Since she’d returned to London, Nathan had thought through his time with Beth, attempting to see what he hadn’t three years ago.
How could he have been so wrong about her? At no time in their acquaintance had she been anything but open and honest with him… he’d thought. He would have placed his life on the belief she loved him as he did her.
So why then had she left him?
“As if riding about in that great lumbering open carriage is not enough of an insult, Walter is wearing a green bow,” Gabe said, clearly disgusted.
“He carries it well,” Nathan said, looking at the large, hairy gray dog seated beside Dimity.
“It’s unmanly.”
“Just as well he’s a dog then,” Nathan added. “Quite a turn his life has taken, you have to say. From living on the streets to luxury. I’m sure if you asked him, he’d say he far preferred wearing a bow; a small sacrifice in the scheme of things.”
“He’d say, ‘woof.’ Hardly conclusive,” Gabe added.
They rode up beside the barouche.
“Hello, my love,” Gabe said to his beloved.
His brother had changed since Dimity and he had finally acknowledged what they felt for each other. The hard edge he’d always worn had softened. He laughed more, and the business of running the earldom and his family—even though they were more than capable of running themselves—was now less stressful, because he allowed his brothers to help.
“Hello.” Dimity’s smile was wide and filled with love.
Nathan swallowed the bitterness. It was beneath him to be jealous of the love these two people he cared for had found, yet he was. It roiled inside him like a bloody angry beast. He’d often wondered why he couldn’t move on from Beth. Move on from the woman who had clearly left London to avoid him. He thought perhaps that was because he had no answers as to why she’d left.
“Hello, Walter.” Nathan leaned closer and patted the dog’s head. “Nice bow.”
“He looks handsome.” The duchess scowled at him.
“He looks pathetic,” Nathan corrected. “You, however, look stunning, Duchess.”
It was a lie; that particular shade of jaundice yellow was extremely unflattering on anyone.
“It’s a favorite dress of mine,” she said with a narrow-eyed look.
“I can certainly see why,” he lied smoothly. “Plus, should you be lost in the dark anywhere, we will easily find you.”
“Don’t encourage her,” Dimity said.
As Nathan was watching the duchess, he saw the moment she retrieved a book from the floor of the carriage.
“Run,” he hissed.
“What? Why?” Zach, who was busy scanning the passersby for young women he could flirt with, asked.
“She has a book.” Gabe sighed.
“I say, is that a book, Duchess?” Lord Plunge pulled his carriage up beside the duchess’s monstrosity.
“It is, Plunge,” the duchess said with a sneaky smile on her face. “How clever of you to understand what a book looks like.”
Nathan swallowed his snort as the idiot smiled as if she’d not just humiliated him.
Lord Plunge was dressed in rose pink today. From head to toe. He was and always had been a fool, but a harmless one, for all that he annoyed Nathan to the point where he wanted to skewer him with the nearest sharp object.
“It is the continuing saga of Captain Broadbent and Lady Nauticus,” the duchess continued.
“I say, are we to have an impromptu literary salon?” Plunge’s excitement was palpable.
