Page 60 of The Truth Serum
“Well enough.” Though they were throbbing right now.
“So you miss working as a sailor, crawling around in ditches, and sleeping in muck.”
Nate shot his superior a glare. “I like a clean bed as much as anyone.”
“And you’re not a young man anymore. Injuries will get worse, recovery takes longer.”
Nate stabbed a spoon into his food. “I’m not in my dotage.”
“You’re past 30. That’s ancient in a soldier.”
“I’m still useful!” he snapped.
“Yes, you are. But not if you’ve died in a ditch because you were too slow to run from the guns.”
Nate couldn’t argue. Even if he hadn’t had broken toes, he was noticeably slower than when he’d been a teen. And given his ribs, he wasn’t sure he could comfortably run the sails anymore.
“Have you given a thought to marriage?” Benedict asked.
“What?”
The man leaned back in his chair, a thoughtful expression on his lean face. “I’m thinking of it. Got to continue the title and allthat. Plus, a wife can always help a man in the diplomatic corps. A smart woman has eyes and ears that can be made useful.”
Nate stared at him without speaking. He’d never thought Benedict would marry. He just didn’t seem the type. Though such a coldly logical approach to it was entirely in the man’s character. Marry because she could be useful as a diplomat’s wife? Didn’t the man want tender feelings somewhere?
“What happened with Lady Rebecca?”
Nate’s eyes widened.
“She’s your Miss Beauty, yes?”
Yes. “How’d you know?”
Benedict arched his brows, and Nate looked away. They’d shared the mud in Spain. Benedict—well, mostly his batman Major Vance—had trained them both in that hellhole. The major had practical know-how. Benedict had a keen intellect. And Nate had the charm to make friends out of enemies.
They hadn’t only survived in Spain, all three of them had matured. And eventually thrived. Benedict and Major Vance knew more about Nate—and he about them—than even Ras.
Which meant he might as well tell the truth.
“Lady Rebecca was a youthful fantasy,” he said, his gaze dropping to his stew. “And as you have so deftly pointed out, I’m no longer young.”
“Hmm. Is she going to marry Baron Courbis?”
Nate rolled his eyes. “Not after last night.” Assuming, of course, that she could stay strong against Fletcher’s pressure.
“Yes, what was that? What I heard didn’t sound like a drunk.”
“He wasn’t drunk. He’d been dosed with a truth serum.”
“You don’t say!”
Nate explained everything he knew about it and how the baron had come to consume it. Typically, Benedict was fascinated by the concept and pushed for more details than Nate had.
“She said she got it from the same apothecary that sold Ras’s fiancée the love potion.”
Benedict nodded. “I’ll have Major Vance look into it.”
“Good—”
