Sean wrinkled his nose and waved the glass away. “No, thank you, Benedict. I would rather deal with the sore head than feel nauseous for the rest of the day.”
Alex chuckled at his friend. He had never had much of a strong stomach. Though Alex could understand his turning down such a drink. The raw egg and shredded garlic mixture wasn’t the most wonderful tasting concoction in the world. In fact, he held his nose and drained the glass as quickly as he could.
Benedict simply dipped his head again to Sean, bowed to Alex and then retired back to the edge of the room with the tray still in hand as if he thought Sean might change his mind.
Grimacing with the aftertaste of the tonic, Alex closed his eyes and groaned, placing the glass on the desk in front of him. When he opened his eyes again, Sean was looking at him with a questioning expression. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
He heard Sean take in a deep breath. His friend averted his gaze before he said, “I was merely wondering where we stand on the matter of your father’s letter?”
It was Alex who inhaled sharply this time. He hated any mention of that damned letter. Having worked so hard to see substantial returns on his business, and working even harder to pay off the debts of his father that still racked up, he hated any mention of the letter containing his father’s oddest request upon his deathbed. It was one his uncle hadn’t wished to give him until he had recovered from the enormity of his grief.
“What of it?” Alex asked, turning his attention to the papers on his desk. He could no longer bring himself to meet his friend’s gaze when Sean lifted his head and looked at him again.
“Time grows short, Alex,” Sean warned, and Alex’s chest tightened. He most definitely did not need his friend to tell him that. With each day that passed, he felt his twenty-seventh birthday growing closer. “Do you truly believe that Frederick would stand any chance of being a good duke?”
Alex cringed. The thought had never crossed his mind when he had been a child. Even when he had been a young man, he had never imagined anyone but himself following in his father’s footsteps.
When he had read the letter signed by his father that stated if he did not marry by his twenty-seventh birthday in order to produce an heir for the estate, the dukedom would pass to his uncle. He had been unable to believe what he was reading.
In fact, he had read the letter over and over for what felt like a million times before it had begun to sink in. He even had his uncle and Sean read it aloud to him several times in order to fully understand what his father wanted of him.
It was one thing to know that he must one day marry and have children in order to do his duty to the dukedom and his family, but it was quite another for his father to have put such a deadline upon such things.
For the late duke to have put this weight upon his shoulders made him feel sick. He had always been prepared to do his duty to his family. A large amount of his finances that didn’t go toward the betterment of the estate went toward paying for his half-sister’s education in France. It was a price he was willing to pay for his sister’s health and welfare. He loved her a great deal. To have it all put at risk due to his father's deadline upset him.
“I need not answer that question,” Alex said through gritted teeth. “Frederick shall never be duke.”
The scowl that had taken over his expression deepened and tugged upon the tight scars that covered ninety percent of the left side of his face. Though the scars were years old and finally faded to silver, they were still uncomfortable and caused a great deal of people to stare at him like he was some kind of monster.
There was only one benefit to the wounds: they aided him a great deal in the mystery ofThe Devil Lordthat allowed him to induce fear without even needing to act.
What they did not help with was his willingness to enter into the public eye and search for an eager bride. Nor did he believe he was going to have any great chance of finding one with such an appearance.
“Then you have a plan?” Sean asked, pulling Alex out of his thoughts
“I plan to find a wife,” Alex stated, groaning deeply, he added, “I merely do not know how.”
Sean cleared his throat and pointed out, “The London Season begins this evening. Lord and Lady Beaufort’s opening ball is set to be the biggest and best yet.”
Alex flinched. Another thing he did not need pointed out to him. There were a number of unopened invitations upon his desk, ones he had not yet had the courage to open for fear he could not decline them.
He had lived the life of a recluse for near on two years since his father’s death, only meeting with the gentlemen and nobles who entered his establishment, and generally keeping his face covered with a hood in the darkness of the club. But remaining hooded within ballrooms and dining rooms was not something permitted in proper society and masks made his scars itch terribly. So, he had avoided all he could.
Yet, the rumors surrounding him were growing more and more mysterious and not a one of them would help him to find a bride. Besides, those who would have him simply for his assumed fortune and his title were of no interest to him.
If he were to live the life of a recluse with a wife at his side, he wished to at least get along with her.
“Maybe it is time I open these,” Alex sighed, laying his hand upon the pile of unopened invitations. Sean nodded silently and leaned forward with encouragement.
As expected, when Alex opened the many invites that had been abandoned on his desk, he found that chief amongst them was an invitation to the Beaufort Ball.
“Shall we attend?” Sean asked when Alex sighed and handed him the invitation.
Every fiber of Alex’s being screamed at him to decline the suggestion, but he was all too aware of his father’s letter burning a hole in the top drawer of his desk.
Biting the inside of his lip, he turned to Mr. Benedict and sighed, “Please return to Westmarch House and have my bath drawn and my best clothes set out.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw excitement unfold upon Sean’s face. It took all he had in him to turn his attention back when Benedict bowed and removed himself from the room.
