James scowled. “Do not enjoy this.”
“I am obligated to,” Roderick said cheerfully. “You have spent years in mourning and anger. The moment you do something reckless; I am entitled to take pleasure in it.”
“It is not reckless.”
“You are marrying a woman you barely know within a week,” Roderick said. “That is the definition of reckless.”
“It is calculated,” James countered.
Roderick lifted his glass. “Calculated recklessness, then. Tell me, does she know what she is marrying into?”
James’s gaze flicked away for the first time. He saw again Eleanor’s face at the manor door, the steadiness of her gaze, the quiet threat in her voice.
If you test me, you may not like what you find.
“She believes she is making a sacrifice,” he said, voice flat.
Roderick’s expression softened. “For her sister?”
“Yes.”
“And you,” Roderick said slowly, “are letting her.”
James’s jaw tightened. “She is not a child. She chose.”
Roderick studied him over the rim of his glass. “Did she?”
James did not answer.
Roderick smiled faintly, triumphant. “You have been thinking about her.”
James’s gaze snapped back, cold. “No.”
Roderick laughed. “Liar.”
James’s voice dropped. “Enough.”
Roderick held up his hands in mock surrender, though his eyes still danced. “Very well. I will behave.”
James exhaled slowly. He hated how easily Roderick could unsettle him. Hated that the image of Eleanor’s brown eyes had lingered longer than it had any right to.
He had chosen her because she served a purpose. He told himself the decision was made, which was usually enough. Tonight, it was not.
Not because she challenged him.
Not because she stood her ground like a woman who had nothing left to lose.
Not because, for the first time in years, someone had looked at him without fear.
But because it was a sensible choice for what he needed. A duchess, and time to work through this investigation.
James lifted his glass again, voice controlled. “We ride tomorrow.”
Roderick brightened. “To Ashbourne?”
“No, I must be back in time for the wedding, Roderick. To Blackmere Park,” James said.
Roderick smiled. “Ah, yes. That makes more sense. But you do know how I love the country.”
