Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Matthew
“I do not believe Conyngham suggested Cornwall invite Nathanial’s father to the hunting lodge—no matter what some people might think,” Christian said, sending an amused look at Zachary, who made a face but did not protest. He did reach up to stroke Monkey Sinclair, who petted his head in return, as though the little creature thought Zachary could use some comforting.
He probably could, considering that anytime Conyngham came up, Zachary would likely only be able to think about how he was Delilah’s new lover.
Zachary was another of their group who was doing things ‘properly’, now that Matthew thought about it.
And, as Gregory pointed out about Drake, he seemed quite miserable.
Gregory seemed to have come to the same conclusion.
He leaned over to elbow Sebastian, nodding at Zachary to point him out to the other man, and mouthing the word ‘miserable.’ Sebastian glowered at him and took another sip of his brandy.
Perhaps there really was something to marrying to cover up a scandal. It had worked out well enough for Gregory and Nathanial, and so far, Matthew was quite happy with his marriage. All of them had been able to skip over the tediousness of actual courtship as well.
Though Matthew did want to do some of that for Johanna, he thought it would be much more enjoyable with the pressure off. He did not need to worry about whether she would want to marry him at the end of it—she already had.
“Carmathan does not believe he was there for the discussion,” Sebastian said quickly, turning away from Gregory. “He would have remembered and told Nathanial if he’d known who had pushed Cornwall to make the invitation.”
“I believe that; he was very open with me about everything,” Nathanial said. “But it is good to have confirmation.”
“It is,” Drake agreed. “Hatchett was belligerent, as usual, and asked why he would have paid attention to what the former Hereford was doing with his time.”
All of them snorted. That sounded like Hatchett.
Zachary was still stroking Monkey Sinclair, who made a similar snorting sound to the rest of them.
Considering the little monkey had been rescued from Hatchett—after Lady Hatchett brought him to a ball to show him off, only to have him bite her husband and flee—perhaps it was possible he recognized the man’s name.
“Conyngham was not sure, but he actually thought it might have been your uncle who suggested it, or your father,” Christian said, almost apologetically as he turned to Zachary. “But it was a while ago, and he would not be willing to swear to either statement.”
“Of course he did,” Zachary grumbled. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath.
The little monkey on his shoulder lay its tiny head against his, like the tiniest hug in the world.
Matthew thought it rather adorable. “I know, I know. I should not hold it against him that he replaced me in Delilah’s bed after I gave her her congé. ”
“You should not,” Christian agreed cheerfully. “If you wanted her, you should have kept her.”
“I could not do that without marrying her, and mother would have thrown a fit.” Zachary shook his head. “Not just a fit. I do not know what she would have done. She was so sunk in melancholy, and now she is happy again…” His voice trailed off.
Drake leaned over to clap him on the shoulder; thankfully, the one opposite where the monkey was sitting was the one beside him.
“You did what you felt must be done,” he said, almost gently. “Now, all you can do is keep moving forward on the path you’ve chosen.” Although he was speaking to Zachary, it felt almost as though his words were more profound, more meaningful than that. Like maybe he was speaking to himself as well.
Which, of course, made Matthew wonder even more just what Drake was up to visiting all these brothels and such.
“My uncle had to go back to his estate for a visit, but he should return the day after tomorrow, and I will ask him then,” Zachary said with a sigh, leaning back in his chair.
“Thankfully, it is a quick visit. I swear, he is the only one with any sense when it comes to this wedding.
Thankfully, he backed me on waiting ‘til next Season.”
“Next Season? That seems uncommonly long.” Nathanial frowned at him.
“Says the man who married by special license,” Zachary replied dryly. “Compared to you and Matthew, any amount of waiting is long.”
“Tiffany and I had the banns properly read, and we still managed the big hullabaloo.” Gregory smiled widely. His gaze unfocused for a moment, like he was remembering, and was quite happy about it.
“To an extent,” Zachary agreed with a nod. “But you were also marrying quickly due to scandal, even if you waited for the banns. If I am going to do this properly, then I am going to do this properly, and I will not be rushed into it.”
“Are you sure you are not just trying to delay the inevitable?” Matthew asked curiously.
It seemed to him that Zachary might as well get it over with, especially if his mother and Lady Annabelle and her mother were pushing him.
Which it seemed they must be if his uncle was the only one backing his desire to take a longer planning period.
Zachary shot him a dark look, and Matthew shrugged.
“We were all thinking it,” Christian admitted, coming to Matthew’s defense. “Matthew was just the only one to say it.”
He did seem to struggle the most with not saying aloud the things he should not.
“I am trying to do this properly,” Zachary said with gritted stubbornness. “And I am not taking nearly as long about it as Drake is.”
Everyone turned to look at Drake. That was true enough. He glowered back at them.
“Why are we talking about Zachary’s wedding plans?” Drake asked. “That is not what I gathered us here for.”
“Well, what else are we to talk about?” Gregory responded with a shrug.
“There is not much we can do until we know if Zachary’s uncle is the one who suggested Cornwall invite Hereford.
And then what? We still have nothing other than that information.
But what reason would the Marquess of Selter have to do away with the former Hereford?
And if it was Zachary’s father who suggested the invitation, the same question remains. ”
“We have no further clues,” Sebastian agreed, though he was clearly more unhappy about the situation than Gregory was. Then again, Sebastian had been close with his father. Gregory had hated his. “Not unless your men have finally caught up with Montblanc.”
“Not yet.” Drake was grim. “He is uncommonly good at hiding himself.” He looked over at Matthew. “I did receive a message that several of them have picked up on Mr. Blash’s trail and expect to apprehend him shortly. They may even have him by now.”
Matthew immediately perked up. That was good news indeed. At least he would be able to tell Micah and Johanna that things were happening in justice for them.
“That is all well and good,” Sebastian said irritably. “But where does that leave us? We have nothing more to go on. It seems we have hit a dead end.”
“We keep going with what we must do and look for more threads to pull,” Drake told him, as grim-faced as Sebastian was. “My men will keep looking for Montblanc. I am not giving up on finding who murdered my father. Not ever.”
All of them nodded their agreement. Matthew would be there right alongside his friends, even if he was more invested for their sakes than his own.
As Drake and Zachary began comparing notes on long engagements, and Sebastian and Christian bent their heads together to discuss something quietly, Matthew flipped his coin, then sidled over to where Nathanial and Gregory were.
Perhaps it was not unexpected that they were separating by marital status, and it did make things easier on him.
“Ah… I have a rather indelicate question,” he said, drawing both of their interest.
“This should be good,” Gregory murmured, making Nathanial chuckle. “Welcome to the club of married men.”
“Thank you. Ah, that is what my question is about.”
“Oh, dear, did the wedding night go that poorly?” Gregory jested.
Matthew rolled his eyes.
“The wedding night was wonderful, thank you,” he said dryly, while Nathanial covered his smile with a quick sip of his drink. “I was wondering… I was wondering about love.”
His two fellow married dukes both paused.
“What about it?” Nathanial asked after a moment.
“Well, neither of you was in love with your wife when you married her, even though we all said it was a love match. But you both seem very happy now. I know you like your wives, but… do you love them? And how do you know?”
Nathanial and Gregory looked at each other.
“I do love Tiffany,” Gregory said after a long moment. “I do not know that I did not love her when I married her, I just did not recognize the feeling as such. It’s about… wanting her happiness as much as my own. More even. And being willing to do whatever is needed to bring that about.”
“I was furious with Kalina when I married her, but there was something between us even before that,” Nathanial admitted. “You knew. That’s why you flipped your coin for us.”
“I did.” Matthew frowned. He was not certain whether any of this applied to him and Johanna. There had not been a connection before they married. Not truly. Maybe the day before. But he did want her to be happy.
Did he want her happiness more than he wanted his own?
Why could they both not just be happy?
Before he could ask more questions, Drake announced that he had to take his leave. As Matthew was determined to be home by suppertime this evening, and the others all seemed ready to depart as well, that ended the conversation. He was not certain he had learned anything.
But he did think about it all the way home, ready to examine his feelings once he saw his wife again.