James grumbled, “It’s why I check in weekly with my office, but I admit it’s not the same. I do miss it.”
“Oh, is that why you told me I couldn’t have it when I asked?” Helena batted her eyes at him.
“Hush, you. You’re just stirring up trouble over there.”
Helena did not disagree, grinning before she popped a bite of steak into her mouth.
She’d sparked Lucien’s curiosity again and he asked her, “Did you really?”
“She did.” James groaned, picking up his wineglass. At this rate, he’d end up drinking his dinner. “I told her no. For one thing, I think she should be queen.”
Lucien scoffed and waved a hand. “Won’t happen. Word on the street is you’ll be king next.”
“Noooo,” James wailed, slumping rather theatrically against my shoulder. “I don’t want to!”
Lucien paused and really looked us over. Then his hazel eyes caught mine as he demanded, “Is he quite serious?”
“Perfectly. Everyone wants James to be king except the man himself.”
“Oh. Then you better start running,” Lucien advised his friend bluntly. “If you linger much longer, they’ll chain you to the throne and only let you have bathroom breaks.”
Helena poked him in the shoulder and hissed, “Don’t tell him that, I don’t want to be stuck with the throne either!”
“Ah. I do beg pardon. James, I never said that.”
“Ha ha. I love how you two have known each other not even an hour and are already ganging up on me.” James scowled at both of them. “And to think, I was trying to do you both a favor.”
“You did well, too.” Helena dimpled at him before abruptly turning to Lucien. “You will be my partner for the Founder’s Ball, I hope?”
“I’d like nothing better.” Lucien’s smile lifted his eyes, and he clearly meant it.
Well, these two didn’t need any time at all to become comfortable with one another.
We spent the rest of the dinner either teasing or talking of light topics. It was an easy evening, one I enjoyed very much, although with Helena and Lucien both jabbering with each other, I barely got a word in edgewise.
When the dinner ran down to a close, we meandered outside and waited for our carriages. Lucien volunteered to take Helena home—a front we all saw through, but if he wanted to spend more time with her tonight, Helena had made it obvious she didn’t mind.
James stepped away a few paces to say something to her—who knew what, as the outside air was a little noisy. There was many a person either entering or exiting the restaurant, and any conversation more than two feet away got hopelessly tangled in with someone else’s.
Lucien sidled up next to me, for all the world acting innocent.
“I do hope you know he’s quite head over heels for you,” Lucien informed me without any segue whatsoever.
“Know it? How could I not? He makes it blindingly obvious even for those who don’t care.”
“Heh. Good.” His eyes were sharp on me in the mellow lighting of the streetlights. “James has casually dated before. I heard of some of them, but you’re the first lover of his I’ve met.”
That somehow surprised me…and yet didn’t.
“When he wrote me about you, telling me I’d meet you tonight, he was giddy. Underneath the excitement, I could tell he was quite happy. Very confident in his relationship with you. That’s why I, in turn, was quite interested in meeting you as well. I say all of this because I want you to understand two things. One, you are very much the right person for him. I can see it in how you two interacted tonight.”
I preened. “I’ll take the compliment, thank you.”
“It’s meant as one, but also an assurance. If someone dares to say you shouldn’t stay at his side, do not back down. If James struggles to support you for whatever reason, I’ll be happy to back you both up. I’ll be blunt—I don’t want either you or James suffering under Queen Beatrice’s ‘good’ intentions.”
He was a good man, this one. I could see why James adored him. I softened considerably toward him and hoped, after tonight, I could form a friendship with him of my own. “Thank you. I hope it doesn’t come to that. James has safeguarded himself against such a possibility, but I’ll remember and callon you if it does. I will not lose him. Certainly not to political machinations.”
“Good. That’s all I wanted to say. My carriage is here, so I’ll be off, but let’s have lunch together at some point, Edwin. I want to get to know you better.”
