“He will,” Mrs. Cox said grimly as she went back to kneading her dough. “Or he’ll have to answer to me.”
When Julian arrived home, he went straight into Simon’s office, where his secretary was busy with the accounts.
“Good afternoon, sir. You’ve received an invitation to a ball.”
“And…?”
“It’s a charity ball for the Cartwrights and Mrs. Mountjoy.” Simon looked at him. “Were you aware that such an event was in the offing?”
“Who is the invitation from?”
“The Duchess of Grantleigh and her committee, which includes the ladies Carenza and Allegra Musgrove and Mrs. Sheraton.”
“Then accept it,” Julian said. “Do you know which club Calloway’s father belongs to?”
“I believe it’s the same as yours, sir,” Simon said. “I also have his home address if that helps.”
“We’ll try both.” Julian turned on his heel. “Come along. I’d like a witness to my conversation with the earl about his son’s blackmailing attempts.”
“Blackmailing?”
Julian barely heard Simon’s reply as he strode toward the front door. His secretary came after him as he climbed into his carriage and paused only to give the coachman directions before he got in and sat across from his employer.
“Would you care to tell me what’s going on, sir?”
“Oh, you’ll find out soon enough. I have no intention of concealing any of the younger Calloway’s indiscretions from his father.” Julian tapped on the roof with his cane, and the carriage moved off. “In truth, I’m quite looking forward to it.”
CHAPTER20
The next day Julian contemplated the many portraits of his ancestors on the drawing room walls while waiting for his mother to appear. He rarely saw any likeness to himself, because he’d inherited his looks from his mother. Was that why she disliked him? Did she hate the comparison, or simply think he couldn’t be a true Laurent if he didn’t look like one?
He checked the clock on the mantelpiece. She’d requested his appearance at noon, and it was almost half past the hour. If she didn’t grace him with her presence in the next few minutes, he’d make his excuses and leave. He owed Mr. Cox a last visit to tell him not to worry about Jeremy Calloway anymore. Jeremy’s father had been furious to find out what his son was up to and had promised to put a stop to it immediately. Julian had complete faith that he’d rein in his son—which would put an end to the speculation about the advertisement.
He didn’t greatly care about Walcott’s attempts to smear his reputation, but saving Carenza and Mrs. Sheraton from social ruin was an imperative. The door opened, and his mother swept in, followed by his brother. To Julian’s surprise, they appeared to be having a ferocious argument, which was unheard of.
“Julian.” Aragon finally acknowledged him.
“Brother.” Julian bowed and then turned to their mother, one eyebrow raised. “Ma’am.”
“You must stop him,” his mother said. “Carenza Musgrove was bad enough, but this new woman, who runs a … haven for thieves, is beyond the pale.”
Aragon looked at Julian over his mother’s head. “We received an invitation for a charity ball this morning hosted by the Duchess of Grantleigh. I mentioned that I’d visited the Cartwrights and found them excellent and worthy people.”
“Ah, I see.” Julian nodded.
“Yet again, you have deliberately introduced my son to an unsuitable woman,” his mother said. “One might begin to think that your motives in doing so are Machiavellian!”
“You suspect I’m angling for the earldom?” Julian blinked at her. “Why on earth would I do that, when I am very comfortably situated on my own?”
“Please don’t crow about your ill-gotten wealth, Julian. It is extremely vulgar.”
“I’m hardly—”
Aragon spoke over him. “Please stop this, Mother. I’ve already told you that none of this has anything to do with Julian.”
“You don’t know what he’s like, Aragon.” The countess turned to her oldest son. “He’s always been difficult, he’s never tried to fit in with our family, and—”
Aragon held up one finger. “I said stop. Can you hear yourself? Julian has always been the best of brothers.Yourdislike of him is the issue at hand, Mother. Not his of you or me.”
