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So Arthur did something profoundly out of character. He confessed the truth.

"I don't know what I'm doing, Ben."

To Laurence’s credit, his face did not falter as the words came quietly while he sank back into his chair and reached automatically for the decanter and whisky glass, two of the few items that remained on his desk following his interrupted rendezvous with his wife.

"And you think any man in the country knows what he's doing when it comes to women?" Laurence asked incredulously.

Arthur remained silent. Laurence smiled to himself.

"I know how to make a woman laugh. I know how to make her blush. Hell, I know how to persuade one into my bed before the evening's out." He lifted one shoulder. "But do you think that means I understand women? God, no."

He leaned against the edge of Arthur's desk, his voice losing its usual teasing edge.

"Not everything in life has to be mapped out and planned, Buck."

He paused.

"You deserve to live."

Another pause.

"And I don't mean merely survive."

He smiled.

"I mean truly, truly live. Look around you. You're blessed, whether you choose to admit it or not."

For the briefest moment, Arthur caught something almost sober in Laurence's expression before the familiar irreverence settled over it once more.

"Your path isn't carved in stone like some of ours." He gestured vaguely around the study. "You have more freedom than most men in England. You could have married almost any woman in the country, and no one would have dared question it, because you're the Duke of Buckingham. You answer to nobody."

A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"Well, nobody except yourself."

Arthur remained silent.

"It's been over ten years, Arthur."

Laurence nodded towards the engraved whisky glass in Arthur's hand.

"Not every story is destined to end the same way."

How could anyone possibly guarantee that?

"And whether you like it or not," Laurence continued, "you have a wife now. That much isn't going to change. You might as well allow yourself to enjoy having one."

"She's my wife by duty," Arthur replied.

"Perhaps that's how the marriage began."

Laurence folded his arms.

"But don't confuse the circumstances with the woman."

Arthur looked up.

"I've spent more days in her company than you.” That stung more than Arthur cared to admit.