“And Clayton here has been moping about it since she left,” Phillip interjected.
Ewan drew his brows together in a sharp frown. “I do not mope.”
“Oh? Pardon me. I must have mistaken your silence and unhappiness for moping,” Phillip replied with a laugh.
Ewan groaned and rubbed his face with both hands. “Oh, God. Have I been moping?”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself, old chap. I do believe you miss her,” Phillip said. “I miss her too.”
“Do you miss Lydia?” Bell asked, his eyes narrowed on Ewan.
Ewan thought about the question for a moment before slowly shaking his head. “I’ve never missed Lydia. I barely know her.”
“But you do miss Thea?” Bell wanted to know.
Ewan rubbed his face again. He rested his bended arm atop his head and leaned back in his chair. “If I’m being honest … yes.”
Bell pursed his lips and finally took a sip from his own glass of brandy. “Well, well, well. Sounds to me as if someone may have fallen in love.”
Ewan nearly spit the drink he’d just taken. “Love! Absolutely not, I simply—”
“Miss her company and think of her constantly?” Phillip supplied helpfully, raising his glass as if in a toast.
“I never said I think of her constantly,” Ewan shot back, frowning fiercely at his friend.
“But you do, don’t you?” Phillip blinked at him and gave him a wholly innocent smile.
Ewan sat silently stewing for a few moments. How the hell did Phillip know that he thought of Thea constantly? Was it that obvious? Was it written on his face? “It doesn’t matter,” Ewan replied, tossing a hand in the air. “She’s refused me and that’s the end to it.”
“How do you know she’s not pining for you as well?” Bell asked.
“That’s ridiculous,” Ewan shot back.
“No more ridiculous than you pining for her,” Phillip replied.
Ewan frowned. His friends were confusing him. This had all seemed so tidy before they began speaking. Thea had been at his house a few weeks, she’d left, she’d refused to marry him, he was bloody well getting his life back to normal. But now they were pointing out that he missed her, and the word ‘love’ had been bandied about, for Christ’s sake. It was far too much, too fast to think about.
“I think you should pay her a visit,” Phillip said next. “See how she’s doing? Ask after her leg.”
Ewan poked his tongue into his cheek and glared at his friend. “After the scandal in the papers, I hardly think paying her a call would be a good idea. Besides, who is to say she’d even accept a call from me?”
Bell shrugged. “There’s only one way to find out.”
“No,” Ewan snapped. “Paying her a call is averybad idea.”
“Why don’t you invite her here to visit Alabaster, then?” Phillip asked.
“Who’s Alabaster?” Bell asked.
“A horse,” Phillip replied. “A horse Lady Thea loves very much.”
“I’m certain she wouldn’t come,” Ewan replied. “She’d want to allow time for the scandal to die down.”
“Well, there must be some way to visit her, to see her,” Bell said, plucking at his bottom lip.
Ewan opened his mouth to reply just as a knock sounded on the study door. Humbolt opened the door and stepped inside. “My apologies, my lord, but you asked me to bring you any correspondence from Blackstone Hall immediately.”
Ewan glanced at his friends who were both giving him knowing looks and waggling their eyebrows.
