merely taking a break from the nosiness of my guests,” he said, looking at them all pointedly. “Please go about your business.”