Page 314 of Desires of a Duke Collection

Robert finally found Charles in the place he had least expected ever to find him. Both he and Spencer had been searching all the usual haunts when Charles hadn’t returned from his early morning ride with the Mangrove twins. As a last-ditch effort, Robert thought to stop at the village pub.

There sat Charles, all alone at the back table of Hannigan’s Pub, nursing what must have been his tenth pint of ale.

Robert took a quick look at the bar to see if the old man Hannigan was there. Catching his eye, he motioned for a drink of his own and sat down across from his younger brother.

“I’ve run away from home,” Charles said. Or at least that’s what Robert thought he said. His brother was clearly in his cups.

“You didn’t get very far,” Robert responded, then thanked the pretty barmaid, who had brought his drink.

“Far enough,” Charles hiccupped and then motioned to Robert to lean in close. He had a secret.

Robert played along and leaned in. Charles whispered rather drunkenly, “Didn’t want to go too far, might get lost.”

Robert groaned, rubbing his hand over his weary face. “Is there a reason you are drinking yourself into oblivion? Or is this to become an exciting new habit of yours?”

Charles looked at him quite seriously. “Well, I’ve decided to live here now. Hannigan’s place is my new home. So, it’s possible I may get foxed a time or two. Perk of the location and all…”

“Splendid,” Robert shook his head. “Would you like me to send Mother any word of your new residence?”

Charles looked like he had something very important to say. But unfortunately, it would have to remain unsaid, for he finally hit his limit. His head smacked the table as he passed out.

“The things I do for you,” Robert grumbled under his breath. He informed old Hannigan so that he would round up a few strong men to get Charles into their carriage.

Then, after settling with the barkeep, Robert climbed in the coach and eyed his soused brother, who was beginning to snore from the opposite seat.

“Remind me never to fall in love,” Robert muttered to himself before tapping the coach with his cane, alerting the driver to take them home.

Once at Rotherford Hall, it took a herculean effort from both brothers and a burly footman to get Charles up the stairs and into his room.

“What the bloody hell happened to him?” Spencer said as they tossed him onto his bed, boots and all.

“I’ll be damned if I know,” Robert replied, grunting as he tossed one of Charles’ legs that was attempting to slide back off the bed. “He was drinking himself silly over at Hannigan’s Pub. Of all things, he told me he’d run away from home.”

Spencer laughed. “He didn’t get very far.”

And Robert snorted. “I said the same thing. Good old Charlie told me in confidence that he hadn’t really wanted to go too far—didn’t want to get lost.”

Both brothers stifled their laughter as they left their brother to sleep in peace, for they both knew from experience his head would ache like no other when morning came around.

It wasn’t a secret Spencer’s interest leaned toward his studies, and Robert was enthralled by the family business. Charles, in turn, was often dubbed the overly cautious sibling. While he had an excellent mind for numbers and was first in his class for his studies—it wasn’t his passion. Charles was thorough. He oversaw all the investments, managed the accountants, and kept meticulous bookkeeping. Was it any wonder their books were always in black?

Charles viewed the world in a very black-or-white fashion. Something was good, or it wasn’t. Perhaps that is why his close-knit friendship turned into a lifelong passion for their lovely neighbor CeCe had been such a surprise. CeCe was a living, breathing contradiction. She embraced the world with such violent abandon that it ought to have sent Charles running.

Yet the opposite had happened. She fascinated him. Isn’t it one of the basic truths opposites attract?

Something had derailed their straight-laced brother, and it was up to Spencer and Robert to put things right. The brothers retired to the library to reassess the situation.

“Spencer,” Robert reasoned, pouring himself and his brother a fifth of scotch. “I believe that it’s time we brought someone else into our matchmaking schemes. We need an insider. Someone who will be loyal to us but someone who still is in close contact with CeCe.”

Spencer frowned. “Who do you have in mind?”

“Ring the footman,” Robert commanded in an authoritative big brother tone. “We need Elias. Tell them it’s an emergency.”

**

Elias rode hell for leather over to Rotherford Hall. He hardly waited for their butler to show him into the library before he burst into the room. “Is everything all right? Your mother and father... Charles... What’s the emergency? Did you send for the doctor? What can I do?”

“Take a load off, Eli,” Robert assured him, motioning to an empty seat and dismissing the servant. “No one is hurt. This is more of a romantic emergency.”

Eli huffed, blowing out an air of frustration. “You scared me within an inch of my life. Are you trying to tell me you summoned me here because of a woman?”

“No,” Spencer replied vehemently. “Definitely not a woman.”

“What?” Eli exploded.

“A sister,” Robert explained, once again motioning Eli to sit down.

“And a certain brother of ours,” Spencer added. “They seem to have made a muck of things.”

Recognition dawned on Eli’s face, and he sat down, rubbing a hand across his face. “I hadn’t realized there was trouble brewing in paradise. Pour me some of that scotch, Spencer. What do we need to do?”

Eli confessed his matchmaking scheme from the previous day. However, he worried he’d failed when CeCe returned alone from the ride and immediately closed herself off in her rooms. All he could get out of Yvonne was CeCe was complaining of a megrim and had asked not to be disturbed.

The brothers told Eli of finding Charles completely foxed at Hannigan’s.

“I am astonished,” Eli confessed. “I don’t think that I have ever seen Charles in his cups or even slightly tipsy.”

“Now that you can see why we called you over, something is most off with the pair,” Robert concluded.

The three of them concluded shortly after that they hadn’t enough information as to why pair was acting so strangely.

“The only thing to be done is to gather more evidence,” Spencer reasoned.

“Spoken like a genuine scholar,” Eli smiled. “You are right. We need to find out what has happened. Robert, are you still coming over to tea tomorrow with CeCe?”

“Yes, she had that crazy notion that I needed to befriend the shy Frances. I accepted only because I knew I could rope Charles into going with me, and they would spend more time together.”

“Now we don’t know if Charles will want to attend. Although I can’t really see that happening. He’s never turned down the opportunity to spend time with CeCe,” Spencer added.

Eli thought for a moment. “A certain level of stealth is going to be required in order to pull this off. After all, we don’t want them to know that we know.”

“That we know what? I thought we were just discussing that we didn’t know?” Spencer asked, feeling a little confused.

Robert placed a hand on Spencer’s shoulder. “We need to act as if everything is completely normal. There can only be two outcomes from today. They either behave the same way they always have, and this tiff blows over. Or they ignore each other because of whatever falling out they have had. But surely they won’t choose this route.”

“Why is that?” Eli asked.

“Because they have to know what nosey bastards we are,” Robert replied with a smirk. “Obviously, if something were amiss, we would demand to know the reason why. The way I see it, there are advantages to both outcomes.”

“Agreed,” Eli voiced, and Spencer nodded.

“Well then,” Spencer suggested. “Be on the lookout and keep vigilant. Let’s reconvene tomorrow night at Hannigan’s to discuss what we’ve observed from our love birds. From that, we can formulate a better plan.”

“Until then,” Eli agreed, tipping the rest of his scotch down his throat before rising and bidding his friends goodbye.

After the Rotherford brothers had seen Elias out of the house, they happened to come across their mother.

“Hello, my darlings,” Mariah Rotherford smiled up at her grown children. “Whatever are you two boys up to today?”

Robert and Spencer each took a moment to place a small kiss on her cheek. “Nothing of any importance,” Spencer rushed to say in a tone that was a smidge higher than his usual cadence.

Robert glared at him from behind his mother’s back.

Mariah narrowed her eyes. Something she usually did when she’d discovered her boys were up to something they shouldn’t be. Robert hoped she wouldn’t be thinking of their past exploits when they’d put snakes in the guest beds. Or worse, when they’d snatched their father’s cigars and attempted to smoke them out at the lake.

His lips twitched, remembering how horrified their mother had been that CeCe and Eli were in tow. They’d made themselves sick near the lake and promised never to smoke them again.

“Are you quite certain of that?” she asked pointedly. “Because it seems like you’re up to something.”

Robert smiled, turning her away from his brother. “Have I told you how lovely you look, Mother? I believe that you are getting younger every day.”

Mariah’s cheeks flushed prettily. “What a lovely thing to say, Robert. You have always been my favorite.”

“I heard that!” Spencer’s muffled reply came from down the hall, causing them all to laugh. The funny business was thankfully forgotten.