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his life, and look how well that had turned out.
    Why, then, had it happened again?
    Perhaps the feeling would pass. His passion for Miss Merton was merely the novelty of meeting someone new, out of his purview, and of course because of her undoubted beauty.
    Of course it was. It could hardly be anything else, could it?
    * * * *
    Julius walked to the manor a day after he had visited Miss Merton at home.
    He strolled around the back of the pleasant building, where he found two people sitting on the terrace, enjoying the summer sun. At his approach, Alex leaped to his feet. Connie lifted her chin and smiled. She was dressed in a light silk gown, very informal, and Alex was in his shirtsleeves.
    “You have turned delightfully rustic in your bucolic wilderness,” Julius drawled, tipping his hat back.
    “And you have turned positively dowdy,” Alex said, but his statement didn’t stop him striding down the shallow steps to give Julius his hands and then drag him into his arms for a back-slapping embrace.
    Few people saw the bright, genuine smile Julius turned on him when they parted. He reserved it for his dearest friends. “I am truly happy for you,” he said, and meant every word. Seeing his cousin so content in his marriage was worth every effort Julius had made to ensure that it happened.
    Alex’s perpetual expression of cynical endurance had completely gone. Julius had largely left him alone to make what he would of his marriage, and he had made much. He glanced at the woman still sitting in an easy chair on the terrace. Connie had always been beautiful. Now, in the wake of giving birth, an event she had despaired of ever happening, she was radiant.
    When Connie made to get to her feet, Julius waved his hand and hurried up the stairs to ensure she did not. He embraced her warmly, but as a friend now. Connie had lived with Helena and him for a while, and Julius always stood her friend. At one point, he had considered asking her to become his wife, but Alex had stepped up to the mark. Alex loved her, while Julius was merely fond of her, but that had been a positive asset in his opinion. He wanted no more ungovernable passion in his life.
    “You look wonderful, Connie. I sneaked to the back of the house because you are so well-guarded they might not have let me in.”
    Connie spluttered with laughter. “You know they would never refuse you, Julius. Do you like the house?”
    “It’s utterly delightful.” He kept his attention on her. “So are you.”
    “Are you flirting with my wife?” Alex had mounted the stairs and stood behind him. In different circumstances, he could appear threatening, but Julius knew better.
    “Absolutely.” Julius straightened and turned around, still smiling. “Congratulations to you both. Are you planning to stay here awhile?”
    Connie had had a hard time of her pregnancy, and childbirth had not been easy, either. That was why Alex had moved here, for the privacy they could claim, to give Connie a chance to rest.
    “Until forever, if we can manage it.” Alex raised a dark brow and sighed theatrically. “I fear that will not happen, though. After Connie is churched, we have to steel ourselves to receive guests. My father is waiting to meet his grandson. He stayed away because I asked him to.”
    “Your brothers?”
    “Tiberius and Ivan are with my father. Unlike you, they are waiting for an invitation.”
    “I understood I was invited,” he said.
    “You were,” Connie assured him quickly. “Any time we said, and we meant it. But you were due to arrive after the baby was born. Our son decided to wait until the last minute before making an appearance.”
    “Do I get to see the little princeling?” This child would surely be treated like a prince. His parents evidently were already in love with him. Julius remembered that feeling, the overwhelming, helpless love when seeing one’s child for the first time. Caroline’s birth had provided a moment of blinding revelation for