“Always,” Alexander confirmed. “And always with the sun. It’s the best time of day. You should try it sometime.”
“I don’t think I could pull myself from the comfort of my bed,” Stewart replied. “Too many good memories, if you catch my drift.”
As he pulled his chair out, Stewart wiggled his eyebrows comically. Alexander rolled his eyes.
“Does everything come down to the sins of flesh with you?”
Stewart shrugged. “A fair few things, yes. Are you telling me that you don’t feel the same urges? The same drive?”
As Alexander took his seat, his mind drifted again to the woman at the lake. If he was honest with himself, he’d felt the stirrings there, as he watched. His body had responded as it might at a peep show, with curiosity and wonder and just a hint of desire. He was scandalized by the flash of her ankles, but he was as much enticed by it too.
Stewart raised his eyebrows again. “I see from that glint in your eye that you are thinking of someone in particular. Am I right?”
Alexander scowled and picked up a triangle of toast. It tinkled on the plate as he dropped it, then he leaned over for a hard-boiled egg—still in its shell, naturally. “I am choosing not to answer that.”
Stewart groaned. “It’s not the lovely Lucille, is it?”
Alexander shot him a look. He had quite forgotten about Lucille’s existence until that moment. Another thing the stranger in the lake had done for him.
“No,” he replied firmly.
“Because there are far more beautiful women in the city, and ones who would lead to far less heartache. You know that you can take one just for the night, if that’s your fancy.” Stewart once again raised his eyebrows as he picked up his tea.
“Indeed. I hear you take one most nights, like the rake you are.”
Stewart laughed. “Not most nights, no. Probably no more often than you, I’d say. I’m far more of a gentleman than that.”
With a chuckle, Alexander said, “There is no such thing as a gentleman when it comes to sins of the flesh. We all become beasts when the chance arises.”
“Ah, profound as well as innocent,” Stewart teased. “Mornings really do suit you.”
Alexander’s lips twitched into a smile, but he decided to change the subject all the same, lest he accidentally reveal his desire for the stranger he’d met that morning.
“Tell me, then,” he said. “Where is everyone this morning?”
Stewart laughed again. “I’d wager they are all still in bed, Alexander. Not everyone like torise with the sunas you put it. The ladies are probably enjoying the chance to rest after so many weeks in London. It’s what you should be doing too.”
“Ladies? I thought it was only Lady Chelsea?”
“ I thought I’d told you that Chelsea has brought along a little friend. Probably the same one she has be whispering with since she was a girl.” He laughed, stirring sugar into his tea. “They always were such a naughty pair. My aunt and uncle are due to follow in a week or two.”
“And is the friend anyone of interest?” Alexander asked, hoping that someone new might spark something within him, though what he could not say. Maybe a solution to his financial problems or a way to mend his broken heart.
Or a chance to meet someone like the stranger at the lake.
Stewart snorted. He held the teacup to his lips and blew across the surface. “I doubt it. They’re mere children, Alexander.”
Alexander raised a single eyebrow. “Your cousin is getting married at the end of the summer. She won’t be a child for much longer.”
Shuddering, Stewart said, “You’re quite right, of course, but I’d rather not think about that.”
He put his tea down on the saucer with a clatter. He hadn’t taken a bite to eat, but then Alexander supposed he’d had plenty the night before, and he’d hardly done anything since to build an appetite. He dipped his own egg into the little pile of salt on his plate, then took a large bite, chewing thoughtfully.
Part of him wondered whether he should return to the lake while he was there, if only for a chance to see her again. The beautiful stranger so filled with abandon. He had probably frightened the poor girl away, but there was a chance, he supposed, that she would return to the same spot. She seemed so happy there—as if she belonged.
So free.
That word again. Free. Alexander felt anything but free, and his restraints became tighter by the day. If he didn’t do something soon, he would earn the moniker The Destitute Duke. He dropped the remainder of his egg on his plate and wiped his fingertips on the white cotton napkin beside him. His appetite was quite lost to worry. All it took was an instant.
