Gabriel pretended not to see. He took another swig, nearly draining his glass.
“I am curious, Gabriel,” Nicholas added.
Gabriel rolled his eyes, smiling tightly as he waited for the next question.
“As grand as your victory was, I cannot help but wonder why you are exerting yourself here and not in bed with your wife.”
Gabriel glared at him. “Perhaps I will arrange that fight with you instead of Rochdale.”
“Perhaps try not to evade my curiosity,” Nicholas countered.
“Your curiosity irritates me, and I am here to work out my frustration. Do not add more to it.”
“Evencuriouser.” Nicholas’s eyes lit up. “What frustrates you at home, Gabriel? I do not suppose it is your new wife, or the fact that she is terribly beautiful. If I know you—and I do very well—you are beating yourself up over that attraction. After all, your marriage should not cross such boundaries. Am I correct?”
Gabriel stared down at his drink, his mind once again conjuring an image of Sibyl that evening. She had worn a soft green dress, the color of jadestones, and she had pinned her hair with delicate little flowers. She looked as though she had stepped out of spring itself.
Gabriel hated that his heart raced just thinking about her.
“Oh, I see that I am correct,” Nicholas drawled.
Gabriel shook his head. He was conflicted enough without voicing his feelings or thoughts.
“Please stop, Nicholas,” he sighed. “I will return to the ring if I suffer through one more conflicting emotion.”
“Then speak to me about it.”
“I do not care to.”
“Maybe you?—”
“Nicholas, I am serious,” he groaned. “I cannot speak about it, so do not press me.” He shot his friend a warning glare before downing his drink. Then, set his glass down with a hardthudand stood up. “I am done for the night. Join me on the ride back before we part at the Bingham.”
The tavern was where the path forked, one way leading to Averby and the other to Stonehelm.
Nicholas shook his head, sobering up. “I think I am going to stay around for a while. I’m rather enjoying the atmosphere tonight. It is much livelier than the estate, so I shall enjoy it while I can.”
Gabriel wondered if he had shut Nicholas out too much, but his friend always warned him whenever he went too far.
He nodded and put his hand on Nicholas’s shoulder. “Then enjoy your night.”
“I will. And Gabriel? Do not ignore your wife. Speak with her; you invited her into your life, but you must also involve her in it. You cannot pull her in and then shut her out. It was your choice to propose, even if it was out of guilt. Even if you do not want to be more than a husband on paper, you can at least give her companionship.”
Gabriel hesitated, hating how chided he felt, but he knew Nicholas was right. He needed to try harder. But how would he know what to say when the boundaries were so unclear?
In the end, he nodded again and left the King’s Hound.
Chapter Nine
“Do you think I should go to the library and take a book to read at the lake, Rosie?” Sibyl asked teasingly, smiling as Rosie babbled happily in her arms. “Ihavebeen getting back into reading, mercifully.”
Rosie squirmed in her arms, already reaching out her tiny hands towards the windows as Sibyl carried her down the hallway to the garden.
“I do hope one day you will take after me,” Sibyl added, finding comfort in speaking idly to her daughter.
It never bothered her that Rosie could not yet talk back. She simply enjoyed talking without anybody to correct her or judge her or question her words. Besides, Rosie liked her voice, and Sibyl wanted to make sure her little girl would always hear it when she needed.
Sibyl was into her second week at Stonehelm Hall, and she had already found so much solace by the lake. It made her feel peaceful, with only the rustling of the trees and the bubbling of the fountain in the middle of the lake to hear. It was far enough from the manor that she didn’t feel its looming size so terribly.
