Fred grunted.
‘I would have thought it would be you out there with her. Not tired of marriage after a mere few days, I hope.’
‘You know I am not much of a dancer,’ he said, draining his glass of wine and taking another from the tray of a passing servant.
‘Save the lies for your wife. I have seen you dance happily and often.’
‘Well, I do not feel like doing it tonight,’ he said, in a tone that should have ended the discussion.
‘It has been less than three days since the wedding.’ Jake said, thoughtfully. ‘I suppose you have better things to do with your time.’
‘I was at the club just last night,’ Fred replied. ‘I left early, of course. But once things are a bit more settled, I shall return to my responsibilities.’
Jake let loose with a bark of laughter. ‘By all means, do not neglect the club. Heaven save me from idiots. If that is what has been occupying your mind in the first week of your marriage, then you do not deserve the lovely Georgiana.’
‘You mean… You assumed that…’ What must Jake think of the embarrassing flush that stole into his cheeks at the thought of bedding his wife? Fred was far too experienced to be acting like a bridegroom, but he could not seem to help himself.
‘You are tired,’ Jake said significantly, then glanced at the dancers. ‘But she does not seem to be.’
‘She is young,’ Fred said, gritting his teeth. ‘And I am not so young as I used to be.’ That made her sound insatiable and him incapable. But it was better than having the world think he had not touched her.
At this, Jake laughed all the harder. ‘Then you should be spending more time in your bed.Resting.’
‘Well…’ Fred gave a helpless shrug.
‘That is all right,’ Jake assured him. ‘I do not expect you to tell tales about married life. Georgiana is a wife, not a mistress. I promise, Oliver and I will treat her with the respect she deserves.’ He glanced around the room and said glumly, ‘Now that the dukedom has fallen to me, I suppose I shall be expected to find a bride of my own.’ As usual, he did not sound in any way happy about his title or his future.
‘It is not so bad to be married,’ Fred replied, though he could not help sounding equally glum.
‘Of course, if I had a mind to wed, I would want to pick someone just like Georgiana,’ his friend said, pensively.
‘Why?’ Fred had not meant for the word to be so sudden and so utterly perplexed.
Jake gave him a surprised look. ‘She is a lovely girl. One of the beauties of the Season. From what I have been told, it was a challenge to attract her attention.’
‘A challenge.’ Fred had not thought her such. As he had watched her making the rounds of balls and routs, she had seemed too free with her favours. She had been everywhere, danced with everyone, and was always surrounded by a throng of young men. Even though he’d tried to avoid her, she had always seemed to be underfoot, in his way, or staring daggers at him from across the room.
‘There are a slew of men who have been trying to catch her for the better part of the Season,’ Jake said. ‘She showed not a bit of interest in anyone who offered. Of course, if it was because the two of you had been having secret trysts…’ Jake left the sentence open as if waiting for a confidence to be revealed.
He was tempted to admit the truth. But it would not reflect well on the woman he had married that a good portion of London society had seen her barely dressed and bartering away her virtue. Better to hold his tongue. ‘I am truly fortunate,’ he agreed, feeling more confused than ever.
‘She is exactly what you need.’ Jake looked out at the dance floor, where Georgiana was laughing as she failed miserably at the steps of The Shipwreck’d Boy. It did not really matter how well she danced. Her partner looked thoroughly besotted to be near her. Didn’t he know that she was recently married and supposedly devoted to someone else?
Fred frowned. Many times a neglected wife was seen as an opportunity. He knew from personal experience what flatteries to use that would turn the head of a woman with a mind to stray. How long would it be before his own wife found a favourite?
His stomach churned with a feeling that he’d have called jealousy, if he was the sort of person prone to such an emotion. More likely what he was feeling was a touch of wind from the pickled onions that had accompanied the buffet.
‘I was better off as I was,’ Fred muttered, before he could help himself. ‘I had responsibility enough without adding a wife.’
‘The weight of the world rested on your shoulders, I am sure,’ Jake said in a cool tone to remind him that his current duties as a peer far outstripped any burden that Fred might complain about.
‘I meant nothing by it,’ Fred apologised quickly. ‘It is just that things between Georgiana and myself are…more complicated than I imagined they would be.’
His friend smiled and nodded. ‘That is exactly why you needed her. Lately, you take a simple thing like loving a beautiful woman and turn it into a difficulty. It is a good thing she does not seem so bothered by her marriage to you for, if I am honest, it is not all that pleasant to be around you. You act as though a single misstep will break that stiff neck of yours. I am the one in mourning, yet you smile even less than I do.’
Jake had few reasons to smile. Fred knew that he blamed himself for the accident that had killed both his father and brother, and landed him with an unexpected title. What did it say about Fred that he was a drag on the Duke’s already low spirits? ‘Do not waste time worrying about me,’ he said, forcing a smile. ‘You should be enjoying this evening as well. You spend even more time than you used to at Vitium et Virtus. And yet, if you mean to drink until dawn, the least you could do is join the crowd in the common rooms and not hide in the office with a bottle.’
If they had not been such old friends, the discussion might have ended in an argument. Instead, there was a moment of silence that stood as a wordless apology. Then, Fred said, ‘It is good that Oliver has still retained some of the buoyancy of youth. Where is he tonight?’
