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An elegant brow arched in an all-too-familiar look of disapproval. “Indeed, as all of London knows after you invited Lord Harrow and his mistress to your picnic.”
Ah. Here it comes. “They are my neighbors, Mother.”
“No, my son. They are not. She is.”
“The invitation was addressed to him, and where he goes, she also attends. I can hardly dictate who he chooses to accompany him.”
“It’s shameful,” she declared, putting her nose in the air. “He flaunts his lover to the whole of London while neglecting his wife.”
“From what I understand, it’s a mutually satisfactory arrangement.”
Her gray eyes, which he’d inherited, grew icy. “According to whom? The woman sleeping with her husband?”
Surely his mother had heard every rumor he himself had, possibly more, but he decided to play the game. “From her lover, actually.” Or, at least the man pretending to be her lover. It was better to be blunt than to allow the conversation to travel any further down this path. “Like your own, his marriage is without passionate sentiment. It was a marriage of convenience.”
A harrumph of discontent erupted from her. “Marquess or not, I don’t like you associating with him. He has a terrible reputation.”
“So do I, or have you forgotten?”
“Not like his.” Worry sparked in her pale eyes. “He is a deviant. They both are. I know you’ve heard talk of their depravity.” Color flooded her cheeks. “Not only does he keep a mistress, but he brings…others…into their, their—must I say it?”
“Their bed?” he offered bluntly, enjoying the discomfort that flashed across her face. “Yes, I’ve heard all of the as-yet-unsubstantiated rumors.” The fib rolled easily off his tongue. He could hardly tell her it was even worse than she imagined. The next lie was just as smoothly delivered. “I’ve observed no such unseemly behavior. In fact, the lady lives far more quietly than even I expected.”
“Then the most recent tale that came out last week was nothing?”
He bared his teeth in a cool smile. “Considering every window I could see was dark that night when the event supposedly took place, I must assume so.” Then, he realized how it might sound. “It was warm, and I was restless. I came out onto the terrace to smoke that night. When I saw the story in the papers, it made me laugh because I knew it to be untrue.”
Her expression grew skeptical. “Perhaps, but the rumors cannot all be fictitious. Regardless, you should distance yourself from such people lest their taint ruin you. Be polite, of course—he is a marquess—but no more than the necessary due deference.”
Anger over being ordered around like a recalcitrant child made his face stiffen. “I choose my friends, mother. And I form my own opinions. I neither require nor want parental advice pertaining to my social life.”
The faint lines bracketing her mouth turned white. “As much as I dislike meddling in your personal affairs, I feel it necessary to warn you about these people. Harrow is bad enough on his own, keeping dubious company and allowing filthy tales to spread without offering so much as the slightest denial or protest. You’ve befriended questionable men before, but none like him. He is a shameless libertine. As for the Haversham woman, I find her particularly worrying. Several of my friends’ daughters have complained of her turning their suitor’s heads, distracting them. Duels have been fought over her, as well. She is nothing but trouble.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You’ve never before complained about any of the people with whom I’ve associated. Why now?”
“You were young and brash then. You’re older now, and I thought you were moving toward wisdom when you settled in this house and expressed interest in your father’s seat at Parliament. That you were ready to take the next step as a responsible gentleman and the future Earl of Markham. Now I know the truth, that you took this address because of her.”
It took him a moment to tamp down his fury so he could speak with relative calm. “I was unaware she lived there when I won this place—and yes, Mother, I won the deed to this property in a wager.” He knew how much she despised his gambling, and to tell her he’d won the address about which she’d doubtless bragged to all of her friends was guaranteed to provoke her ire. He didn’t care.
Indeed, her face paled on hearing it. But she wasn’t ready to give up the fight yet. “If you persist in this foolish association, I cannot vouch for your father’s reaction.”
A laugh slipped out of him. “What will he do? Send me out of the country again? I think not. Father stopped having control over me the day I amassed my own fortune, and he bloody well knows it.”
“He may have allowed you to run wild in your youth, but I anticipate that will soon change. Wealthy or not, you are his heir, and you will be expected to behave like it.”
“Or what?” He let out a soft snort. “I will continue to conduct my personal life as I please, and thank you to keep your nose out of it. Whom I choose to befriend is my business.”
Her lips thinned. “Well, I sincerely hope your friends don’t make it impossible for you to marry appropriately.”
Again, he laughed a little. “If by marrying appropriately you mean taking the bride of your choice, I’ll pass. I’d rather marry someone I’ve come to know on my own.”
Now it was her turn to snort. “If your recent judgment of character places you among such infamous personages as Lord Harrow and that shameless harlot, then—”
“Careful, Mother.” His earlier amusement vanished. Lady Diana was no angel, but she was someone he liked, and he didn’t care to hear her so disparaged, even if the label was technically true. “These are my friends you speak of.”
She blanched at his chilly manner, but her gaze remained steady. “You know how she came to be his mistress, yes?”
“I’ve heard.”
