When one is the rightful heir and the other wants everything just for himself. Josephine realised that she was caught in the middle of a succession war.
It has been a while, my friend, I would like permission to call upon you at Drummond Manor.
Sincerely,
Hero, the Duke of Gloucester
To the Duke of Gloucester —
I think not.
Weddington
Hero
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Hero had tucked the missive from Weddington inside the pocket of his jacket, and it felt like a heavy weight sitting there as the coach travelled toward Drummond Manor. He was being a bit of a coward by not going alone, but he thought Weddington might not be so quick to slam the door in his face if Josephine was with him.
After she had asked him about his friends, to whom he might be close, and she'd revealed that Eros had snubbed Weddington, it occurred to him that his old friend might be someone he could trust.
Weddington's curt note told Hero more about the state of their friendship than any longer missive might have. He and Weddington had been friends at school, had yachted together. That the man wasn't willing to see him...
Well, he had no doubt that Eros had been responsible, and it involved more than simply a cut direct. Eros's actions made perfect, yet irritating sense. Replace his valet...replace his trusted friend.
Now if Hero could only earn back Weddington's trust, he might discover some way to prove the facts of his case.
And he needed to do that as quickly as possible because it was becoming more difficult not to open the door that separated his bedchamber from hers.
Each moment spent with her was pure pleasure, except for those rare moments when he could see doubt surfacing in her eyes, doubt because she required more from him than he could give to her. Countless times he'd convinced himself to tell her everything, but then she would smile at him, and the thought of never having that smile directed at him was enough to make him rethink his decision. It was selfish on his part, and unfair to her, but he'd gone so long without so much that he was like a starving man desperate enough to settle for crumbs and instead finding himself offered a feast.
He told himself that tomorrow he would tell her...and when tomorrow arrived, he convinced himself that the next day would be better...and now he'd decided to wait until after they visited Weddington. If Weddington rejected him, Hero might very well need the solace that Josephine could provide.
"What do you know of his wife?" she asked unexpectedly, breaking into his thoughts.
