But Daniel had thanked him. He had thanked him for finding him in Italy, and then he had thanked him for calling off his father’s witch hunt, and then finally, he had thanked him for his friendship.

There was nothing, Hugh thought, that he would not do for this man.

“What would you do in London, anyway?” Daniel asked, motioning for Hugh to follow him down the drive. “Sit about and do sums in your head?”

Hugh gave him a look.

“I tease because I admire.”

“Really.”

“It’s a brilliant skill,” Daniel insisted.

“Even if it did get you shot and run out of the country?” Hugh asked. It was true what he’d said to Lady Sarah—sometimes gallows humor was the only choice.

Daniel stopped in his tracks, and his expression turned somber.

“You do realize,” Hugh said, “that my aptitude with numbers is precisely the reason I have always excelled at cards.”

Daniel’s eyes seemed to darken, and when he blinked, his face took on an air of quiet resignation. “It’s done, Prentice,” he said. “It’s over, and our lives are restored.”

Yours is, Hugh thought, then loathed himself for thinking it.

“We were both idiots,” Daniel said quietly.

“We may have both been idiots,” Hugh replied, “but only one of us called for the duel.”

“I did not have to accept.”

“Of course you did. You wouldn’t have been able to show your face if you had not.” It was a stupid code of honor among the young gentlemen of London, but it was sacrosanct. If a man was accused of cheating at cards, he had to defend himself.

Daniel placed his hand on Hugh’s shoulder. “I have forgiven you, and you, I think, have forgiven me.”

Hugh had not, in fact, but that was only because there was nothing to forgive.

“What I wonder,” Daniel continued softly, “is if you have forgiven yourself.”

Hugh did not reply, and Daniel did not press him to. Instead, his voice returned to its previous jovial tones, and he declared, “Let us go to Whipple Hill. We shall eat, some of us shall drink, and we shall all be merry.”

Hugh gave a brief nod. Daniel no longer drank spirits. He said he had not touched them since that fateful night. Hugh sometimes thought he should follow his example, but there were evenings when he needed something to take the teeth out of the pain.

“Besides,” Daniel said, “you have to be there early, anyway. I’ve decided you must join the wedding party.”

That stopped Hugh cold. “I beg your pardon?”

“Marcus shall be my best man, of course, but I think I need a few more gentlemen to stand up for me. Anne has a veritable flotilla of ladies.”