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“Do you know what time it is?” his voice croaked.

Derek pushed past William and stumbled into the parlor right off the main hallway. He flopped face down onto the sofa.

He began shouting into the cushions. William shuffled into the room, closing the door after him.

“Whatever you’re saying, I can’t understand you. At least sit up and talk. I doubt my sofa will be able to listen to your woes and help you.”

Derek sighed and rolled onto his back. He rubbed his eyes, hoping to clear them, but the haze of alcohol still coated his vision.

“I can’t have her.”

“Who?”

“Her,” Derek emphasized as if it would make it clearer who the subject of his despair was. “Victoria said I should bring her around, but she wouldn’t be caught dead in a place like that. It would be beneath her.”

William rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Who’s Victoria?”

“A girl I met at Charlie’s.”

“You were at Charlie’s?”

Derek covered his head with a pillow. “Yes. Because of her.”

“Victoria?”

Derek threw the pillow. “No! Keep up!”

William rubbed his face and sat in a chair opposite the sofa. “Derek, it is too late to make any sense of what you’re saying. You obviously are properly doxed, so if you would like, I can make up a bed for you sleep in, but other than that, I think you should call it a night. You’re not making any sense.”

“Eleanor,” his voice rasped.

“What about her?” William rested his head on the back of his chair.

“I can’t have her.”

Realization hit William, and he lifted his head. “Oh. Her.”

Derek sighed. “Yes. Her.”

William tilted his head. “Why not? You’re a duke. You wouldn’t be the first duke to court his ward. And you’re not even a relation—not first cousins.” William paused. “Although, even that isn’t unheard of. So, go after her if you want to.”

Derek remained silent. His world was still spinning. After Victoria left him in the alley, he found another pub to drink away the idea of entertaining Eleanor.

William took Derek’s silence as a sign of forfeit. He placed his arms on the arm rests to push himself out of the chair.

“Well, if that’s all, I’m going back to bed.”

“Because I can’t give her what she wants.”

William sighed and plopped back down in the chair. “What does she want?”

“I don’t know!” Derek shot his arms out above him.

William stood, agitated. “Well, if you don’t know what she wants, who are you to say you’re not what she wants?”

“Because she’s proper, refined, the epitome of everything thetonstands for, and I want nothing to do with that world.”

“Sounds like you are the problem. If you don’t want that life, don’t have it.”