Page 50 of His Duchess' Mischief

“I cannot tell you.”

“I think you should double down on your attempts,” Katie said firmly. “Doeverythingwe suggested. Have you found a puppy? Bring one home and wreak havoc. Paint his bedroom a lurid orange. Anything.”

Alicia chuckled, but instead of glee at Katie’s words, she felt trepidation. Upsetting Seth suddenly felt unnatural; her stomach lurched at the thought.

She liked seeing him laugh, and their time together at dinner the night before had been one of the happiest she had ever spent with anyone.

“I know someone who has cats on her estate,” Bridget said enthusiastically. “They have kittens all the time. I shall have her select one and send it over with her servant.”

Alicia managed a smile, but it did not fool her friends.

“You do not seem certain about this,” Bridget noted warily.

“I am just confused,” Alicia hedged. “Seth is very different from what I expected.”

“But nothing has happened between you?” Bridget probed, putting down her teacup with a quiet clink and giving her a look that seemed to penetrate down to her bones.

“No,” Alicia lied. “Nothing has happened between us. But I agree with you. I shall enact every part of our plan from tomorrow, and soon I am sure he will grow tired of me.”

Even though the thought of his twinkling eyes and rare smile brings me joy I cannot explain.

Seth was already regretting his decision to meet his friends.

He had avoided contacting Lucas, Isaac, and Michael for a reason. As soon as they were in a room together, it felt like Gordon’s absence hovered above them, haunting them all.

Do the others feel this way? Or perhaps it is only me who misses Gordon so acutely.

The conversation had been strained at first, but once they began to speak about their passions and pursuits, including Lucas’s latest waistcoat, the tension eased.

Isaac sat opposite Seth, with Lucas to his left and Michael to his right. Michael was casually leaning back in his chair, a glass of red wine in hand even though it was only midday.

Seth had opted for coffee, and Lucas and Isaac each had a small glass of brandy that they were nursing leisurely.

He felt familiarity and happiness in their presence, but the guilt of Gordon’s absence never really left him. The worm of guilt that always slumbered in his gut was awake and writhing inside him once more.

Michael turned to him, swilling his wine.

“How is married life?” he asked. “I confess, you could have struck me down with a feather when I heard the news. I believed we would all be bachelors until the end of our days.”

Seth put some sugar into his coffee, smiling as Michael’s comment about feathers brought back the memory of Alicia’s ridiculous attire the night before.

“It is not what I anticipated,” he admitted. “My Duchess is more spirited than I had initially thought, but she is settling in well.”

“Must be odd, to have a woman around after all these years,” Isaac remarked, not unkindly. He had a tendency to speak plainly, which Seth appreciated.

“It is a little odd, but she has not made any major changes so far. She mostly keeps to herself, apart from some very strange dressing habits.”

Lucas raised his eyebrows. “Radcliffe, you are hardly qualified to say what isstrange.You constantly berate me for wearing colorful waistcoats, and they are the height of fashion. I imagine the lady just wearsyellowand you find it odd.”

Seth considered telling his friends about her unusual gowns but then decided not to. It felt private somehow—theirs. He did not want them to weigh in on things with him and Alicia when they felt so strangely fragile.

“But it is going well?” Isaac asked, filling the silence.

Seth bowed his head. “They are. As well as can be expected, when we have been married less than a week.”

“Hah! But the heart wants what it wants,” Michael said evenly. “It always does.”

Seth frowned at him. “Are you saying your heart has found someone special?” he asked.