An Earl by Any Other Name(3)

Blood roared through his ears as he struggled to dislodge the bit of sandwich from his throat. Damn cucumber … can't get it out … He coughed violently and was finally able to get a bit of breath back in his lungs.

"Breathe, my dear, breathe," she intoned gently as though instructing a child of four, not her grown son of thirty-two. He adored his mother, but she had the uncanny ability of rankling him when he least needed to be rankled.

He reached forward and snatched his water goblet, hastily gulping the liquid. A cold nose nudged his other hand and he glanced down, seeing Ladybird, his chocolate-colored English cocker spaniel, lean against his knee. She whined softly when their eyes met. At least there was one sympathetic female in this house that wasn't determined to do him in.

"Mother," Leo finally got out. "What on earth are you talking about?" Could a man not enjoy a simple meal in peace? His eyes flicked heavenward as he prayed for patience. He supposed he should count himself lucky.

Before his father had died, he, Owen, and Jack had been constantly treading the line between propriety and scandal. He had caused more than one lady's father to eye him askance during a house party or a ball. Leo openly admitted he loved pleasure and the challenge of wooing a woman into his bed. But those days were gone. He was supposed to be keeping out of trouble to restore the family name. The last thing he needed was his mother getting into more trouble than usual.

The dowager countess perched regally, and one hand brushed a few loose hairs back into her elaborate coiffure. The light threading of silver amidst the gold was the only hint of her middling years having just passed. Considering how unhappy her marriage had been to his father, it was impressive that she still looked so well. It never ceased to upset him to think his father had spent nights in the arms of another when he had a beautiful wife at home. But then again, his father had been quite a fool.

"We are finally out of our year of mourning, and I wish to enjoy life." Her words were wistful in a way that made his chest tight. Her eyes narrowed as she continued. "I wasn't allowed to do so while the old tyrant still lived." The biting edge to her tone made him wince.

He had known his parents suffered through a loveless marriage, but her frankness about it was a little unsettling. One was not supposed to talk of such things so openly, but his mother had always been open. She was wild where his father had been cold and calm. He'd taken after her in that regard, and she'd never once challenged him on his rakish ways or his tendency to break the hearts of young ladies. But that was because he was a man; a lady had a higher duty to herself and to society to avoid scandal. If his mother was talking of living recklessly, he did not want to know the details. Leo dreaded whatever scheme she was planning now that she could enter society again without violating the strict dictates of her mourning period.

"Well?" She lifted a teacup to her lips, sipping it patiently.

"Well what?" He drank his water and studied her over the rim of the crystal glass. Since his father had died, he'd grown closer to his mother and he'd learned to read her. Right now, she was waiting for him to make the first move in this game she was playing.

For the last few months she'd been working tirelessly to get him away from Hampton House and to return to London. He knew he should be suspicious of her schemes but he wasn't going to fall back into old habits, no matter how tempting it would be to call upon his friends, spend nights at his club, live the life of a wild bachelor as he'd done well enough before his father died. Things were different now.


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I cannot be that man anymore, the carefree fool who didn't know his life was on the brink of collapse.

His father's passing had left a hefty amount of death taxes that could bankrupt Hampton, and it was Leo's duty to find a way out from under that crushing weight. After the last three days in London and his continued failures to find a source of additional income, he was afraid for the future of his family. His estate wasn't the only one in danger of being broken by debts.

Only last week he'd visited the neighboring property to the west and learned that the Ashfords were selling their house because Lord Ashford's death had left them deeply in debt. An auctioneer had been examining family portraits and the collection of china and silver while Lady Ashford wept quietly in the corner of the drawing room, her two children sitting beside her, faces drawn tight with grief. It was a bloody bleak affair and Leo would not let that happen to Hampton. Even if it meant sacrificing his own happiness, he would see the estate remain intact.