Page 17 of His Stolen Duchess (Stolen by the Duke #7)

Chapter Thirteen

L ysander rode with ease across the open fields atop his majestic horse, Artemis, who was the largest and fastest of all his horses.

The two of them shared a close-knit bond consisting of respect and understanding that had developed over their years together and made riding him an unfettered delight.

Artemis did exactly as he asked and made no sound.

There was no huffing, neighing, or baying whenever the Duke was around.

Lysander had a certain respect for that.

As he rode Artemis, he felt free. He had been liberated from the dukedom’s endless obligations, unshackled from the needs of his wife, and freed from his past. He still bore the scars of war, but not all his scars were visible.

Lysander rode to a nearby village, not one under his watch, to meet with Thomas for a drink. As he reached the small building, the noise spilled out from within.

The tavern stood at the edge of the village, right where the road forked, giving two routes into the village.

The tavern was called The Forks, but the locals called it The Forking Inn.

The beams were a little crooked and timeworn, and the thatched roof had seen better days, but it still kept out the rain.

The wooden sign swung in the wind, creaking each time it did.

Lysander dismounted and tied his horse to a nearby wooden post. As he walked toward the man holding the door for him, he heard the song from within.

“Oh, Sir Toby rode out in his finest of dress,

With buttons of brass and a coat to impress,

But a fence post gave chase, how it managed, who knows,

And left dear Sir Toby quite bare from the nose!”

Lysander rolled his eyes as he entered the tavern, recognizing the sound of his friend’s voice. He spotted Thomas in the far corner of the bar, a glass of claret in one hand and one of the barmaids in the other. He cheered and toasted Lysander as he entered, before finishing the song.

“So, raise up your glass for the brave and the bold,

Who fall to the mud when their tales are retold,

For fortune may smile, but she trips us all yet ? —

And leaves us half-naked, full drunk, and in debt!”

Thomas and everyone around him fell into laughter. Lysander thought he was going for a quiet drink with his friend, but almost nothing about Thomas was predictable. Perhaps he would have been better off expecting the unexpected.

“Bring some more of your fine claret!” Thomas called. “Only the best for His Grace.”

Lysander had hoped not to draw attention to himself, even though half the people in the tavern already knew who he was. Thomas must have sensed that Lysander wanted to talk, as he quickly shooed off everyone who was hanging around the table.

“How are you, old chap?” Thomas asked his friend. “Should I sing another song for you?”

“How about we leave the singing for later?”

“All right, but you are denying these people the voice of an angel,” Thomas noted.

Lysander shook his head but couldn’t help the smile that came to his lips. Thomas had a way of being rambunctious that Lysander never would be, and always made the worst jokes known to man, but was still the only person who made him smile.

The barmaid returned with another goblet and a full bottle of claret. “I hope you enjoy it, Your Grace.”

“I know I will,” he replied. Lysander poured a glass for himself and topped up his friend’s goblet.

The air was thick with the scents of roasted meat, peat smoke, and spilled ale.

Roughly hewn oak tables were littered with countless tankards and a few knives.

Overhead beams were strung with drying herbs.

The fiddler and drummer continued to play in the opposite corner, but played their music a little quieter.

There were a lot of advantages to gentlemen’s clubs, but Lysander enjoyed frequenting the small taverns. The people there knew him but didn’t feel the need to approach and talk with him.

Lysander began with a large drink of wine and enjoyed its rich, fruity warmth as the wine trickled down his throat.

“You look tired,” Thomas commented.

“You certainly know how to have a pleasant conversation,” Lysander returned with a smirk.

“You’re only a few weeks married. I’m sure there is a good reason for you being so tired, huh?” Thomas winked.

“There hasn’t been time for any of that. There are other things to worry about, and that will come in time, of course.”

“Do you mean to tell me that you are a man who was just married, and I’ve had more women in my bed than you?” Thomas pretended to count on his fingers. “I mean, it was only one woman, but that still beats your total.”

“That is not all a marriage is for,” Lysander huffed.

“No, but it is one of its benefits. Why have such a beautiful wife if you can’t take advantage of her?”

“I don’t wish to take advantage of her.”

“No, of course not.” Thomas drummed his fingers on the table. “Is it because of your gruff demeanor? Have you been begging her to come to your bedchamber, and she has refused you? Perhaps you can get her drunk.” Thomas grinned at his own ingenuity.

Lysander gritted his teeth, then smiled. “With anyone else, I would brush off such idiotic comments, but you have a way of getting under my skin like no one else. How did we ever become friends?”

“It’s all in the tone of the delivery,” Thomas said. “The getting under your skin part, not the friends part. As for that, I suppose we are just doomed to be with each other in that capacity. So, is it your sparkling personality, or is she put off by your dashing good looks?”

“She is not put off at all,” Lysander retorted. “You should see the way she looks at me. If I wanted her, she would be mine in an instant. In truth, I don’t need the distraction right now. In time, we will create an heir, but that is all this is about.”

Thomas held up his hands. “If you say so. I only know if I had a woman like that, I wouldn’t be here speaking to me.”

“I thought I came here to have a drink with a friend, yet I am only being abused.”

“I apologize, I apologize, dear friend.” Thomas held up his hands. “You know I’m only teasing you. However, I do wish to know how married life is treating you.”

Lysander sighed before taking another drink of his claret.

“That is another matter entirely. She is the most unpredictable woman I have ever met. Indeed, I didn’t know her before we were wed, but I don’t believe that would have made a lot of difference.

She’s extremely loud, she distracts the staff, she has me teaching her how to swim, and there is a parrot that apparently had to come along with her that wreaks its own brand of chaos. ”

Thomas raised an eyebrow. “You’re teaching her how to swim?”

“Did you not hear what I just said about chaos and wild birds? How many women do you know who have pet parrots? Yet, you latch onto swim lessons?”

“Of all the things you just told me, that one is the most surprising. Listen, all jesting aside, I know this is a marriage of convenience, and I understand that you don’t want or need a wife for anything more than providing you with an heir, so it’s surprising to me that you would be spending your time teaching her how to swim. Why not engage someone else to do it?”

“I don’t need someone in their bathing suit touching my wife.”

“No, I suppose not.” Thomas looked over to the bar and smiled at the barmaid. “And how is she coming along with these swim lessons?”

“Better than I expected, especially after the first lesson.” Lysander closed his eyes and shook his head before opening them again.

“I thought she might drown in my arms—she seemed to be trying her best to do just that. I suppose I can’t blame her after what happened in Hyde Park.

I’m sure most onlookers thought it was a complete jape, but they didn’t know how close to death she was.

If I hadn’t been there, she wouldn’t be here today. ”

“You have always had a hero complex,” Thomas noted.

“You are my friend, aren’t you? I wanted to have some time away from the chaos, but you only stab me with your comments.”

Thomas held up his hands for a third time. “You are completely right, although I must take one last jab at you. It is not a jab, of course, but you will take it as such.”

Lysander sighed, but he rolled his finger in the air to instruct his friend to inflict his jab.

“It might be hard for anyone else to notice because the shift is not all that significant, but I can see that you are in a far better mood than usual.” He raised an eyebrow and smiled before taking a drink of his wine, then topped up both of their glasses.

“I don’t understand what you are suggesting,” Lysander countered. “Should I be in a permanently bad mood? I was in a better mood when I walked in here because I expected to have a drink with a good friend, but I suppose I shall have to find a good friend first.”

“And a joke,” Thomas commented. “As your best friend, I know you are not one for jokes. Some brooding, perhaps, but you are not one for witty jokes such as that. It almost made me laugh, you know.”

Lysander’s voice began to rise. “I’m in a slightly better mood because I was able to escape the chaos for a while. You ought to understand if you had spent any length of time in my manor. I have a good mind to put my foot down on all of it and tell her exactly how things should be.”

Thomas didn’t say another word. He only eyed his friend curiously in a way that made Lysander uncomfortable.

He wanted to demand that Thomas divulge the basis for his quizzical expression.

He didn’t, but only because he could feel his breathing was slightly heavier, and he knew he had raised his voice.

I shouldn’t be getting so worked up over nothing.

Thomas finally wagged a finger at his friend. “No, I don’t believe it.”

Lysander shrugged. “You don’t believe what?”

“I don’t believe any of it. You are trying to cover for your own happiness, whatever small sliver you have found. I think you like married life, and that there is something about this woman. There must be if you are behaving like this.”

“Like what?” Lysander asked.

Thomas gestured with his hand, indicating all of Lysander. “Like you haven’t acted in years. You are almost pleasant. I mean, I don’t care about pleasant, but many people find it, well… pleasant.”

Lysander wanted to claim to his friend that he wasn’t pleasant, that, in fact, he was unpleasant, but that felt like a ridiculous thing to say. Instead, he scoffed at his friend.

“You have no idea what you are talking about. I shall invite you over some time, and you can see first-hand what I’m dealing with.”

“I would like that,” Thomas said. “I need to get to know this woman. She intrigues me.”

“Oh, stop,” Lysander complained. “You are trying to get a rise out of me, and it won’t work. Can we please talk about other things?”

“Certainly, dear chap,” Thomas said. “What would you like to talk about?”

“I have some business to attend to in London. I wonder if you might be around, so we can go to a gentleman’s club.

Perhaps that venue will work out better.

I fear that because we have met in a tavern, it has brought your conversation down to a bawdy level.

If we meet in a more civilized place, we might have a more civilized conversation. ”

“There is only one way to test that out,” Thomas said. “When are you in London?”

“In one week’s time.”

“We shall meet somewhere nice, and we will both be on our very best behavior,” Thomas announced. “Until then, I get to be on any sort of behavior I choose, and tonight, I’m leaning toward being on my worst behavior.”

“I’ve no objection, as long as you direct that behavior toward someone else.”

Lysander leaned back in his chair and took up his goblet of wine.

Had he really changed?

If anyone were to sense it, it would be Thomas. If it were true, Lysander wasn’t sure he liked it. Most people changed over a course of time, not in such a short span of time because of one person.

For his own sanity, he had to protect himself.