Chapter 14
Fourteen
Hugo didn’t get a second to catch his breath. The moment the door closed behind the royal official, he raced to the living room to catch his family poking through the chest of coins and gems, gasping at all the pretty sparkles.
“Drop it! Out!” Hugo shouted, plucking coins and precious stones out of fingers and putting them back in the chest before slamming it shut.
“Hugo!” his mother gasped. “I raised you better than that! Will you truly not share a small portion of your good fortune with your family?”
“Of course, I’m going to share it. As the male head of the household, it’s my duty to see that you’re all provided for. That also means I need to protect you from yourselves.”
“Huuuugooooooo!” Augustine whined. “Let us fritter a bit of it away. What’s the fun in having money if you can’t waste a tiny amount?”
“Please, I was going to buy only a couple of books,” Dorian added.
Hugo narrowed his eyes at his brother. He didn’t believe that for a second. Dorian would fill his room with books so that he didn’t have enough room for a bed and still claim he didn’t have enough.
“Yes, I’m going to give you some spending money,” Hugo stated as he clutched the heavy box to his chest. “Just a little. The rest goes to pay for my season and the seasons that Dorian and Augustine will have. We’ll also see to some repairs around the house and other, more mundane improvements to make our lives more comfortable and secure. ”
As he spoke, he could see the eyes of his family glaze over.
They didn’t care about repairing the drafty windows or getting the chimney swept.
They wanted new clothes, new books, and new racing horses or whatever in the world Augustine fancied at that moment.
It was on Hugo’s shoulders alone to be the responsible one.
Jessamine made a dismissive noise and flopped onto the settee. “Why are you worried about using the money for Dorian’s season? That will be taken care of when you marry.”
“I would prefer not to be a fortune hunter, Mother,” Hugo said, grinding the words between his teeth.
“I don’t want to beg my husband’s family for money to take care of my brothers.
There should be more than enough from the king’s gift to at least take care of Dorian’s season, if not Augustine’s as well. ”
“It’s not begging to expect your husband to help support your family,” his mother argued.
“And you wouldn’t have to worry about any of that at all if you won over the prince, whom it seems you’ve now encountered twice.
” She fluttered her eyelashes at him and smiled so prettily that Hugo almost thunked his head down on the chest he was clutching.
“There is nothing between me and Prince Everand,” he mumbled against the chest, not daring to look up at her.
That wasn’t the truth at all, but he also didn’t believe he had a real shot at winning the prince’s heart and hand in marriage.
The invitation to the ball wasn’t helping to settle his mixed feelings about things either.
He quickly sucked in a breath and lifted his head.
“Mother, I think the fun spending money will be more than enough to buy that new hat you had your eye on in Mrs. Mayberry’s shop.
Maybe you should put on your visiting dress while I pull your funds together.
I’d hate for someone else to buy that hat ahead of you. ”
Jessamine clapped her hands together and jumped to her feet. “That is a splendid idea. And I know that Mrs. Mayberry and all the shopgirls will be excited to hear how my son saved the prince’s life.”
It wasn’t ideal, but he couldn’t say that it was a lie when the king was using the same phrasing.
With his mother hurrying up the stairs to change, Hugo glanced over at his brothers to find mercenary expressions on their faces.
They weren’t out for mere coins. They wanted all the details of what had really happened in the woods yesterday.
A soft “Eep” escaped Hugo as he rushed from the room with the rifle and the chest to the study. Unfortunately, he didn’t have enough hands left to close the door behind him. No matter. Dorian did it for him, closing Hugo in with both of his brothers.
Hugo set the rifle safely on the far side of the room, promising that he would examine it as soon as he had time. He sat at the desk and placed the chest in the center, intending to pull together the money he’d promised for his family.
Except Dorian and Augustine had no interest in the money, and Hugo knew it.
“I’ll have your spending money in a moment,” Hugo announced even as Dorian perched his hip on the front of his desk. “Do try to make it last. I don’t wish to be a miser about this, but I need to make sure that the family is provided for if I don’t marry well.”
“Hugo, you know we were teasing you out there,” Augustine said.
“The money is nice, and I promise we won’t waste it. We’ll even help keep an eye on Mother,” Dorian promised. “What we want to know is what actually happened yesterday. You saved the prince? I’m with Mother on this one. You should have received a knighthood.”
Hugo groaned and finished counting out a handful of gold and silver coins—more than enough to satisfy their mother.
Metallic coins clinked together, breaking the silence.
He snatched a small cloth pouch out of a drawer and slid the money into it for later, then closed the chest so he could more easily see his brothers.
“It’s nonsense.”
“So, you didn’t save the prince, who not only sent that stunning rifle but also demanded the Royal Huntsman deal with our fox issue first thing this morning?” Skepticism dripped from Augustine’s words while Dorian’s head whipped around to gape at his younger brother.
“The Royal Huntsman came here?” he gasped, and Augustine nodded.
“This is all being blown out of proportion.” With another weary exhale, Hugo told his brothers a shortened version of what really happened in the woods the previous day.
He might have left out all the kissing parts, though, because there was no reason for his brothers to know how wonderful Prince Everand’s lips were or how devastating his smile was in the moonlight.
He also dropped the parts about the elves and being led home by the will-o’-the-wisp because he’d promised Everand he’d keep that a secret.
“So, you can clearly see, I didn’t save the prince. I think he’s feeling guilty about putting me in danger with those Wulian scouts and is trying to make up for it by saying I saved him. His father knows the truth of it all, and that’s why he gave a chest of gold rather than a knighthood.”
Dorian and Augustine exchanged a long look. In the end, Augustine shrugged a shoulder, which Hugo took to mean they believed him.
“I still think there’s more to this than you’re telling us,” Dorian stated with a stubborn tilt of his chin. “This prince seems far more dashing than the person you told me about.”
A dreamy sigh slipped out of Hugo before he could catch it. “He is.”
“Ha! I knew it!” Dorian leaped up from his perch, and Augustine raced to the edge of the desk so that they were both leaning close, their eyes wide and expectant.
Good grief! What have I done?
“No! I didn’t mean…”
“Come off it, Hugo,” Augustine scoffed. “There’s no sin in finding someone attractive.”
Hugo hesitated for a second, his brain scrambling to find some way out of this predicament without admitting the truth, but there wasn’t any. A groan erupted from his throat, and he flopped back into his chair. “Ugh. It’s so clichéd to fall for the handsome prince.”
“But he is handsome,” Dorian pointed out.
“Very,” Hugo agreed, without hesitation this time.
“But is he dashing? Charming? Witty?” Augustine prodded.
“Very. But he can also be an ass, which I told him to his face. And he laughed.” Gods, it felt so good to tell the truth.
A heavy, invisible weight lifted from his chest, and he could finally breathe.
He didn’t like keeping secrets, especially from his brothers.
Over the years, he’d always been able to confide in them.
Particularly Dorian. And they’d always confided in him.
The idea that he might be losing that had torn him up inside.
“But what about the day at the luncheon?” Dorian inquired, crossing his arms. “You were so against him and disappointed.”
Hugo tipped his head to the side and scratched his nose. “I think he might have been a tad sleep-deprived. He also thought it was a matchmaking attempt by his mother. He was likely acting like a lout to scare me away.”
“Then you truly like him? And he likes you?” Dorian’s voice bubbled with excitement. Hugo couldn’t decide if his brother was excited about his brother falling for a prince or just happy that Hugo was interested in someone.
“As friends. That’s all it is. We’re friends.”
His brothers didn’t appear convinced. That was probably because Hugo knew he didn’t sound all that convincing. He could hear the giddy joy skipping through his words when he talked about Everand.
“Okay, so maybe I wish we weren’t just friends, but we’re both realistic about it. He’s a prince, and I’m not. He will have to marry to form an important alliance to help the entire kingdom. That’s not something I can do.”
And yet…
“Before we parted this morning, he said that he wanted to see me again,” Hugo admitted.
“That’s wonderful!” Dorian exclaimed.
Hugo reached inside his jacket and pulled out the white envelope, showing it to his brothers.
He hadn’t even had the chance to open it yet.
“That’s what makes this even more tempting.
The queen has sent me an invitation to a royal ball that’s being held in a few days.
It would give me a chance to see Prince Everand, but… ”
“What’s wrong? Seeing the prince at the ball sounds like a wonderful opportunity,” Augustine pressed.