Page 89 of His Duchess' Mischief

Seth scoffed. “I have not always been as tall as I am now. Gordon did not even know me, but he could not bear to see injustice in the world. He helped me up, clapped me on the shoulder, andtold me I needed to learn how to stand up for myself. We were friends from then on.”

Alicia leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder as he continued.

“He was fiercely loyal to all those around him. Gordon would have done anything we asked without hesitation, without question. I loved that about him. Whatever problem you might come up against, he would be by your side no matter what.”

His voice cracked, emotion welling up as his chest heaved.

“I have been angry with him for a long time, for leaving me to face the world alone when he used to always be by my side.”

Alicia squeezed his arm in comfort. “You did not have a groomsman at the wedding. I wondered about that at the time. I thought it proved you were not a good man, but I know different now.”

“I could not ask anyone else to stand beside me,” he murmured. “Not without Gordon. It was better for that spot to remain empty than to try and replace him.”

Alicia looked up as a shadow moved above their heads, the buzzard wheeling in the sky, watching the earth below.

“I believe Gordon was there beside you. If not in person, he would have been there in spirit.”

Seth went still, and then he leaned back, placing an arm around her shoulders. “That is a comforting thought.”

His fingers tightened as he sighed heavily.

“I have never been good at friendships or making connections. When someone so close to you is taken away, it is hard to find the strength to allow another to know you.”

Is that how he feels about me? Is that why he has repeatedly told me that our marriage means nothing?

That thought lit a fire inside her, a desire to help him in any way she could.

“Gordon would have liked you,” Seth added, tension creeping into his voice. “He would have enjoyed agreeing with you to spite me and proving I was wrong about everything.”

Alicia laughed. “I am sure I would have liked him; you would not be best friends with a man who was not worthy of it.”

Seth’s chest tightened at those words, uncertain what he had done to receive such praise, but enjoying the sentiment all the same.

Alicia’s steady presence and kindness in the face of his grief had surprised him.

No one in his life whom he had spoken to about Gordon’s death had wished to entertain the topic. Even after the trial, when he had longed to speak with his father about the pain of it, his father had shut down any attempt to raise the subject.

The ache that he had felt for so many years lessened for the first time. He felt that she truly understood him, that sheforgavehim in a strange way.

It was liberating.

As he stared out across the lake, he suddenly saw a flash of white on the opposite bank. Two little ears and long legs scampering through the grass. He jumped to his feet.

“I see her!” he said, glancing at the buzzard above them. “We must reach her before the bird does, or she will be done for.”

Alicia was on her feet, too. “You see Dove? Where?”

“By the reeds on the other side of the lake. You go around the other side and intercept her if she tries to run.”

Alicia set off at pace, and Seth sprinted around to the left, feeling his muscles loosen as he settled into the pace, his body thrumming with energy.

Glancing across to the other side, he saw Alicia’s figure slightly ahead of him and gave a loud laugh as he quickened his pace, making it a race between them.

He heard an answering shout from the opposite bank, and Alicia, who had been walking quickly, suddenly broke into a full sprint. Seth was not sure who would reach Dove first.

He managed it by a whisker, the thundering of his feet making the kitten leap back from him, but he managed to snatch her little body just as she was about to flee.

He held her up triumphantly as Alicia reached them, panting and taking the little bundle into her arms.

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