Hardly a Husband (Free Fellows League 3)

Colin watched as his wife left the room, then turned to Jarrod. "Any word as to Sussex's whereabouts?"

Jarrod blinked in surprise.

Colin wouldn't mention it while Gillian was in the room, but he was worried about Sussex and eager to learn if Jarrod had any news. "You did say you were going to forty-seven Portman Square this morning to look for him," Colin reminded him.

Jarrod had gone to Portman Square, but he'd forgotten all about looking for Sussex. "I went," he told Colin, "but I saw no sign of him."

"It's no wonder." Colin grinned. "Who would think to look for our missing King Arthur when you had other more pressing needs?" Although he no longer had the desire or the need to visit the house on Portman Square, Colin was familiar with its residents and well aware of the delights to be found behind its red doors.

Jarrod ignored Colin's good-natured teasing. "Have you heard anything?"

Colin shook his head. "I left White's and went to your house to collect the dispatches, then I brought them directly home to Gillian." He frowned at Jarrod. "As ordered. Remember?"

"Yes, of course." Jarrod cleared his throat. "What about Griff or Barclay or Courtland? Have you any word from them?"

"I haven't heard from anyone except you since this morning." Colin studied his friend. "Jarrod, are you all right?"

"Of course," Jarrod answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Because you've been acting oddly since Gillian…"

Jarrod gave Colin a rather pensive smile. "You're a lucky fellow," he said. "She is quite the lady."

Colin didn't pretend not to understand. "Yes, I am. And yes, she is."

"What's the secret?" Jarrod asked.

"To what?" Colin asked.

"You and your viscountess and Griff and his duchess. The four of you seem blissfully happy and at peace."

"We are," Colin said.

"But you're leg-shackled," Jarrod reminded him. "For life."

Colin smiled. "We're married, Jarrod, and marriage isn't the horror we believed it would be when we were boys."

"It is in my experience."

"Not when you love the person you marry," Colin said simply. "Not when they love you in return."

To his credit, Jarrod refrained from scoffing at Colin's words, but he had yet to come to terms with the idea. "I don't believe love exists for people like" — he almost said people like us, but he amended his statement at the last minute — "me."

Colin clapped him on the back as they walked to the front door. "Because you've yet to experience it. But believe me, Jarrod: love exists for all of us. Whether we believe in it or not. Whether we believe we deserve it or not."

Jarrod turned to Colin and held out his hand. "Then pity the poor woman who loves me, for I've been told that I'm hardly husband material." He hadn't realized quite how much Sarah's words stung until he repeated them to Colin.

Jarrod expected Colin to defend him, but to his surprise, Colin laughed. "You will be surprised how quickly that will change when you meet the right woman."

"I'm thirty," Jarrod replied. "I'm too old to change for any woman." He listened as the massive casement clock chimed the hour. "And I'm late for my meeting."

Colin's laughter followed him out the front door.

"You're changing already, my friend," he warned. "Or the world is coming to an end — because the always punctual Marquess of Shepherdston has been late twice in one morning."

* * *

Chapter Twelve