If Lord Arleigh had been her own brother, their relationship could not have been of a more blameless kind; even the censorious world of fashion, so quick to detect a scandal, so merciless in its enjoyment of one, never presumed to cast an aspersion on this friendship.

There was something so frank, so open about it, that blame was an impossibility.

If the duke was busy or engaged when his wife wanted to ride or drive, he asked her cousin Lord Arleigh to take his place, as he would have asked his own brother.

If the duke could not attend opera or ball, Lord Arleigh was at hand.

He often said it was a matter of perplexity to him which was his own home--whether he liked Beechgrove, Verdun Royal or Vere Court best.
"No one was ever so happy, so blessed with true friends as I am," he would say; at which speech the young duchess would smile that strange fathomless smile so few understood.
If they went to Vere Court, Lord Arleigh was generally asked to go with them; the Duke really liked him--a great deal for his own sake, more still for the sake of his wife.