“I forget sometimes how young you are, Alston. You are wise beyond your years in some ways—you’ve had to be. You took on an immense responsibility at a young age. So, when I see you with Daisy, who my parents and I have admittedly sheltered, it seems at odds. She’s so meek—”
“She’s short stature and that is often associated with meekness. She’s been trained to be meek, but I think she has a wild side.”
Blakewood leveled a glare at Sam. “She is sweet and innocent.”
Sam smiled. “She is.”
Blakewood narrowed his eyes at him.
“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not a reprobate. She is my betrothed as far as I’m concerned. And don’t pretend your conduct with my sister was chaste before you wed, Blakewood.”
“Amelia is not like Daisy.”
“No, Amelia is loud, impatient, stubborn, and adventurous, but still a young woman who was also sweet and innocent not that long ago. I happen to know she’d never kissed a man before you. She is my twin. She always told me all her secrets, up until you crossed the boundary from enemy to lover.” Sam grimaced and shook his head.
“I became her friend first,” Blakewood argued. “I wanted only to protect her.”
“Yet you think I don’t want the same for Daisy? I had no one to talk to. I couldn’t bear to look at the two of you in wedded bliss knowing I—” Sam swallowed, “I was empty. Don’t you understand? There was this emptiness inside me, and I didn’t think I would have anything to fill it with. Something had been taken from me, and I couldn’t name it. All I knew were anger and sadness. Those feelings only intensified when you and Amelia were in the room, bloody making moon eyes at each other, holding hands.Thathad been taken from me. The chance to fallin love, to feel those wonderful things. I’d sit there and wonder, what if I did die? You two had each other now. Amelia was safe. You were her champion. I wasn’t needed.”
“Sam,” Blakewood said with shock, “weneeded you.”
Sam’s eyes burned and he looked away. “Death has a way of bringing the blurry bits into focus. Daisy and I are more similar than you think. For too long I’ve been playing the older gent. Sure, I revel like any bachelor of my status, but my childhood was cut short. My university years were spent balancing studies and the responsibilities of my title. I worried constantly about Amelia, knowing how unhappy she was living with Aunt Ruth. There was no peace. You can’t say I spent an inordinate amount of time drinking and gambling, can you? Not then. There wasn’t time.”
“No, that was what drew me to you. You weren’t annoying like the other young lads. You had intelligence and a gravity that I appreciated.”
“Exactly. I went from childhood to adulthood with no in between. I don’t feel young, Blakewood. But when I look at Daisy, suddenly I do. She’s the springtime after my winter.”
Blakewood blinked at that, and Sam grinned. He knew he’d stunned him with that last bit.
“Don’t question what I feel for her. YouhatedAmelia, or at least you pretended you did.”
“I didn’thateher. I just didn’t know how to hide my feelings. Disdain was the easiest to keep a barrier between us. Your courtship, however, is unusually fast. I don’t know how I’ll explain it to my parents.”
“Then don’t. Some things don’t need answers or explanations. I’m a medical miracle, after all—I can’t even explain how I’m alive. We can just take these gifts as they come and be grateful.”
“Every second is a gift,” Blakewood murmured.
“What?”
“Don’t you remember?” Blakewood asked.
Sam shook his head.
“When Amelia first saw you after your injury, that is what Dr. Bradley said to her. ‘Every second is a gift.’ He was referring to your life.”
“What was left of it, you mean,” Sam said.
Blakewood nodded somberly.
“Every secondisa gift, and when I’m with Daisy, time stops.”
Blakewood looked up at him. “That’s how it feels with Amelia.”
“Then we should both be glad our sisters have found two men to love them.”
The carriage came to a stop and the tiger opened the door. Blakewood and Sam got out in front of White’s. Blakewood went in first to see if Nelson had arrived then came back out with a scowl.
“He’s not here yet,” Blakewood said.
