Page 10 of Seven Nights with the Wicked Duke
"It is now up to him to decide on going ahead," Theo told him.
"Can you not put in a word?" Cuthbert asked. "He is your friend. Surely he would…"
"I prefer not to use my connections to my friends that way," Theo interrupted. "If he believes you worthy, then he will communicate his decision."
"Indeed." Cuthbert nodded. "Pour me a drink, will you? I am in the mood to celebrate early."
He nodded and rose to pour him his preferred drink: whiskey.
Theo handed him the drink and took his seat, moving Cecilia's list to the side so his uncle didn't read it.
"Have I interrupted your correspondence?" he asked.
He looked up to see the man with a broad grin splitting his face.
"My correspondence?"
"Weren't you writing a letter?" Cuthbert asked. "There is only one reason a man writes a letter so late: he is writing to a beloved. Is a wedding in the near future?"
Theo laughed at the notion that he would be so idle that he would have nothing more to do than to write a letter to a woman he was courting. Marriage was the furthest thing from his mind and even when he finally decided to do so, it would be solelybecause he needed heirs to continue the line of succession. And that was only if his uncle didn't choose to marry and have a son.
The man was better suited to fatherhood than Theo could ever hope to be.
"It is not what you think, Uncle," he answered. "I have only just begun decluttering my desk."
"If you say so," Cuthbert smiled, unconvinced. "But you should consider taking a wife soon. Don't become an old bachelor like me."
"I will consider it when I am older."
His uncle laughed and rose to his feet.
"I should take my leave now. I have kept you for too long."
"Nonsense, Uncle. You're always welcome to visit."
"Have a good night, Emerton."
When his uncle's carriage finally rolled off, Theo folded the letter into his pocket and had his own carriage made ready. He would be afforded no sleep if the list stayed with him.
CHAPTER 4
"Might I ask the purpose of this visit, Emerton?" Magnus, the Duke of Blackmore, asked as soon as Theo was shown into his study.
"You are one of my friends are you not?" Theo asked sliding into an armchair. "I do not need a reason or an invitation to see a friend."
Magnus scoffed, staring at him in a way that made him know he was being scrutinized. Until Cuthbert, he had not visited the Blackmore estate so often and without reason. It was no wonder the man's suspicion was piqued.
He wished he had an answer that was worthwhile but while he had hastily made his way to his friend's estate, he had done naught but attempt to come up with a logical reason that the man wouldn't see through.
While Magnus was indeed one of his closest friends, the two of them had a strange dynamic where they tolerated each other mostly for the other members' sakes.
Theo was not to be blamed, however. Magnus was a stickler for propriety and rules, while he preferred to toss those damn rules in the bin. For someone who much needed a reprieve from the demands of his title, the man chose to adhere to them, almost reveling in it.
Their other friends had tried to make them come to a compromise in their beliefs but neither party seemed ready to accept the other.
"If you have come to ask me to consider your uncle's proposal, you can save the talk," Magnus said finally. "I will have to consider all possible risks and ensure he is aware of them before I accept it."
If that was what he thought the visit was for, Theo didn't see any reason to consider anything otherwise.
