Page 87 of The Beastly Duke's Christmas Bride
“She has taken her leave. The carriage and fresh horses. Should we search after her?” Tony asked. “What did you do?”
All the servants must have gone back to bed. That, or they were hiding. Only Tony and his fast tongue would be ready to tell him this dreadful news. It wasn’t a surprise for Sebastian. Still, it stung terribly.
The house was empty all over again.
Sighing, he shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. Let’s get ourselves to bed.”
“I have a bath prepared for you. It won’t be roasting hot, but it will clean you up and ensure not a toe is frozen.” Tony led the way up the stairs. His wiry build kept him light on his feet as they moved about. “Suppose you’ll be wanting to know about the brother. He was all over the place, telling us what to do.”
Sebastian huffed. “Did everyone listen?”
“Not really,” his valet added. The flame on his candle flickered to reveal a partial smile before he turned back to the hall as they reached it. “He requested a few items to travel with them. We moved them but didn’t put everything in the carriage. Just food and some blankets to keep them warm.”
“What of Amber?”
Tony hesitated. “She’s gone with them.”
Every part of her was disappearing so quickly. Swallowing hard, Sebastian managed to nod his thanks to Tony for the bath. He didn’t linger long. Just enough to rub clean and then rub dry every part of his body. Once dressed and wrapped in his dressing gown, he went to peek inside Isabel’s room.
It still smelled like her. He moved through the room slowly, looking for any intimate touches Isabel might have applied in the short time she was here. Eventually, he took a seat on thechair beside the bed where there a robe draped over it. A single spot was covered in cat fur. But the collar smelled like her floral perfume.
That night, Sebastian slept right there.
Two nights followed there as well until the scent began to waver and his back couldn’t take it anymore. Listless days passed him by as he tried to think his way through a heavy murkiness that made Sebastian want to give up on everything.
“Again?” Tony groaned the next morning. “Truly, Your Grace, you cannot keep at this. I’m awfully bored of you now. Can’t you at least take yourself down for breakfast? And have a bath?”
“I just had one.”
His valet grimaced. “That was two days ago.”
With a huff, Sebastian grudgingly accepted another bath. He even shaved afterwards and dressed.
But his heart still felt broken and now the rest of his body ached. He forced himself to work through a few stretches before forcing himself to the dining room to stomach something to eat when Tony refused to bring him a tray.
“There you are!”
Sebastian stopped, not having expected company. He stalled as he knew he had to look awful. “What are you doing here, Ronan?”
Fortunately, the man didn’t mention his appearance.
As he tried to put his thoughts together, he followed his friend’s invitation to take a seat. Meanwhile, Ronan moved to stand. There were two plates before him with only crumbs left over, clearly showing he had been enjoying himself. There was also a thick, folded paper in his hands.
“The others elected myself to take the lead, I’m afraid. Something about not worrying about women, I don’t know.” Ronan sighed and dumped the paper down. “It’s too vague there but the rest of last night said enough.”
“Said enough what? You know I have little patience for the riddles of the Ton,” Sebastian reminded him.
Ronan wrinkled his nose. “You’re sour this morning. Perhaps you already heard?” Sebastian said nothing but stared at him. “Very well. It’s about your brother-in-law.”
“I don’t care,” he said at once.
“Are you certain? The man is certain to have his head blasted off.”
Caught off guard by that pronouncement, Sebastian asked, “What the devil do you mean?”
“The man is playing dangerous with another man’s mistress. You must know that never goes well. The Duke of York’s mistress, at that. It’s like he cannot keep his hands off that which the royal family has taken,” Ronan added with a roll of his eyes.
Sebastian processed this slowly before shaking his head. “I don’t care. The Duke of York can do as he likes. It matters not to me.”
