Page 51 of Seven Nights with the Wicked Duke
At Magnus's nod, the two men walked away, leaving her with the viscount and the barrage of questions that was sure to ensue.
Magnus was surprised to see Theo in the park. By principle, Theo rarely woke up before noon and in the rare times he did, he usually spent those early hours on the gentleman club. But his presence in the park was the least of the things about him that was surprising this morning.
Something was different about Theo today. While Theo might have been among them when they had fought in war and shared the peculiar kind of invisible wounds they shared, he was the only one who preferred to mask his pain with chronic light heartedness. Even thought he had always known that his behavior was a front, he had never called him out on it because in his experience, Theo seemed to be the only one who was fighting his demons in the least most destructive way.
Today there was a huge crack in that mask and while it was not quite evident. Magnus suspected that his somber aura had something to do with the Lord Hickling. Unfortunately that didnot make sense since it was unlikely that the two had met before the introductions were made earlier.
"Did you wake up on the wrong side of your bed today or have you developed a sudden liking for early morning rides?"
"I wanted to meet someone in the park today, but it seems I made a mistake. I was not able to meet this person."
The way he spoke about the person he wanted to meet, was strange almost like he was doing his damnedest to avoid revealing the gender of the fellow.
"Well whoever that acquaintance of yours is, they must have unique powers to drag you out of your bed this early."
"Yes," Theo replied distractedly. "Or perhaps the reason I wanted to meet them was important."
"A good enough reason as well," Magnus replied, eyeing him with curiosity.
Turning suddenly, Theo fixed Magnus with an intense gaze that was uncharacteristic of him.
"When did your sister become acquainted with Lord Hickling? Do not tell me you are considering him as a suitor for her?"
"Yes, I am friends with Hickling and after some observation I thought he might be a good match for Cecilia. I introduced them and she likes him."
"You believed her?" Theo asked, a note of bitterness in his voice.
"She told me so herself. I did not coerce her."
"It baffles me how you have spent the last two seasons chasing away all the gentleman that sought to court your sister, only to settle for a viscount that has a sketchy identity."
"I have runners investigating his identity as we speak."
"And in the meantime?"
"I keep an eye on them while they court. I am just happy that Cecilia likes him."
"If you believe that, that means you know very little about your own sister."
"On the contrary Theo, I am the one who knows her best in the whole world. I just want the best for her."
"Then you must be an even bigger fool than I had thought," Theo shot back, walking away angrily, quickly mounting his horse and leaving them in his dust.
For a full minute after Theo left, Magnus was transfixed in confusion at the conversation he just had with Theo. In all the years since he had been friends with Theo, he had always been laid-back, this was the first time he was seeing him this angry. Even more puzzling was the fact that he was this angry over a topic that in no way affected him in the least.
Something was unravelling Theo and he was going to find out when he visited him next. For now he just needed to get Cecilia home and intensify his efforts to get information about the strange Lord Hickling that had just appeared on the ton's scene like he had fallen from the sky.
His conversation with Theo, while it still confused him, brought him to the realization of the lapses in his knowledge about the man that he was trying to marry to Cecilia.
"My apologies, Lord Hickling," he said when he walked up to Cecilia and Lord Hickling where they stood staring with confusion at the departing Theo. "I am afraid that I have to return home now with Cecilia. I am sure you have other activities to attend this morning."
"My thanks for your time," Hickling said with a bow, smiling at Cecilia.
"Thank you, my lord," Cecilia replied with a short curtesy, following Magnus back to where their coach was. Even when she now sat comfortably in the seat of their family coach, her eyes still lingered on the road Theo had taken. Even now she couldstill feel his touch on her skin like a living flame that even the passage of time could not extinguish.
Perhaps it told volumes of the state of her mind, that even while she watched him march away from Magnus vibrating with anger, she still wanted to draw him to her, she had wanted to feel the force of his anger transform to passion on their lips and enjoy the rapture of having him touch her.
The fact that she had such a detailed fantasy in broad daylight told her that she was long gone. Theo had a firm hold of her heart and she was wrong to think otherwise.
