An Earl by Any Other Name(4)

His mother cleared her throat when he failed to respond. "Let's hear your objections. I know you wish to stop me and will insist we both live frugally and quietly."

Those very words had been on the tip of his tongue. He was a man of business and was keeping the Hampton estate alive based on such notions. Still … he preferred not to face his mother's obvious scorn over the valuable life lesson his father's passing had taught him. To care for a vast estate, a man could not simply gallivant about and live like a veritable rogue as he had when he'd been younger. It was even more important that he work to clear the Hampton name in society or they would be in dire straits before long. His father's mistress and the unsavory way he'd passed in her bed had set tongues wagging and doors slamming in his face so hard that Leo was afraid he might never be viewed reputably.

His days of wildness were behind him. He had his duty to his lands and to his family. They could not let this house be sold or their lives destroyed by losing a home that had been his family's for three hundred years.

"What"-he paused, hoping his concern didn't show-"exactly do you intend to do by indulging in scandalous behavior?" It was entirely possible that his mother's idea of scandal was far tamer than his. They were called the gentler sex for a reason.

"I am going into the village to attend a little political meeting. I've arranged to meet some ladies who share my views and-"

"Good God! You aren't talking about that women's suffrage nonsense, are you?" Leo set his napkin on the table and scowled imperiously at his mother.

Mina's brows arched and her spine stiffened. "I most certainly am. I am quite moved by their cause. Did you know we once had the right to vote? Back in the days of feudal society?" 

Leo groaned and nearly smacked his palm into his forehead in frustration. God's teeth, this was not a matter he wished to be dealing with.

"Mother, you cannot go to any such meeting, and I don't give a bloody damn if women were voting back in the days of mud and squalor. That was the damned middle ages for Christ's sake. People were dropping dead of plague and nothing in life was certain. Now things are safe; there's no need for women to have a vote. The men of this country are quite capable of deciding matters of state for you."

The stark look of pain and rage in his mother's eyes was startling. He hadn't expected to see her react so … openly to his words.

"How can you say that … to me? After the way your father made us live, you would continue to deprive me of a voice?"

Leo rubbed his temples. "No, that's not what I meant, Mother. Please, try to understand. I have much to do and I cannot be worrying about you. People in London are talking … " He didn't want to continue but he had to make her understand that her actions could make matters worse.

"Talking? About what?" she asked quietly. Her blue eyes were dark and shadowed now.

"Father, about him and that woman. I couldn't get in to see half the gentlemen I used to before."

His mother seemed to understand now, her blue eyes wide with worry. "It's the money, isn't it? You're worried and we've lost so much face because of … him."

His throat tightened painfully and he nodded. He had let her down, had failed to do what he needed to in London, and it was destroying him to see her realize that.

She leaned over and placed one hand on top of his on the table, squeezing it. "Then I shan't go to the meeting. I would like a house party instead. Surely we can afford that?" she asked, hope brimming in her tone.

He smiled a little. "Yes, we can certainly afford a house party, Mother."

She brightened again, the worries chased quickly away. "Excellent! I wish to have it next weekend. Guests will arrive here on Friday and stay through Monday. I'm planning to invite all sorts of people, including Mr. Leighton. He owns the London News Weekly, which has all of those sensational articles regarding social and political intrigue. He has a lovely daughter-"

Ahh, therein lies her true goal. Not scandal, but marriage. He almost wondered if her plans to join the ranks of the suffragettes was merely to rile him up. No doubt she assumed he would agree to a house party instead because it was much less scandalous … and it would give her a chance to throw eligible ladies at his feet.

Leo's lips twitched. She was clever, his mother, but not clever enough to fool him into putting himself up for sale on the marriage mart. He waved a hand in the air.

"No. No matchmaking. You know full well that I intend to propose to Mildred Pepperwirth." He had been planning this for the last two months. He'd been to see their neighbors in Pepperwirth Vale and had made his intentions to Viscount Pepperwirth quite clear. Mildred was a good, solid choice for a wife. Beautiful, intelligent, and with a clean established English pedigree that would raise the Hampton title back up in the eyes of society.