Page 45 of His Stolen Duchess
“You are my friend, aren’t you? I wanted to have some time away from the chaos, but you only stab me with your comments.”
Thomas held up his hands for a third time. “You are completely right, although I must take one last jab at you. It is not a jab, of course, but you will take it as such.”
Lysander sighed, but he rolled his finger in the air to instruct his friend to inflict his jab.
“It might be hard for anyone else to notice because the shift is not all that significant, but I can see that you are in a far better mood than usual.” He raised an eyebrow and smiled before taking a drink of his wine, then topped up both of their glasses.
“I don’t understand what you are suggesting,” Lysander countered. “Should I be in a permanently bad mood? I was in a better mood when I walked in here because I expected to have a drink with a good friend, but I suppose I shall have to find a good friend first.”
“And a joke,” Thomas commented. “As your best friend, I know you are not one for jokes. Some brooding, perhaps, but you are not one for witty jokes such as that. It almost made me laugh, you know.”
Lysander’s voice began to rise. “I’m in a slightly better mood because I was able to escape the chaos for a while. You ought to understand if you had spent any length of time in my manor. I have a good mind to put my foot down on all of it and tell her exactly how things should be.”
Thomas didn’t say another word. He only eyed his friend curiously in a way that made Lysander uncomfortable. Hewanted to demand that Thomas divulge the basis for his quizzical expression. He didn’t, but only because he could feel his breathing was slightly heavier, and he knew he had raised his voice.
I shouldn’t be getting so worked up over nothing.
Thomas finally wagged a finger at his friend. “No, I don’t believe it.”
Lysander shrugged. “You don’t believe what?”
“I don’t believe any of it. You are trying to cover for your own happiness, whatever small sliver you have found. I think you like married life, and that there is something about this woman. There must be if you are behaving like this.”
“Like what?” Lysander asked.
Thomas gestured with his hand, indicating all of Lysander. “Like you haven’t acted in years. You are almost pleasant. I mean, I don’t care about pleasant, but many people find it, well… pleasant.”
Lysander wanted to claim to his friend that he wasn’t pleasant, that, in fact, he was unpleasant, but that felt like a ridiculous thing to say. Instead, he scoffed at his friend.
“You have no idea what you are talking about. I shall invite you over some time, and you can see first-hand what I’m dealing with.”
“I would like that,” Thomas said. “I need to get to know this woman. She intrigues me.”
“Oh, stop,” Lysander complained. “You are trying to get a rise out of me, and it won’t work. Can we please talk about other things?”
“Certainly, dear chap,” Thomas said. “What would you like to talk about?”
“I have some business to attend to in London. I wonder if you might be around, so we can go to a gentleman’s club. Perhaps that venue will work out better. I fear that because we have met in a tavern, it has brought your conversation down to a bawdy level. If we meet in a more civilized place, we might have a more civilized conversation.”
“There is only one way to test that out,” Thomas said. “When are you in London?”
“In one week’s time.”
“We shall meet somewhere nice, and we will both be on our very best behavior,” Thomas announced. “Until then, I get to be on any sort of behavior I choose, and tonight, I’m leaning toward being on my worst behavior.”
“I’ve no objection, as long as you direct that behavior toward someone else.”
Lysander leaned back in his chair and took up his goblet of wine.
Had he really changed?
If anyone were to sense it, it would be Thomas. If it were true, Lysander wasn’t sure he liked it. Most people changed over a course of time, not in such a short span of time because of one person.
For his own sanity, he had to protect himself.
Chapter Fourteen
“Is this really necessary?” Lysander asked.
