Page 7 of How to Tempt an Earl

Ian waited for his mother to return to the settee, then took a seat in a chair across from her. He was aware of her cool sweeping gaze, and he became conscious of his attire. He knew he appeared far from respectable with a smudge of dirt on his sleeve and his dusty boots. Christ, he wasn’t even wearing a cravat or coat and certainly wasn’t fit to receive a countess. If he’d known his mother would be waiting for him, he would have changed before coming home. “I had business to attend at the club.”

“Yes, about the club. When will you give it up?”

He sighed. “Why would I do that?”

“I believed after your brother’s…your brother’s…”

Matthew’s death.

Ian’s stomach tightened like a fist. It had been two months since the tragic riding accident, and his mother still struggled to say the words. He hated female hysterics, and he spoke before tears welled in her eyes. “I have no plans to give up the club.”

She looked at him incredulously. “But surely you must know that you have to take your place as the new earl and return to polite Society.”

Not bloody likely. He hadn’t been part of Society for a decade. He wasn’t the firstborn son. He was never supposed to be the heir.

“Your father would have wanted you to take your brother’s place,” she said.

Ian nearly laughed out loud at that. The Earl of Castleton would roll over in his grave if he knew Ian was the earl. His father had never approved of anything Ian did and had made his dislike of his younger son well known.

His mother must have sensed any mention of Ian’s father wouldn’t be persuasive. “You used to attend balls, parties…the opera. It will be just as it was.”

“That was long, long ago.”

Years ago, Ian had resided in his father’s house and had exuberantly enjoyed life as a younger son and bachelor with the allowance provided for him. But the money had come with the earl’s demands, disturbing demands Ian was not willing to obey—a marriage match with the daughter of a marquess who shared a country estate with Castleton. Lady Madeline had been pretty, but it was clear she was born simpleminded. It would have been like marrying a ten-year-old child in a woman’s body.

Ian had been horrified at the prospect, but Castleton hadn’t cared about Ian’s happiness—all that mattered was Lady Madeline’s sizeable dowry.

Ian had taken the only course he could. He’d left and had sworn never to ask his father for a shilling. He’d made a different life for himself. A very successful life, and he had more money than he could spend in a lifetime.

More money than in the earldom’s ample coffers.

“You must be reasonable,” she said. “What of Ellie and Olivia?”

Ian’s brow furrowed at the mention of his younger sisters. “How are they faring?”

“They are grieving the loss of their brother. They need guidance, and most importantly, entry into Society.”

“They have you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she retorted. “As the new earl, your behavior directly impacts them.”

He hesitated. This was an argument he couldn’t ignore. He cared for his sisters. Ellie was headstrong and intelligent. Oliva was quieter but no less determined when she wanted something.

“My behavior matters naught. I’m no longer accepted in Society.”

“That could change. It must change. Your duties extend to the earldom and your sisters. They’ll be turning eighteen and sixteen. Ellie is already talking about debut gowns and being presented at court.”

He felt as if the air in the room had become stiflingly warm and an invisible noose was slowly tightening around his neck. He didn’t want to think about his sisters growing up so quickly. His memories were of attending tea parties with their dolls and playing hoops together on the front lawn of their country estate. The notion of dress shopping, court presentations, and—heaven help him—prospective suitors made him ill.

But he also owed them. If it wasn’t for him, their brother would still be alive.

Do not think of it now.

If he had refused Matthew’s request to race his new horse that day, his brother would still be here and his sisters’ future would be secure.

“Well?” his mother said. “You must know that their future depends on you. We wouldn’t want it said that their brother and the new Earl of Castleton runs a gambling hall, now would we?”

“I’m not able to socialize with the ton. I’m not a gentleman.”