by Brianna York
His attention moved to the section of the church directly to his right. This was the section where the ludicrously wealthy sat in a tightly-knit group full of proper Tory sentiment and ardent snobbery. Those who fell into the highest echelon of the much-divided world of Oxford were rarely punished or reprimanded for fear of offending some terribly important parent, and so they ran rough-shod over the rules and regulations of the place and got into all sorts of trouble that the rest of the students would never dare to try. From his very first days at the university, Rob had longed to be a part of that exclusive group. His family title had the age but not the finances to allow him access to it. His eyes fell on the bright golden head of the Dunsaney heir. Matthew was one of the ringleaders of the exclusive group. His family was rumored to be richer even than the Regent. Not that that particular fact could be readily proven, Rob reflected somewhat jadedly. However, if Matthew’s clothes and the inordinate amount of money that he dropped at the local card games were representative, he was certainly not going to go hungry when he inherited his Dukedom.
Feeling eyes on his person, Matthew glanced over his shoulder. He found himself staring into the sharp, indigo-blue gaze of one of the lesser peers of the realm. The other man returned his stare brazenly for a long moment before nodding and smiling. Matthew found himself drawn to that smile that was both open and friendly without being naive. However, he simply nodded back and returned his attention to the back of the pew in front of him. Rob stoically put away thoughts of being rich and tried to recall the material that he would need for his mathematics exam.
“Finally,” Matthew muttered to himself when they were dismissed to classes. He rose stiffly, closing his eyes against the sudden furious pounding behind them.
“Don’t you love a good hangover?” Matthew’s distant relation, Marcus Wythinghall said upon observing Matthew’s pained expression.
Matthew smiled wryly. “Nothing quite like it. I was just wondering if I was being punished for my impiety.”
Forrest shrugged. “Could be. However, I should hope that God would be able to send something more impressive than a headache to discipline us for our wrongs.”
Matthew saw the logic in that. He followed his family member into the narrow aisle between the pews and started for the door. He did not see the other student until he ran straight into him. “Terribly sorry,” he apologized, removing his booted foot from the other man’s. He found himself staring into the vivid blue eyes that he had encountered earlier during the sermon. “Hello again,” he said with a slight hitching up of the corner of his mouth that might have been a smile.
Rob, who was quite a bit shorter than Matthew, stared up and grinned. He began to believe in fate. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to step in your way.”
“You’re apologizing when it is I who stepped on you?” Matthew replied. “It was entirely my fault. Once again, I’m sorry.” He started up the aisle, and Rob followed him, ignoring the odd stares that he was receiving from Matthew’s friends.
“I don’t believe that I have formally made your acquaintance,” Rob said fearlessly as he hurried a bit to match the long-legged stride of the other student.
Matthew glanced at him. He had to give the other man credit for his bravery. “Hargreve,” he answered brusquely.
“Mine’s Kensington,” Rob replied. “But you can call me Rob.”
Matthew halted and stared down at the shorter man for a long moment. Then his face broke into a smile that Rob would later learn was characteristic and rather well-known. “Pleased to meet you, Rob. My friends call me Matthew.”
“How progressive,” Marcus drawled as the other two caught up to him.
“Progressive?” Matthew inquired, one brow winged in consternation.
Marcus inclined his head toward Rob with a bit of sneer on his lips, “You must be trying to eradicate the social classes, cousin. First that upstart Baron and now the heir to an impoverished title. Are you planning to collect every stray here at school? Shall we add some of the students on scholarship as well?”
Matthew frowned at his cousin. Rob looked stricken, his expression stiff with discomfort. “While you may collect friends based on their family’s annual income, Marcus, I am inclined to seek out the companionship of those whom I enjoy. If there is a scholarship student among us whom I find I have things to talk about with, I shall befriend him too.”
Marcus snorted loudly. “Indeed? Well then. I did not mean to give offense.” He turned away and walked off, his gown billowing around him.
“Oh I am sure none was taken,” Rob muttered under his breath.
Matthew sighed and shook his head. “Sorry about that. Marcus is a bit of an oaf.”
Rob’s smile was wan but it was still a grin. “We all have a family member or two whom we wish we did not have to acknowledge. I myself have quite a few actually.” He chuckled at this as his good humor reasserted itself.
Matthew laughed aloud at this. “I have to take a mathematics exam, where are you off to?” he asked, put instantly at ease by Rob’s smile.
“The same place as you. I hate mathematics.”
Thus was forged Matthew’s other friendship that had lasted through thick and thin, through both peaceful times and also times that were troubled, or filled with grief. Matthew raised a hand and rubbed one of his aching eyes with the heel of it. It was unbearable to imagine what it would be like to lose either Rob or Forrest. Matthew had learned the hard way, as he supposed that everyone had to, that friends that were equals were irreplaceable and did not occur frequently.
“Good morning.” The slightly creaky voice was Forrest’s, and Matthew’s gaze left Rob to meet Forrest’s eyes.
“Good morning, old man,” he replied with a smile. “How’s the head this morning?”
Forrest shifted a bit on the pillows experimentally. “A bit better, I think. My vision is still doubled, however,” he said with some irritation.
Matthew rose and walked across the room. “I am sure that will improve itself shortly,” he reassured his friend. “Water?”
“Yes, please,” Forrest replied. He glanced at Rob and chuckled briefly. “Poor Rob. He looks dashed uncomfortable in that chair.”
Matthew shook his head ruefully. “Hasn’t made him wake up yet, so it cannot be all that bad.”
“I am just glad that Alex finally agreed to get some sleep,” Forrest replied, pushing himself up into a sitting position carefully. He was pleased to find that his head did not protest the movement much. Once his vision cleared he would be as good as new.
“She was and is very worried about you,” Matthew reminded his friend, handing him a glass with water in it.
Forrest frowned a bit at that. “I am going to have to adjust myself to the idea of my existence mattering so much to someone else,” he told Matthew.
Matthew laughed aloud. “What a terrible burden,” he teased. Forrest chuckled in response. “Well, let’s have some light in here,” Matthew said, crossing the room and opening the heavy drapes.
Rob groaned and stirred. He slitted his eyes open against the light flooding the room. “Matthew?” he asked a bit foggily.
Matthew nodded. “Good morning Robert.”
Rob nodded, closing his eyes again. “I suppose that it would be a good morning if I had not fallen asleep in this chair.”
Forrest chuckled at that. “I am sorry to have asked such a thing of you, my friend.”
Rob shook his head, then winced and put a hand on his sore neck. “I did not mean my comment like that, Forrest. I was glad to stay with you.”
Forrest and Matthew exchanged a look that communicated laughter without sound. “Why don’t you go back to your own room now, Rob?” Matthew suggested. “I will take my turn by Forrest’s bedside.”
“All right,” Rob agreed, rising with some difficulty and gingerly making his way to the door. “I shall come back and check in with you later, Forrest,” he assured his friend as he shuffled out into the hall and closed the door behind
him.
“A better chap I have yet to meet,” Forrest remarked after Rob was gone.
“And never shall,” Matthew agreed but his voice sounded abstracted.
Forrest regarded his friend for a long moment. “What is it, Matthew?”
Matthew sighed and placed his hands on his knees, leaning forward a bit and staring down at his boots. Finally he said, “You still do not think that you suffered an unfortunate accident?”
Forrest shook his head gravely. “What happened yesterday was no accident.”
Matthew nodded, his eyes still on his boots. “I did not want to have to agree with you, but I am afraid that I shall have to now that I have looked over the horse.”
Forrest cocked his head to the side inquiringly. “What did you find?”
Matthew raised his eyes and met Forrest’s. “A long welt running the length of his hip. It looked like a whip welt at first, but upon closer scrutiny I realized that it was far too wide to be a whip welt.”
“One would never need a whip for Apollo anyway,” Forrest replied quickly, his face thoughtful. “Someone must have shot him with something.”
Matthew nodded. “No doubt something like a rock sent your way with the help of a slingshot or something else that would be silent and impossible to detect.”
A silence stretched between the two men as both thought about the many implications of Matthew’s discovery. Forrest broke the silence first. “But who would want me out of the way?”
Matthew exhaled and rubbed at his eyes again. He had not gotten much sleep last night. “I was hoping that you would know the answer to that question,” he said to his friend. “Perhaps we need to examine what precisely you are in the way of.”
Forrest thought a moment. “I cannot imagine what anyone would need to kill me over. If someone wanted to disagree with me in a public manner, all they would have to do is call me out.”
Matthew’s lip quirked wryly. “No one but a fool would call you out, Forrest.”
Forrest looked a bit startled, then he smiled in a slightly bitter manner. “Of course. You are correct as always, Matthew.”
Matthew sighed again. “In this instance I would like to find myself to be correct about the reason that you had your mishap in the park.”
A sudden rapping at the door drew both men’s attention. “Forrest?” It was Alex’s voice.
Forrest smiled his sunrise smile. “Come in, love,” he called.
The door creaked open to reveal Alex, a slightly concerned frown between her eyes, but a smile on her lips. “How are you this morning, dearest?” she asked Forrest, coming to kneel beside his bed and link her fingers with his.
He drew her hand up to his lips and kissed her fingers. “I am much improved, thank you,” he answered her.
She smiled gently at him. “That is so good to hear,” she said with obvious relief.
Matthew rose then. “I shall leave you in my sister’s very capable hands,” he announced to Forrest as he went to the door. “Oh, I almost forgot,” he said, his hand on the doorknob, “I think that Rob and I are going to go to the club tonight for dinner. That is, unless you will be needing us here.”
Alex shook her head. “Forrest and I shall be quite all right, I am sure,” she replied. “It would do you two some good to get out of the house for a while anyway.”
“Thank you, Alex,” he said to her, his eyes warm. He nodded to Forrest, then left the room.
Forrest regarded Alex for a long, silent moment once Matthew was gone, a gentle smile on his face. “I truly am sorry about the wedding,” he said suddenly, breaking the contented silence that had stretched out between them.
Alex shook her head. “Do not be. We shall simply reschedule it, Forrest.” She smiled at him then rested her forehead on his hand. “I care about nothing else in the world so long as you are here and you are all right.”
“Lady Alexandra?” The voice was Milton’s and it was accompanied by a soft rapping on the door to Forrest’s room.
“Yes?” Alex called back, raising her head.
“Lady Fenton has arrived and requests a moment with you.”
Alex smiled at Forrest for a moment. “She no doubt wishes to ask me the question that drove her to climb into my room through the window.”
Forrest chuckled. “Well then, you must go and see her.”
“You will be all right without me for a few minutes?”
Forrest smiled reassuringly at her. “Of course. But do not tarry too long.” He caught a hold of her hand and pulled her to him so that he could kiss her.
“I shall hurry,” she whispered to him, drawing away while she was still able. She stared into his eyes for one more moment, then rose and slipped from the room.
Forrest watched Alex’s slender form as she left the room, an ache in his heart that was reserved entirely for her. He closed his eyes against the pressing weight of exhaustion, hoping that his strength would return quickly. He intended to stay awake until Alex returned, but he quickly gave in to the demands of his body for healing rest.
Twenty-Nine
A
lex followed Milton down the stairs and into the parlor. Rosy was perched pensively on the edge of one of the chairs before the fire. She rose so abruptly upon catching sight of Alex that she nearly toppled the chair. “Oh Alex! How is Lord Tyndale?”
Alex smiled soothingly at her young friend. “He is going to be just fine, Rosy. Please, sit down.” She sat down and Rosy retrieved her own chair.
“I was so frightened when I heard that he had been hurt and I just knew that something awful must have happened for the wedding to be canceled and I did not know if it was improper to call on you until he was better or he was...” here she trailed off, embarrassed by the turn her rambling had taken and afraid of having given offense.
“I am glad that you are here,” Alex assured her and was rewarded by the softening of Rosy’s mouth into a real smile. “I presume that you are not here just to inquire after Forrest, however.”
Rosy exhaled gustily, her eyes going to her clasped hands. “After a fashion I am, I suppose. You see, I have been thinking hard of late about marriage because my mother wants me to marry so very badly and to marry well, but I absolutely refuse to marry where I do not love and you know how truly terrible a girl’s options are nowadays...” she trailed to a halt, then giggled. “Ever since Matthew became engaged mother has been parading an endless stream of corseted old men and silly over-perfumed fops before me in an attempt to find me a husband. I assure you that they are all quite the most boring men that I have ever met!” She giggled again, then suddenly her expression sobered.
“The whole thing is really not funny at all when I contemplate that I may actually be forced to marry one of those awful men because all of the truly brilliant ones that I might actually be able to love have been snatched up already.” She raised her large eyes to Alex’s face. “It is very hard for me, after knowing Matthew and Lord Tyndale who are truly two of the most brilliant and perfect men that could possibly exist, to imagine being married to an average man. I know that I would never be worthy of the love of a man like Matthew, or your Forrest, and I suppose that is all right so long as there is a different sort of brilliant man in existence for me to love.” She raised her eyes to Alex’s face again, her expression full of reluctant hope. “Alex, am I being silly? Is it wrong of me to expect to love truly?”
Alex shook her head fondly. She reached out and took Rosy’s hands in hers. “You absolutely are not wrong, Rosy. You have a loyal heart and a sweet soul and you deserve to love and be loved in return. As for Matthew and Forrest not loving you, perhaps they are not the right men for you, but someday you will find a man whom you can love.”
Rosy nodded, a soft smile on her lips. “Thank you, Alex. That makes me feel better.” She sighed. “I shall ask my question then. How did you know that you were in love with Forrest?”
Alex stared into her young friend’s glowing hazel eyes and tried to unravel the
past years she had spent in the company of Forrest. “Well,” she began slowly, deep in thought. “At first we did not like each other at all. It seemed that everything that he said set my teeth on edge and he appeared always to resent any attention that he was required to pay me. However, the resentment dissolved quickly when we realized that we had much in common and that we actually rather enjoyed each other’s company. We started to discuss books that we liked, scientific theories that he was tinkering with, historical occurrences that we both found intriguing and soon it became hard to imagine that I had ever been able to live without his friendship.”
She stopped for a moment and found that Rosy was still staring intently at her. The girl was so unnaturally still that Alex wondered if Rosy had forgotten to breathe. Alex drew in a deep breath and went on.
“I think that we realized that we loved each other in the same moment. It was after Matthew’s mother had arrived and she was playing the piano. I was feeling a bit sorry for myself that she was there and Forrest said something to make me feel better. It was not so much his words, Rosy, but the way that he said them that made the moment significant. He looked stunned by his own reaction and I suspect that I too looked as if struck by lightning. In that moment, we were closer than we had ever been and that closeness has not altered since. I wish I could tell you what precisely made us realize in the same instant that we were no longer simple friends. Actually, it is probable that it had been many months since we had simply been friends, we just had not realized until that moment the nature of our emotions.” She stopped and tilted her head to one side. “Was my answer at all helpful?”
