Chapter 17

CHAPTER17

When his butler announced that he had a visitor, Leo wasn’t certain who it could be. He was expecting a business client to arrive for a meeting, but that was to take place in an hour. He doubted that Lord McKilroy was an entire hour early when the man was well known for his punctuality.

“Who is it, Riddley?” Leo asked, lifting his head from his tanned mahogany writing desk, a remnant from his father.

“It is the Marquess of Huntington,” Riddley, yet another remnant from the days of his late father, replied cordially in a voice that was slowly disappearing to old age as well as secret tobacco smoking.

Leo’s brows knitted in displeasure. He hadn’t heard from Seth in several days, not since right after Seth had invited both Leo and Jane to visit him. Leo was hoping that he would find a plausible excuse not to allow this to happen, mostly because he did not wish Jane to be in Seth’s company. Seth was… well, a tough pill to swallow. Leo had gotten used to him, but he did not wish Jane to be in discomfort over some of the things Seth was bound to say. It was simply easier to keep the two apart. However, that seemed to be impossible as fate had plans of constantly intermingling their paths.

“Show him into the drawing room,” Leo said, hoping to join Seth quickly and excuse himself with work before Jane realized that he was even here.

“Yes, Your Grace,” Riddley bowed his head once more before closing the door behind him. Leo pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking why Seth was so adamant to see him so often. While they were good friends, they still weren’t in the habit of meeting on a weekly basis, especially seeing that both of them had their own businesses, and now, Leo was also married.

A few minutes later, Leo joined Seth in the drawing room. He was relieved to see that Jane wasn’t there. He hoped it would remain that way.

“Ah, Leo, old boy!” Seth greeted him loudly and cordially as always which made Leo feel a little guilty for avoiding his friend. Perhaps he was blowing it all out of proportion. “If I didn’t know any better, I would think you have been avoiding me,” Seth snickered.

“No,” Leo shook his head, smiling. “What would make you think that?” He knew what, but he hoped he wouldn’t have to say it.

“Well, perhaps that beautiful wife of yours can’t keep her hands off of you,” Seth winked, and Leo almost blushed. No one had the ability to make him feel as awkward as his best friend, but he supposed that was what best friends were for—to push those wrong buttons.

“I assure you it isn’t that,” Leo spoke officially, clearing his throat as he did every time when the topic of the conversation was slightly uncomfortable for him. “You know that we have merged the two breweries, and now there is more work to be done than I can handle.”

“Do you need help?” Seth offered, making that pang of guilt in Leo even more noticeable. Here he was, his best friend, offering help, while Leo did everything in his power to avoid him. Truly not admirable.

“I think we can handle it for now,” Leo assured him. Then, as soon as he noticed that Seth was getting comfortable on the chaise lounge, he quickly continued. “Listen, I would love to—”

But before he could say what was on his mind and tell Seth that they would need to reschedule, the door opened, and Jane walked in. She seemed as surprised to see them there as they were to see her.

“Oh, I apologize,” she smiled a little awkwardly. “I did not know we had guests.”

“Neither did your husband,” Seth grinned upon seeing her, immediately standing up.

He walked over to her hastily, as if someone else might beat him to it, then he snatched her had away from her and gave her a pristine kiss. Leo watched it all, wondering if he was right in thinking that Seth was merely being… well, Seth. He loved being the center of attention with the ladies. Seeing Jane was taken, there was no harm in him bestowing some affection onto her. Or was there?

“You look ravishing, my dear.” Seth gazed in awe at Jane, who smiled back at him. She seemed much more at ease around him than the first time.

“Thank you,” Jane replied. “Being such a sweet talker, I wonder how you are still unmarried.”

Seth seized the chance and smiled with all of his being. Leo did not think the comment particularly funny, but he smiled, nonetheless. He tried to calm himself down. It was merely jealousy. Unfounded jealousy. He never felt about any woman the way he did now, and it was just a matter of sorting out his feelings. His mind was aware of the fact that Seth was a friend who would never try anything with Jane, but his heart was fearful that he might lose her to anyone, including Seth. Any man was a potential opponent in his fight for Jane’s love. Now, Leo knew that he was in a war—in a war for love, and failure was not an option.

“You are most kind to say so, Lady Jane,” Seth said politely, once again making Leo feel guiltier than ever.

“Seeing you are here, why don’t we all have tea in the garden?” Jane suggested. “This lovely weather shall serve us only for a few more weeks then we shan’t be able to enjoy the sunshine as often.”

“That is a splendid idea,” Seth jumped. “Don’t you say so, old boy?”

Leo nodded. Jane walked over to him and gently grazed his hand with hers. The touch electrified him immediately. He had no idea why she would do it, so unexpectedly, but he didn’t question it. He welcomed it. He turned to her, his heart in his throat.

“I shall go and tell them to set up the tea in the garden,” she chirped. But just as she walked over to the door, there was a knock. “Yes?” she answered first, and Leo thought to himself how wonderful it was that she felt so at home. He did not think it would happen soon, and yet; he witnessed it just now. She truly resembled the lady of the house.

The door opened, and Riddley apologized for the interruption. “I beg your pardon, but Lord McKilroy is here.”

“Now?” Leo sighed heavily. “Is he not early?”

“He has informed me to apologize in advance, but he has engagements afterwards which he is hoping to partake in, provided you are able to see him immediately.”

“Oh, I suppose so,” Leo sighed again, even more heavily this time. He turned to Jane and Seth. “Should we reschedule?”

“Why?” Seth asked. “Old McKilroy won’t keep you occupied for hours, will he?”

“No,” Leo said, already seeing where Seth was headed with this. “Perhaps a quarter of an hour, maybe a little more.”

“Then, it’s settled.” Seth clapped his hands, walking over to Jane and standing next to her. His presence so close to Leo’s wife made Leo grind his teeth silently. Once again, he tried to remind himself that this wasn’t how a decent husband ought to behave. Jealousy had no place in his marriage. And yet, it was there. Present and accounted for. “Lady Jane and I shall wait for you outside. Join us when you are done.”

With those words, Seth led Jane out while all she could do was throw a casual glance at Leo, shrugging helplessly with a smile, then the doors closed, and Leo was left alone.

He inhaled deeply, allowing the air to fill his lungs, but when he exhaled, the action provided little relief if any. He walked back to his study, hoping to focus on his business with Lord McKilroy, so he could join his wife and his best friend in the garden as soon as possible.

* * *

Jane was becoming more and more accustomed to Seth’s unusual ways. It seemed to her that sometimes, he was close to crossing the line of propriety, but she was certain that it was not done out of any malice or anything of the sort but rather out of his desire to stay close to his best friend, even now that his best friend had gotten married. He probably thought that he needed to be on good terms with her as well. She could see no fault in that.

They were seated opposite each other, surrounded by lush greenery. Seth was doing most of the talking which she didn’t mind. She still didn’t know him that well and preferred to have it this way.

“So, how is Leo as a husband?” Seth suddenly asked, resting his chin on his hand with curled up fingers.

“How… is he?” Jane repeated the question, not certain what exactly he meant by it.

“Well,” Seth chuckled, trying to ease the sudden tension, “Leo is a good man, but sometimes he does not really know how to handle certain situations.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean,” Jane had to admit.

“Well,” Seth repeated the word, scratching the back of his head, “he was quite a rake back in the day.”

Jane felt as if someone punched her in the gut. The sensation propelled all the air out of her lungs. Even if that were true, she was in no mood to listen to such things.

“And it happened, more than once to tell you the truth, that the lady in question fell in love with him,” Seth said. Then, he quickly turned around to see if they were still alone. “But don’t tell him I told you this. I had to help him, sort of.”

“Help him?” Jane still didn’t understand the point of this story.

“Yes,” Seth nodded. “Like I said, Leo is a good man, but he is sometimes… clumsy, I suppose is the word for it. He doesn’t want to hurt anyone, and then, he retreats from a situation that he doesn’t want to face.”

Jane had to admit that this happened a few times before. For instance, when she asked him why he wouldn’t allow her to speak to her father in private, he just repeated what he told her father, ending the conversation.

“What I am trying to tell you is not to hold it against him,” Seth finally explained. “He is a good soul. And good souls always try not to hurt anyone, but that is impossible. So, they end up hurting everyone sometimes.”

Once again, she felt the weight of these words. She remembered how he basically blackmailed her into this marriage, arranged how it would be, and now, he was crossing that line by kissing her in the carriage and looking at her so lovingly when he was not supposed to.

You kissed him first.

A treacherous little voice reminded her. She tried to banish it from her mind, but that was impossible.

“I should understand him?” Jane asked.

“Yes,” Seth assured her. “You could not have gotten a better husband, believe me. But we are all a bit… odd, I suppose. It is just a matter of whether our oddities are compatible with the person we chose to marry.”

Jane wondered if that was the case with them. It was true that Leo was peculiar, but then again, so was she. Were their peculiarities truly compatible or not? Only time would tell. That was usually how these things went.

“There was this one—” Seth started but immediately stopped, gazing somewhere behind her, towards the house. A few moments later, she heard footsteps. Leo was joining them.

“Am I interrupting anything?” he asked playfully.

“Of course not,” Seth assured him, gesturing at the empty chair right next to Jane. “I have kept your blushing bride entertained with stories of your youth.”

“Oh, gosh,” Leo rolled his eyes. “Not those. Anything but those.”

They both chuckled, and Jane once again thought how grand their friendship had to be. They had been through so much, both good and bad. How fortunate Leo was to have a friend such as Seth.