Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
“What is this? His Grace, walking the gardens and taking advantage of the glorious weather? Had I not seen it with my own eyes, I might not have believed it!”
Hudson recognized the voice immediately, and it was one that had the unique ability to bring a smile to his lips; something that rarely occurred.
That was not to say that Hudson never smiled, rather that it was a challenge to produce such a thing from him, as his famously serious temperament prevented it.
“I ask that you keep it a secret.” Hudson turned about just in time to see his brother, Elias, strolling through the garden toward him. “If word got out, my reputation would be ruined.”
Elias chuckled. “Your secret is safe with me. And if anyone asks, when I called on you today, I found you in the dungeon, torturing kittens!”
“How very droll,” Hudson said dryly.
Elias held his arms wide for his brother, his intention being to pull Hudson into a hug.
Hudson, seeing it coming, extended a hand for his brother to shake, as Elias knew that Hudson was not a fan of hugging.
Still, Elias slapped the hand away and wrapped his arms about him fully, chuckling to hear Hudson’s protests.
“It is good to see you, brother,” Elias said cheerfully, holding him another second before pulling back.
He was two years younger than Hudson and looked more like their mother than Hudson did—softer features, lighter hair, kinder eyes, and a toothy smile that was certainly not from their father’s side.
“And dare I say that you are glad to see me...”
“I am not upset, if that is what you mean.”
“Ha!”
“Although, now that you are here, I am reminded of why these past two weeks were so calm and peaceful. I wonder if there is a correlation there...?”
“I see you have not changed.”
“Thirty years has not managed to do the job,” Hudson said. “I cannot imagine why you thought two more weeks might make a difference.”
“Hopeful, I suppose.” Elias slapped him on the arm, grinning from ear to ear.
“Perhaps I am the one who has changed? Yes, yes, it has been but two weeks, I am aware. But Hudson...” His smile reached his eyes, which began to sparkle as if the sun was shining directly into them. “Love will do that to a man.”
There it is. I was wondering how long it would take my brother to pontificate on his marriage and the state of utmost love in which he has supposedly found himself. Thirty seconds... a new record.
It was just two weeks ago now that Elias had married the lady who he now declared without hesitation to be the love of his life.
Previously Miss Blackwood, now Lady Albina Bond, a woman Hudson liked well enough.
He was beyond happy for his brother that the two had found one another, even if he was getting a little sick and tired of the way they fawned when in each other’s company. .. and that of others.
Since they were boys, Elias had always been the more romantic of the two, and often he would speak of his desire to one day meet a woman who would ‘complete’ him as he would complete her.
Strange, as the brother’s upbringing should have impeded this idealistic notion of marriage.
Their father was a cold man, bereft of emotion, seeming to care about his status in the ton, his reputation among his peers, and his business ventures only.
It went without saying that Hudson was more like their father than Elias was.
Not that he enjoyed this comparison. It was simply the way of things.
And it was because of this similarity, this eye toward pragmatism, that Hudson had very recently decided something about himself. Something which he was certain would cause his brother to fall over from shock, once he was told.
“Let me tell you, brother...” Elias threw an arm around Hudson, leading him on the walk through the garden. “These two weeks have been perhaps the best of my life.”
“Is that right?”
“I knew that I loved Albina before we wed, of course. These past two weeks...” He chuckled and shook his head. “They have but confirmed it.”
“I could not be happier for you.”
“We have even begun trying for a son,” Elias continued, either not noticing his brother’s lack of interest, or not caring.
That was good news, and exactly what Hudson wished to hear.
With no desire to marry himself, he had always worried about what this would mean where an heir was concerned—he was a duke, after all, and it was expected.
But his brother’s zest for romance and desire to find a wife had made him realize long ago that, once he passed away, his nephew would inherit his title instead.
Perhaps not the most traditional outcome, but good enough.
“Although Albina wishes for a daughter,” Elias chuckled and shook his head.
“I suppose we won’t have much of a choice though, will we?
Not to worry. I sense that we will not stop at one.
Oh, brother...” His grip on Hudson’s shoulder tightened.
“Can you believe it? Me! Married! What a time to be alive!”
Hudson was glad to see his brother today for two reasons.
The first was that he did in fact miss him. There were few people in this world who Hudson felt comfortable in the company of, few who he could speak openly with, and Elias was one of them.
This familiarity and trust that he had with his brother gave way to the second reason...
“I am glad you are here,” Hudson said, straightening up and shrugging his brother’s arm off his shoulder. “You and I need to have a talk.”
“Oh no,” Elias chuckled. “I know that tone. I have been gone two weeks and the sky has started to fall.”
“I assure you, it is nothing as drastic as that.”
“I shall be the judge.”
Hudson scoffed. “As you well know, these last few months, I have had some trouble concerning my bid to expand on certain business ventures. Most notably, just last week, my request to purchase farmland in Lachinshire—the land adjacent to that which I already own. You know the one?”
“Yes, yes, you told me you were putting in a bid for its purchase. What? Do not tell me that you were denied?”
Hudson’s lip curled. “Rebuffed on three occasions. So thorough was this rejection that they would not even do me the service of a counteroffer. I employed the broker Mr. Andrews to try and solve the matter, but he proved all but useless.” And then some.
Hudson still could not believe that it had come to this.
For months now, he had been sensing a change in the air, that notable feeling that his name no longer opened doors for him as it once had—as it very well should!
If anything, the complete opposite was true, and this most recent failure all but proved it.
Oh, he knew the reason for it. He had no doubt as to why his name and reputation were suddenly poison. That was, after all, what he wished to speak about with his brother.
“I cannot believe it,” Elias declared in shock. “Is your money not good enough? I know you, brother, and it is not as if you were trying to scalp them. Likely, you offered too much. Perhaps that is it? They realized they could squeeze you for more.”
“I wish that were the case,” he sighed. “Sadly, and most frustratingly, I know the reason—Mr. Andrews was kind enough to tell it to my face.” He exhaled and shook his head, his stomach twisting itself into knots because he hated that it had come to this.
“It is my status as a bachelor that has tainted my good name.”
“What? Surely not!”
“Alas, it is true. I am thirty now, Elias, a known bachelor who has shown no signs of wishing to settle down. When I was a youth, it was easy enough to ignore, the obvious assumption being that once I aged that I would find a wife and start a family, as most expect me to do.”
Elias scoffed. “Most do not know you as well as I, then.”
“Nevertheless, it has occurred to me that until I marry, I will continue to find my way impeded.” Hudson gritted his teeth.
“It is this damn ton, and you know it as well as I do. It is not enough that I have lived a life free of scandal, that I do not spend every other week bedding impressionable maidens like a common sailor. No, no, I must marry because to be single at my age must mean there is something wrong with me. Pah!”
“To be fair, perhaps it is not just your status as a bachelor that has colored the ton’s perceptions of you, brother,” Elias said with a smirk. “Maybe if you were…how can I put this gently? Not quite so mean all the time?”
Hudson leveled a glared at his brother. “I am not mean.”
“Cold, then,” Elias shrugged. “Socially closed off, certainly. Not treating every social interaction as a business transaction might help. You know, not every man and his dog who speaks with you is after something. Sometimes, they just wish to appear friendly.”
Hudson scoffed. “And waste my time while they are at it.”
“Thank you for proving my point,” Elias chuckled.
“This is no laughing matter,” Hudson snapped. “I assure you, I have thought long and hard about this and despite how much I would love to turn my nose up at expectation, my damn hands are tied! It leaves me little choice but to fold like a house of cards or be left out in the cold.”
Elias came to a sudden stop. Hudson turned back, noting the look of sheer bewilderment across his brother’s visage. “Hudson...you do not mean...” His frown deepened. “Say it is not so.”
“It is very much so,” Hudson said with a grimace. “I have no choice but to find a wife, and quickly.”
“Ha!” Elias beamed and hurried to his brother, positively delighted by the announcement. “And might I say, it is about time!”
“Try not to look so pleased with yourself.”
“Pleased I am, and pleased I will remain.” He slapped Hudson on the back.
“I know, I know. You despise the concept of marriage and would rather pull out your toenails one by one than acquiesce to its institution. But brother...” A smile took his face, reaching his eyes which sparkled as if he was speaking about his own recent love match.
“Let me be the first to say, this is not the life sentence that you think it is.”
“It is worse.”
“On the contrary, there is little as pure in this world as married life. And while I know you aspire to be alone forever, I cannot help but think even you might find something in it to take pleasure from.”
Somehow, Hudson doubted that greatly.
Since he was a boy, never had Hudson aspired to be married.
Not that he thought it to be a waste of time or pointless, for he knew many a happy couple that seemed to enjoy it.
It was just his own opinion, one which he knew would not change, and one that was now forced to bend for the sake of his reputation.
As to who he was going to marry? There was the reason he wished to speak with Elias.
“Can you help me, brother?” he asked.
“Nothing would make me happier.”
“You know what I like,” Hudson said, ignoring the way his stomach twisted. “You know what I desire. There are few I trust as much as you, and I know at least you won’t saddle with a woman for pure political gain.”
“No, no,” Elias assured him. “Your happiness is what matters here...if such a thing is possible.” He laughed and slapped his brother on the back again. “Leave it with me. I shall search high and low, long and far, to the edges of the world to find you the perfect bride.”
“Wonderful,” Hudson muttered.
“And if you just so happen to fall deeply in love with this lucky lady to be...” He shrugged and winked. “Let us call that an added bonus.”
To that, Hudson scoffed, for it seemed to be the appropriate answer. A wife he could stomach. The change she would surely bring into his household, he would have no choice but to bear. But falling in love? Finding happiness in this most pointless of institutions? Now that I very much doubt.