Saving Lord Berkshire - Laura Beers Page 0,27

sipping his soup,” he commented. “What woman would want to tie herself to him?”

“Everyone has quirks,” she contended.

“Not like his.”

She reached for her glass. “You are speaking rather rudely about a man whom you’ve just met,” she observed.

“My apologies,” he replied. “That was not my intention.”

“Then what was your intention?” she asked before taking a sip of her drink.

He frowned. “Not everyone has a match waiting for them.”

“Is that what you fear?” she asked, her eyes searching his. “That you won’t find a woman that you will fall desperately, hopelessly in love with?”

“I don’t believe in such fanciful stories,” he scoffed.

She lifted her brow. “Falling in love is not only in stories, you know.”

“Isn’t it?” he asked.

“Falling in love is easy, but staying in love is an entirely different matter,” she responded. “You have to work at remaining in love and that is rare, special even.”

“Marriage is just a binding contract between two individuals, nothing more, nothing less.”

“That is a sad way to look at it.”

“I’m afraid that is where you and I differ.”

“Just on that topic?” she joked, trying to lighten the mood.

He chuckled. “No, we are two vastly different people.”

“No truer words have been said, my lord,” she replied, smiling.

Dipping his spoon into the soup, Lord Berkshire remarked, “We’d best eat our soup before it grows cold.”

“I couldn’t agree with you more,” she responded, reaching for her spoon.

7

Edward sat at his desk and stared at the empty glass in his hand. He kept replaying his previous conversation with Miss Blackmore over dinner the night before. Was she right? Could everyone obtain joy in their own lives? Or were some people destined to be alone and miserable?

He couldn’t seem to comprehend why Miss Blackmore always had a blasted smile on her face, or a kind word to everyone that she spoke to. Well, except for him. He could always see the moment her eyes landed on him, because they seemed to spark with annoyance.

He put his glass down, rose from his chair, and walked over to the darkened window. How could he obtain the same level of happiness that Miss Blackmore seemed to possess? Was it even possible for someone like him?

No.

He had been right. Some people didn’t deserve to have a happy ending, him being one of them. He was miserable in his own right, and nothing was going to change that. How could it? It wasn’t as if he could turn back time and have his father be with him again.

Tears burned his eyes as he thought about his father. How he missed him. Everything, everyone, reminded him of his father. When his father passed away, he left behind a legacy that Edward could not compete with. He would never be as great as his father. Edward’s shoulders slumped as the truth of those words washed over him. He swiped angrily at the tears in his eyes, cursing himself for even showing emotion. They proved that he was weak, vulnerable, and he wanted to be neither.

His friend’s voice came from behind him. “Are you all right, mate?”

Edward blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall. “Yes,” he growled out, turning back to face his friend. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“No reason,” Martin replied. “You just seemed deep in thought.”

Edward returned to his desk and picked up his glass. “I was just thinking about my estate,” he hedged as he stepped over to the drink cart.

“I see,” Martin responded in a tone that implied he didn’t believe him.

“Would you care for a drink?” Edward asked as he picked up the decanter.

“I would.” Martin sat down in a nearby upholstered armchair. “Do you want to tell me the real reason you’re upset?”

“Why would you think I’m upset?” Edward asked, filling up the glasses.

Martin lifted his brow. “Do not insult me. I have known you for a long time, and we shared a room while we were at Oxford.”

Edward put down the decanter and placed the stopper back on top. “My apologies, but I just keep dwelling on what Miss Blackmore told me yesterday.”

“Which is?”

“She truly believes that everyone can find joy in the mundane aspects of their lives.” He huffed, loudly. “Isn’t that just a bunch of fantastical nonsense?”

Martin paused, then said, “I am inclined to agree with her.”

“Impossible!” Edward exclaimed as he picked up the two glasses. “How can you even say that?”

“I am happy with my life,” Martin remarked. “Aren’t you?”

Edward extended a glass to him before sitting across from his friend. “Of course you are happy,”