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“ M ighty early in the day for it,” James commented, leaning back in his chair and watching with wide eyes as William poured a round of scotch.

“I know what time of day it is,” William grumbled. He pushed a glass toward James and another toward Matthew, who hadn’t done more than raise his eyebrows since William had arrived. “I want to drink.”

“Well, no one is stopping you, but it’s too early for me,” James said, leaving his glass untouched. “Victoria wouldn’t thank me for it if she came home from her day in town and found me drunk before noon.”

William turned to Matthew. “What say you? Since you’re here. I didn’t expect James to have company, but if he’s unwilling to share a drink with me then it’s for the best. I don’t want to have to waste this scotch by drinking alone.”

“At least you brought your own over here with you,” James said. “Had you turned up and asked for a bottle of my scotch, I can assure you that you would have been refused.”

“A fine friend you’re turning out to be in my hour of need,” William said.

“And what makes this your hour of need?” Matthew spoke up at last. “You can’t expect us not to want an answer to that question, William. You show up on James’ doorstep unannounced and looking like you’ve been to war—what’s happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” He had come over here in hopes of escaping more talk. If he’d wanted conversation, he would have stayed at home.

But Matthew crossed his arms. “If you wish me to drink with you, you’ll have to tell me what ails you,” he said. “Otherwise, my glass remains untouched.”

“That’s manipulation.”

“It’s entirely your decision. Tell me or don’t.”

William sighed. “Very well. Since you insist, it’s Arabella.”

Matthew and James looked at one another.

“What?” William asked.

“Well, it’s just that we could have guessed that much,” James said with a smile. “We’ve been waiting for you to come to us about troubles with Arabella since the day you married her.”

“So, you mean to say you saw this coming?” William demanded. “How could you not have told me?”

“I did tell you,” James said.

“You never told me that you thought Arabella cared too much about being a perfect duchess.”

“A perfect duchess? That’s what this is about?”

“She’s become completely insufferable,” William said. “Every time I speak to her, all she wants to talk about is people’s perceptions of her. She’s unbearably worried about the judgments of society, and I just can’t fathom why that could be.”

James and Matthew exchanged smiles.

“For heaven’s sake— what ?”

“Completely insufferable,” James said. “I remember that feeling. I’m sure Matthew does as well, don’t you, Matthew?”

“Oh, very well,” Matthew agreed. “The lies we tell ourselves!”

“What on earth are you talking about? What lies?”

“You stand there and act as if you’re tormented by your wife’s presence when we all know nothing could be further from the truth,” James explained. “We’ve seen the way you look at her. We’ve seen the way you are when she’s around.”

“Driven mad?”

“Yes, but not in the way you mean it. You think you’re angry with her.”

“I am angry with her! You didn’t hear the things she was saying.”

“And I’m sure you’ll tell us all about it,” James said soothingly. “But in the meantime, you should consider that there may be something else behind what you’re feeling.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” William said. “And frankly, I don’t care to indulge in this sort of speculation. The fact of the matter is that my wife is making my life exceedingly difficult.”

“Wives have a way of doing that,” Matthew agreed, but to William’s never-ending consternation, he said it fondly. There was none of the frustration William felt in his tone. It was as if he found the whole thing amusing and reminiscent of a time he thought of happily.

“So, go on,” James said. “What has Arabella done that’s so insufferable?”

“Well, she…” William hesitated. This wasn’t going to come out sounding very convincing. “She wants us to have a child.”

“What? She’s a monster. I don’t know how you can bear it!”

“Don’t make fun,” William snapped as Matthew roared with laughter at James’ mockery.

“You know perfectly well that this was not what I wanted, and I told her that right from the very beginning! I never kept her in the dark about what this marriage was going to be. She was never misled. She’s asking to change the terms now and being difficult when I refuse her! ”

“It’s a marriage, William,” Matthew reminded him. “Your wife is allowed to discuss things with you. She’s allowed to mention it to you if she’d like a child.”

“She doesn’t want a child.”

“Well, now you’re contradicting yourself.”

“She wants to be admired, that’s all. She wants to be a duchess that the ton will look up to.

That kind of perfection means providing an heir, so she wants to do that.

If I thought this was coming out of a desire for motherhood, I might feel differently, but she hasn’t shown any desire to become a mother.

Every time she brings it up, it’s always the same— what will people think ?

Well, I don’t give a damn what people think. ”

He punctuated that thought with a long swig of his scotch, relishing the burn in his throat. There was something about the harsh drink that made him feel powerful, back in control of his life once more. That was something he needed badly right now.

“I don’t know if that’s fair to say,” James said.

“If what’s fair to say?”

“That you don’t care what anyone thinks.”

“Oh, please,” William scoffed. “When have you known me to make my decisions based on the opinions of others?”

“Well, why did you marry Arabella?” James asked.

“He’s right,” Matthew said. “You didn’t marry her because you were desperate for marriage, and you certainly weren’t desperate for her. Think about it, William, and be honest with yourself. What was the reason?”

“Well, it wasn’t because I care what the shallow society gossips think!”

“Not them,” James said. “But someone. Why did you marry her? Say it.”

“My father would have hated this marriage,” William said.

“Yes, he would have,” James agreed quietly.

“Because he would have hated to see someone he felt was unworthy of the title of duchess in Redmayne Manor.”

“No,” James said. “Because he would have hated to see you prioritizing your own happiness, William. He always wanted you to consider his values above everything else, including what would make you happy. When you chose to marry Arabella, you didn’t do that.

You did what you wanted instead of what he would want, and that’s the part that would really drive him mad.

He’d hate that much more than he would hate the idea that your wife is from a poor family, I think.

Anyone can marry into wealth and status. ”

“That’s right,” Matthew agreed. “And she may have had a bad reputation, but the more I get to know her, the more I see the quality she truly possesses. She was unlucky in her circumstances, but she’s a fine lady, and with time, it will be impossible to distinguish her from those who grew up in more well-respected families. ”

“I’d go so far as to say I prefer her to many of them,” James added. “She’s not always putting on airs the way some do.”

“That’s true,” Matthew said. ‘She’s very pleasant company. And our wives love her. She fits right in. You made a good choice, William, whether you’re ready to acknowledge it or not.”

“I’ve never suggested that she wouldn’t make a good duchess,” William argued. “I don’t know why she’s so hungry to prove herself because I’ve always felt she’s more than suitable for the role.”

“You say that to us, but out of the other side of your mouth you say that your father wouldn’t have approved! Which is it?”

“I don’t care if my father would approve or not! I approve!”

His friends looked at each other again.

“Stop smiling like that,” William insisted. “What’s the joke?”

“Not a joke, my friend,” James said. “We’re glad to see you happy, that’s all. Well, not that you look especially happy at the moment! I don’t mean to dismiss all this wrath you’re so clearly trying to manage. I’m sure that’s very difficult.”

He was still grinning from ear to ear. William’s anger spiked.

He longed to get up and storm from the room, but given the way his friends had been behaving, that would only serve to prove something to them that he had no intention of demonstrating.

They would say his sudden desire to leave them to their laughing indicated some inner softness on his part.

“I’ve never felt less happy in my life,” William told his friends.

“And that’s exactly how it starts,” James said.

“You think there’s no one more maddening on earth than your wife.

You think your life was better and easier before you married her.

Well, it might have been easier. But this is when you begin to realize that things most certainly were not better for you before Arabella came into your life. ”

“That’s right,” Matthew agreed.

“You expect me to believe that this is somehow better for me? Being driven out of my own home in frustration? You’d trade places with me, I suppose?”

“Answer me this,” James said. “Suppose you could get rid of Arabella right here and now. Suppose that by doing so, you could be sure no harm would come to her. You could marry her to a gentleman who would love her, someone you could feel confident she would love as well. She would be happy for the rest of her days, and there would be no damage to her reputation.”

“That’s quite a story you’re weaving.”

“All right. Just say it was possible,” James said. “Would you want to do it?”

William hesitated. “If… if it was what was best for her… if it was what she wanted… I would be willing.”

But he was shocked to realize how much the words hurt him. He didn’t feel willing at all. He felt furious with this other man, this fictional man James had created. He wanted to find the fellow and throttle him for daring to look at Arabella.

Ridiculous! How could he possibly be so angry with a person who didn’t even exist?

“I didn’t ask you if you would be willing,” James pointed out.

“I asked you if you would want to do it. You stand here and tell us that Arabella is such a trial and a burden to you. All right. In this scenario, you have an easy way out. You would never have to worry about her again. Would you want that?”

William couldn’t answer. But his silence didn’t stop the answer from ringing in his thoughts. I’d never give her up. Not while I had any other alternative. Of course, I wouldn’t accept what James is suggesting. Never in my life.

His reaction must have showed on his face because Matthew spoke up. “He wouldn’t do it,” he said quietly. “He loves her.”

“Of course, he does,” James said. To William, he added, “Do you see? You love her too much to let her go. You can’t even contemplate the notion.

And that’s what you ought to be paying attention to here.

Not the fact that she irritates you. A lady always will.

I’m sure you irritate her too. But you want to be with her just the same because you love her.

You’re in love with your wife, William. It’s time you accepted it.

There are far worse fates that can befall a man. ”