“Where have you been, then? Clambering about on rocks, in your Borderland home?”
Hal laughed. “Not exactly. When I’m there, I tend to be quite sedentary. But, as it happens, I was in Yorkshire.”
“With your father?” Logan said it as if he would imagine men preferring to spend time in purgation than with their families.
“No,” Hal smiled. “I was with Cousin Luke, actually. You might remember him – he was at Cambridge three years before me?”
“I wasn’t there, then, old boy,” Logan grinned. “Remember? I came the same year you did.”
“Oh,” Hal nodded. “Yes. I just imagined you’d managed to sneak off to Cambridge before then.”
“No such luck,” Logan said, pulling a face. “Only went off when I was eighteen. Same as you. You’re only three months older, you know.”
Hal chuckled. “That’s true. I decided to spend this summer in Yorkshire, and Luke invited me to stay at his estate.”
“Got any girls there?” Logan asked, giving him a grin. Logan was exceptionally handsome – or at least, Hal had always thought he must be far more attractive to women than Hal himself was. He had a thin jaw, large brown eyes, curling brown hair and full lips, with a fine chin as well. He used his looks to full advantage, too, being somewhat profligate, or seeming so to Hal at any rate.
Hal blushed, hearing his question, then frowned, not sure how to answer. “Well…”
“That’s admission enough!” Logan exclaimed. His eyes twinkled. “Hal! That’s grand!”
Hal smiled. “You do make it sound like hard work, for me to actually be attractive.”
“Nonsense!” Logan pushed him on the shoulder, making the proprietor stiffen up, expecting a fight. Logan was smiling, though, and the man subsided into the shadows again. “You’re a stunner, Hal. I don’t know how it’s possible you never knew.”
Hal blushed. “Logan…I’m not.”
His friend chuckled. “Only in your opinion. Not in the opinion of ladies, which is the only opinion that matters. Now, tell me all about this wonderful new compatriot.”
Hal shifted awkwardly in his seat. Where to begin? Hestony was simply the most beautiful, most wonderful lady he could imagine. How could he begin to explain that to Logan?
“She’s…” he paused. “She’s very pretty, but only half as pretty as she is sweet, and only half as sweet as she is witty, and…”
Logan interrupted. “In other words, my friend, you are utterly in love. Congratulations! It’s wonderful to be in love.”
Hal ran his tongue over his upper lip thoughtfully. “I’m glad you said that,” he said. “I would have thought someone so worldly as you would have thought me an utter fool.”
“A fool?” Logan leaned back in his chair, astonished. “No, Hal. Someone as worldly as me can only look at you in love and feel awe, and maybe just a little envy. You are in a state I have always known existed, but never felt before. I wish you and her much joy.”
Hal could see on Logan’s face just how serious he was. He swallowed hard. “Thanks, friend,” he said. Having Logan’s sincere opinion did make him feel much better. If Logan thought that what he was doing was sensible, then nobody – no matter how worldly they claimed they were – could criticize him. Logan was surely the worldliest gentleman he knew, and if he found nothing foolish in it, then it was no more than sound sense.
Logan stretched. “So, Hal? Have you plans for this evening?”
Hal shook his head. “I had thought to retire early to bed. I’m a little weary after the traveling.”
Logan lifted one shoulder, an elegant shrug. “As you wish.” He grinned. “You’re here a few days, are you not? We can have some fun at the Margate Club tomorrow, if you’re feeling more chipper.”
Hal nodded, though his heart wasn’t truly in it. Now that he had met Hestony, he had little interest in long evenings spent playing cards and drinking with the dandified set of London. He found the whole thing tedious at best, distasteful at worst. Those men had little interest in settling down, and, at the moment, he had to confess that thought was uppermost in his mind.
“You look a little disenchanted with the idea?” Logan questioned.
Hal blushed. “No…it’s not that,” he murmured. “I was just thinking that it’s been quite a while since I went drinking with the lads.”
“It has, indeed!” Logan grinned. “Well, to tell the truth, it’s a little wearing for me, too.”
“Really?” Hal stared at him in surprise. Was this the worldly Logan, lady-killer of extensive reputation?
“You needn’t say that as if it’s the most unexpected thing in all of London.” Logan grinned. “You’ll make me feel like a complete dissolute.”
“You’re not completely dissolute.” Hal grinned back.
“Only slightly, eh?” Logan smiled, his head tilted to the side. “Well, I suppose that’s fair enough. Honestly, though…I envy you your uncomplicated love.”
“You do?” Hal was utterly surprised. Of all the things he’d expected Logan to confide, the fact that he sometimes wished for a simpler, sweeter life himself was by far the most unexpected.
“I do,” Logan confirmed. “My life is…complicated. I long for simplicity.”
“I can understand that,” Hal allowed. “My life feels simpler now. I know what I want, and it’s simple enough. I only wish to spend as much time as I can with the lady I so admire.”
Logan made a small huffing noise, and Hal felt as if he might be being mocked, except that the expression on his friend’s face was haunted, rather than amused.
“What is it?” Hal asked, feeling a little sorry for Logan.
“Nothing,” Logan shrugged. “Just that…in the face of such innocence, I feel extremely old and tired.”
“You’re certainly not old,” Hal assured him. “In fact, I reckon you look younger than I do.”
“Really?” Logan touched his hair, disconsolately. “I saw five gray hairs the other day. Five! Hal, I’m positively aged!”
“No, you’re not,” Hal contradicted, smilingly. “You’re eight and twenty. That’s young.”
“Not as young as I was, old boy,” Logan countered.
“Still young, though,” Hal commented lightly. “And young enough to change everything about your life, when you choose to.”