Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25

A fter breakfast the following morning, Marcus was looking much better. Christian was still concerned by the pallor of his skin, however, which seemed grayer than it had been.

The atmosphere at breakfast was joyful but charged with emotion. Christian wanted to know what had happened to his brother and could barely stand the small talk during breakfast. He wanted to drag the man into a room and find out the truth.

He had awoken with a deep sense of unease in his gut and a terrible anger toward his brother that he could not place. He was unsure whether he was angry with Marcus for disappearing and leaving him worried sick for months or for having a bond with Louise that he could only dream of.

He rather suspected it was the latter, and that was the most irritating thing of all.

After breakfast, Christian called Marcus to the study, but both men knew it was not an invitation—it was an order. Christian frowned at him when he entered with the kitten in his arms, a strained smile on his face.

“I have rather taken a liking to him. Do you mind?” Marcus asked pitifully.

Christian shrugged a shoulder, still trying to tame his emotions. It was so strange to have his brother wander into his study as though he had never been gone.

“Do as you like, but that kitten is a menace.”

Marcus pulled the kitten closer to his chest, just as Louise had done the first night she found him.

“Do not listen to him,” he whispered in Jack’s ear. “He does not know how special you are, does he?”

Christian stiffened, noting the similarities between his wife and his brother.

Would she be happier with him? They are so similar in many respects, and the joy on her face when she saw him was beyond anything I have seen from her.

His gut clenched at the memory as he motioned for Marcus to sit down.

His brother lowered himself carefully into the chair across from his desk. The effort to support his whole weight with his arms was painful to witness.

Marcus placed Jack on his lap, and the kitten trotted up his thigh and nestled against his chest.

“Did they not feed you in the village?” Christian asked. “You are half the size you were, and you barely ate anything at breakfast.”

“My appetite is still not what it was. I could not eat for a long time due to my injuries, and the village did not have a great deal of food. I could not expect them to serve such a banquet as you have. I am grateful for the breakfast—I ate more than I thought I could.”

“Hmm.” Christian sat down, fixing him with a hard stare. “I do not wish to tire you out completely, but I will have the truth even if I have to drag it out of you.”

“What do you want to know?” Marcus asked.

The question surprised Christian. It seemed a decidedly odd thing for him to say.

What do I not wish to know would be more accurate.

Christian eyed him warily, noting the almost guilty expression on his face.

Something is not right about all of this . He is keeping something from me, I am sure of it.

“I thought this had to do with Louise’s father,” he admitted, steepling his fingers in his lap.

Marcus looked up. “Northbridge?” he asked hesitantly.

“The same. I assumed it had to do with Louise—that you were in love with her—and therefore, the Earl wished to prevent the match.”

Christian held his breath, blood pounding in his ears as he watched his brother’s expression carefully.

Injecting a casual calm into his voice, he continued. “If that is the case, I am sorry I have stolen her from you, but I hope you don’t plan to lead her into adultery.”

Marcus appeared somewhat startled by that statement.

“I do love Louise,” he admitted carelessly, as though he were speaking about the weather. The simple phrase made Christian’s heart stop. “But not like that. You have nothing to worry about on that score, I assure you.”

Christian was still not entirely sure he believed his brother, but his heart rate slowed, nonetheless.

At that moment, the door burst open, and Louise marched into the room, coming up short when she spotted both brothers.

Jack jolted awake with a pitiful meow, and Louise walked over to him, stroking him gently to soothe him back to sleep. Christian’s fingers gripped the arms of his chair so hard that they ached.

She is stroking that kitten in Marcus’s lap! Order her to stop it at once.

He bit his tongue, watching as Marcus looked up at her adoringly as she cooed over the tiny animal.

Eventually, after an eternity that had him edging forward in his seat, barely holding himself back from leaping across the desk and removing her from his brother’s side, she stepped back.

“I was thinking that we might promenade today,” Louise said excitedly to Marcus, who raised his eyebrows but seemed equally keen on the idea.

“Promenade?” he asked softly, glancing hesitantly at Christian.

“If you have the strength for it,” she added. “I know you are still recovering from your ordeal, but I have missed you. Just think—we would not need to be chaperoned this time, since I am married now!”

Christian thought he might crack a tooth, for his jaw was clenched so tightly. He stood up, clearing his throat pointedly, and Louise turned to him, the warmth in her eyes fading as she arched a shapely eyebrow at him.

“Is there a problem, husband?” she asked. “Am I not allowed to have friends outside of our marriage?”

Christian rounded his desk, aware of Marcus’s eyes following his every move. He stopped in front of Louise, who stood her ground and looked up at him with an expectant defiance on her face, which made him itch to throw her over his shoulder and drag her to his bedroom.

“As long as you remember who you belong to,” he said huskily.

Louise scoffed. “I do not belong to anyone.”

Christian leaned in so that he could whisper in her ear, noting the flush on her cheeks and the low gasp that escaped her mouth. “Remember that the next time you moan my name, my sweet. ”

Now it was Marcus’s turn to clear his throat as he unsteadily pushed himself to his feet, the kitten held loosely in his hand. “Ahem. Well, I think?—”

“You may go,” Christian said without looking at him, staring at Louise and daring her to challenge him.

“I do not need your permission to spend time with my friends,” she stated haughtily, before taking Jack from Marcus’s hand and stalking out of the room, leaving the two brothers staring after her in amazement.

Christian turned back to Marcus, who was watching him with an odd expression.

“Perhaps a walk outside would do me some good,” Marcus insisted. “The atmosphere in here is rather overwhelming.”

Louise marched into her room and rang for her maid.

She held Jack against her stomach, stroking his soft fur and wondering what the cook was making that might be suitable for his supper. She looked down at his little face and smiled, scratching him beneath his chin as she considered Christian’s reactions to her interactions with Marcus. He seemed just as jealous as he had been at the ballroom, which amused her as much as it made her angry.

Christian had never shown the slightest interest in her friendship with Marcus until today. It seemed that just because they were married, he now felt he had to stake his claim on her wherever she might be.

I have never thought of Marcus in that way, and yet Christian looks at me as though I have always had designs on him!

She mulled over that thought as her maid arrived to help her dress for the promenade. She had so many dresses to choose from now that she found it positively exciting to sift through her collection. It vexed her that Christian had learned her tastes so well and so quickly. Everything he had bought her, she adored.

She chose a striking gold and green dress for the park, liking the way it reminded her of the flowers she had drawn the night before.

As her maid put the finishing touches to her hair, Louise’s eyes fell on the reticule in the corner of the room and the notebook filled with her drawings. She smiled happily. There was no reason she could not take it with her and spend some time showing Marcus her progress with the encyclopedia.

Her hand came up to her stomach as she considered what might have happened had he not returned to them.

I am so glad that he is safe.

But Marcus was not himself. It was not just that he looked far thinner than the last time she had seen him. He would not meet her eyes, constantly glancing away, making excuses, and refusing to tell her what had happened to him.

She was determined to find out the truth today. In the comfort of the park, with all the flowers and plants around to distract them, she hoped she could coax him into conversation and get titbits of information from him without him realizing her intentions.

She looked at herself in the mirror and turned to the side, pleased with her appearance. Her emerald-green gloves complemented her dress, and the dark green reticule holding her notebook was quite the thing. She could not wait to show Marcus all of her drawings and hear his thoughts on what she wished to add to the encyclopedia.

She nodded at her maid in thanks before she left her room and headed downstairs to meet him.

Christian may think he has given me permission to promenade with my closest friend, but I am a married woman now, and I shall do as I wish!