Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
“ D o you ever not put your foot in it, Jas?” Lucien snapped as soon as they entered the study. “You did not have to present the notion of children to Edwina.”
“Oh.” Jasper sniggered. “Trouble in paradise already?”
“I have not married her out of love. I told her she shall not bear my children out of duty, unless she wishes to.”
“Ah, it is a sensitive subject, then.”
Lucien just gave his friend a long stare.
“I shall simply listen,” Jasper said. “And keep my mouth shut. Unless prompted, that is.”
“Nothing has changed since Cambridge, has it?”
“Are you referring to the time I told our Latin professor that you had cheated to come top of the class when you had sworn me to secrecy?”
“More so the time you almost told our Greek professor that I had not done the assignment and that I bribed you to let me submit it as a collaborative essay.”
Jasper frowned, deep in thought for a moment, before he laughed. “Ah, yes. Oh, wonderful times. Your bribe was excellent. I wore a new cravat every day of the month back then.”
“May we actually discuss proper business, Jas?”
“Absolutely. I am all ears, Your Grace.”
Lucien rolled his eyes. “I spent the past week gathering information about the remainder of Nicholas’s debts—the ones I wrote to you about. He has indeed come out of the shadows, and it is… well, it is rather bad.”
At first, he thought it was best to keep Nicholas’s addiction to himself, but the three of them had been friends, and he had felt the betrayal of not knowing.
He took a deep breath before continuing, “Nicholas has been struggling with an addiction to laudanum. When I investigated, I found out that he owed money to many, many creditors.”
“Laudanum?” Jasper’s face paled. “Nicholas is addicted to opiates?”
“Because of his war injury, yes.” Lucien sighed as he dragged a hand through his hair. “That is why you were not invited to my wedding. I did it to protect Nicholas and help him recover. And to ensure Edwina was not left unsupported.”
“That is all it was for?” Jasper raised an eyebrow.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.” Jasper shrugged, pouring himself a glass of whisky from Lucien’s cabinet. “Only that I saw how you reacted upon me complimenting her. Men who do not marry out of attraction would not have a reason to be jealous.”
“I was not jealous,” Lucien scoffed before striding to his desk and pulling out a sheaf of papers. “Regardless, these are all the documents I could find regarding Nicholas’s debts.”
“Goodness.” Jasper’s eyes widened.
“And these are the only official ones. At the moment, I cannot tell who else he owes money to. Back street dealers, shady men, crime lords. Who knows? I have set him up for rehabilitation, but who is to say whether he will remain clean or not? It worries me that he likely still owes money to dangerous people. People who might one day come after Edwina. Nicholas is heavily guarded, but I cannot keep my wife a prisoner.”
“You cannot.”
Lucien exhaled, taking back the papers. “For now, I have put thirty percent of the shares of three of my most lucrative businesses in Nicholas’s name. He does not know, of course.”
“You do not trust him with the knowledge?”
Feeling somewhat guilty, Lucien shook his head. “No, I do not. Rehabilitation is not linear, and he could very well relapse. If he hears of the income he now has from those businesses, he could access more laudanum than ever. If I restrict his knowledge, then he might have no choice but to flush opium out of his system simply for thinking he cannot afford it.”
“He could turn to desperate measures.”
“He could,” Lucien acknowledged. “But I have to hope he will not. He has seen how affected Edwina has been by his addiction. I am hoping that is enough.”
“It is not always.”
“I know. But for now, I have to have a small amount of trust in him.”
Jasper nodded. “What businesses is he a partner in?”
“The business I set up just outside Stormhold. He is the co-owner of the breeding farm, although I am taking over his responsibilities until he is back on his feet. I also have several trade agreements with some merchants and have appointed Nicholas as a silent partner for the import of whisky and wine.”
“I see. And you have used that income to pay off his debts?”
Lucien nodded. “Along with some of my income, yes. It also funded the renovation of Montgomery Manor.”
“Very nice. Very nice, indeed. The Duchess must be quite impressed,” Jasper remarked pointedly.
“Impressed? No. I did not do this to impress her. This was all to ensure that she did not carry the burden of her brother’s addiction and its effect on their family. I want to see Nicholas be the man he once was. He deserves it. Edwina deserves to have her brother back. If any of this can achieve that, then I will be happy.”
“You are honorable, Lucien. You have been so bitterly angry with Nicholas for a long time.”
“And now I am starting to understand. Finding out about his struggles does not entirely resolve everything, but… I am willing to give him a second chance.”
“In that case, I am rather looking forward to my reunion with him. It has been a long time. You said you have set him up for rehabilitation?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“In one of my smaller estates, not far from here. It is on the other side of the village. Once he is well enough, Edwina will be able to visit him.”
“That is smart, keeping him close.”
“I hope so. He has his aunt there, looking after him.”
“What will you do regarding the remaining creditors? The unknown ones?”
“I have my solicitor doing more digging, and I shall do some on my own when I am back in London. I cannot attract too much attention, however. I have already attracted enough by asking about his whereabouts back when he kept disappearing.” At Jasper’s questioning look, Lucien shook his head. “It is a long story.”
Jasper finished his drink in one gulp before he rose from his chair. “Go to your wife, Lucien. Be with her. No matter the circumstances of your marriage, it sounds as though she has endured a great deal of loneliness and could do with the company.”
The advice struck Lucien, for as much as Jasper could be a large pain in his backside, he could sometimes impart more than solid advice.
“Thank you.”
“Now, I am off to see a man about a horse. Quite literally.”
“Another, Jasper?”
“Yes. I must have one in preparation for wooing the lady I have set my sights on. Her father, apparently, is fond of horses. I am looking into purchasing a top war horse as a gift.”
“Let us hope you like her to that extent.”
They bid each other farewell and left the study. Jasper nodded his goodbyes to Edwina, while Lucien averted his gaze, knowing she had questions.
But Edwina followed him down the hallway and caught him before he reached the study once more.
“Lucien,” she called out.
He did not answer and only stepped back into the room. Edwina followed him inside and closed the door, trapping them in the dark room.
He rarely opened the curtains in there, preferring to keep the room dark as it often helped his mind remain focused. There was something about working in the evening that had always agreed with him. Perhaps it was due to his adolescence, some of those long months spent in a curtained room with little sunlight.
He shook the thought away and sat behind his desk, only to glance up and find Edwina looming over him.
“Well,” she huffed. “Last night, you could not touch me enough, and now you cannot even answer me or glance back when I call out to you. Are you back to avoiding me?”
“No,” he answered. “I have work to finish.”
He picked up his quill and began to work out a plan to track down the rest of Nicholas’s creditors. If he could note down the places he had checked and use them as a starting point to find names, then?—
“Indeed, but you also have a wife now.”
“A wife who is trying to interfere in my business. We agreed that you are my wife in name only.”
Edwina barked out a laugh. “It did seem that way last night when you were pleasuring me, asking me to voice my pleasure as I wished.”
Lucien slowly dropped his quill and lifted his gaze back to hers. “Do you wish me to bend you over my desk right now, then?” He so enjoyed how her face flushed at the bluntness of his question. “To slide my hand back between your legs and enter you once more?”
“N-No,” she muttered. “I am here as your wife in other areas. I am not trying to interfere in your business ventures, Lucien. Although, Heavens knows I would likely understand a great deal. I am here to ask what Jasper meant by you having a strained relationship with your relatives. I was under the impression that you were in contact with them.”
“I am.”
“So why did he?—”
“Edwina.”
“No. No, Lucien. Do not say my name as though I am asking about things I should not know about. You can share things with me. We are husband and wife, and you know about my family’s secrets.”
“I do now,” he countered. “It took you a long time, and even then, I only found out thanks to that broken bottle. You needed to keep your secrets for a reason, as do I now. It is my business, not yours.”
He saw her flinch back, her eyes flickering with hurt.
“Edwina—”
“No, you are right. I was ashamed of my brother’s addiction. I was protecting him, and myself. How selfish of me not to predict that when the situation was reversed, I would be met with the same behavior.”
She pulled back, moving further away from his desk.
“Come back,” he said.
“I shall leave you to your business,” she murmured, before slipping out of the study.