“And what capacity would that be?” Alexander’s voice was extremely measured, and Matthew knew his friend was trying desperately not to laugh.
“You know!” Matthew cried in exasperation.
“No, I really do not.” Alexander’s mouth twitched tellingly despite his protestations.
“A romantic one!” Matthew blurted out, realizing that Alexander would not stop prodding him until he said it. In Matthew’s duress, he’d spoken louder than he’d intended, and he swept his eyes around the room. Luckily, the rest of the occupants were engaged in their own conversations.
“Why are you so opposed to the idea of wedding Lottie?” Alexander leaned forward in his chair. The emerald specks in his irises were practically dancing the hornpipe now, they were so full of mirth. “Don’t you esteem her?”
“Of course, I esteem her,” Matthew, who generally prided himself on keeping an even tone, ground out and then immediately snapped his jaw shut. Why, oh why, was he allowing Alexander to goad him?
Alexander collapsed against the stuffed cushion of his seat with a look of supreme satisfaction. “I knew it. Have for years, actually. You’ve always been a trifle obvious. At least to me. Charlotte never had an inkling about your feelings.”
Trying to ignore a gnawing sense of vulnerability, Matthewdefensively snapped, “I don’t see why you’re so bloody jolly about it. Aren’t I breaking some cardinal code of friendship by fancying your sister, yourtwinsister?”
“As long as the friend in question possesses honorable intent, I find the rule ludicrous. Why would a fellow not wish for his best friend to form a union with his sibling? It is not as if you are a philandering rogue. You are a good, honest man, and more than a sight better than any of the fools that Father has chosen for Lottie. Even if we succeed in getting Hawley arrested for murder, they’ll just turn around and betroth her to another unsuitable scoundrel. That is why I think the best solution is for you to elope with Lottie.”
Rather thunderstruck by everything Alexander had just stated, Matthew reached for his long-neglected cup of coffee. Lifting it to his lips, he took a sip as he worked to compose himself. He still felt rather like a red squirrel dashing through a mountainous Highland forest. The only problem was that Matthew didn’t know if he was running toward something or away from it.
Softly placing the mug back on the low table between them, Matthew said very carefully, “Your parents would never countenance that. I’m a mere third son. More importantly, I would not otherwise be Lady Charlotte’s choice in a bridegroom.”
Saying the words aloud hurt more than Matthew would have expected. After all, he knew the truth of them. But correct or not, they still scraped against his heart like a tanning knife.
Alexander leaned forward once more, his expression uncharacteristically earnest. “You are a steadfast and kind fellow.”
“Which is what makes me a good physician but not necessarily the dashing husband.”
“My sister has more sense than you give her credit for.” Alexander frowned as his tone turned protective. “She is not dreaming of reforming some rakehell.”
Matthew swiped his thumb over the condensation on his mug, wishing he could wipe away this conversation as easily. Alexander meant well. He really did. But somehow his earnestness only made the prickles of pain inside Matthew grow worse. “She needs a man of her class and of similar standing in Society. That is not me.”
He noticed that Alexander didn’t bother to point out that Matthew was technically the son of a duke. After all, his best friend, like Matthew, understood better than anyone that a noble birth was not a safeguard against ostracization. Instead, Alexander said, “England would do better to focus more on marriages of compatible temperaments than of status. Humans should not be treated like racing horses where bloodlines are paramount.”
“This isn’t about breeding,” Matthew said and immediately flushed at the implication. Quickly, he added, “I am talking about disposition. Lady Charlotte is vivacious and beloved by all. I am… not.” The last word soured his mouth with bitterness, but there was no escaping that untransmutable fact.
“Now you are doing yourself a disservice.” Alexander’s hazel eyes appeared browner now, as they always did when he was solemn. “You may be more reticent in nature than my sister, but I believe you two would complement each other. Besides, Lottie is more introspective than she reveals to the outside world.”
“I am decidedly dull,” Matthew said, wishing that Alexander would cease this nonsense.
“I disagree, and so, I believe, does Charlotte. Something happened between the two of you at Tavish’s estate. I am sure of it. Before we were attacked, each of you kept sneaking looks at each other in the carriage. Thankfully, you never caught each other’s gaze because that would have been deuced awkward for me.”
A blast of euphoric excitement bolted through Matthew. But ruthlessly, he squelched it. For his sake. And most importantly for Charlotte’s.
“I admit that, against all reason, I seem to have attracted your sister’s attention as of late,” Matthew said slowly, each word a hammer stroke against his soul. “But it is just a passing fancy for her, if even that. As they say, a bird cannot love a fish. Your sister is meant to fly among the songbirds of the tropics, not scrounge the bottom of the ocean with a colorless flounder. Rather than elevate me to her sphere, I very much fear I would drag her down to mine.”
“Look to the rafters if you want proof of the impossible turned possible. Is there not a parrot courting his monkey love?” Alexander asked.
Matthew quirked the left corner of his lips, but his amusement was sardonic rather than jolly. “In this scenario, are you casting your sister as the ill-tempered, one-eyed bird with delusions of being a pirate or the feces-flinging capuchin?”
Alexander gave Matthew a hard stare. “You’re prevaricating.”
Matthew gave his mug of coffee a slight push—just enough to send it skidding a half-inch but not enough to upset its contents. “You want the unvarnished truth, Alexander? You are right to compare us to a monkey and a parrot. We are that dissimilar, and a union with me would remove Charlotte from her rightful world—the world in which she reigns.”
Alexander’s gaze grew even sharper. “Is this about that changeling balderdash your family tormented you with?”
“You know I find their claims absurd. There are no such things as fairies or fae folk.” Matthew practically barked the words.
“But then—”
