Page 6 of Enticed By an Earl
“Are you returning home from an interesting night out?” he asked instead.
If anything Castleton’s face flushed darker. “I was merely dining with a friend, Lady Everly,” he said.
Dev’s first instinct was to assume Castleton had been atsome sort of assignation. But then he recalled the Countess of Everly. The woman was seventy if she was a day. Which begged the question of why a young earl would be dining with an elderly lady.
“Was it a party or just the two of you?” he asked, despite the impertinence of the question.
“Just the two of us for supper, though my dear friends, Lady Georgiana Fulham and Lady Alice Halisham had joined us for tea. Lady Everly was my grandmother’s close friend,” Castleton explained.
Dev tilted his head slightly to the side as he attempted to paint a picture of the evening. It was highly unusual for a single young earl to take tea and dine with ladies of the sort Castleton had mentioned. Not unheard of, but certainly not what Dev would have expected.
“If you must know,” Castleton continued, “your name was mentioned as part of the conversation.”
“My name?” Dev stiffened in surprise, dreading what they’d been saying about him. Thetonwas not kind when it came to gossiping about rakish third sons of marquesses who were indiscreet about their many assignations.
“Yes. It was understood that your mother is hosting a ball during the week of the coronation,” Castleton said.
Dev laughed, relieved that had been all the conversation was about. “Yes, she is. Mother fancies herself a maker of society these days. She also has it in her head that a ball will be the perfect way to throw a variety of women at me.”
“Oh, I see,” Castleton said. If Dev did not know better, he would have said the man was disappointed somehow.
“Have you received an invitation?” he asked.
Castleton glanced to him, though it was becoming harder to make out the man’s sweet face clearly as night set in. “To be honest, I am not certain. My mother receives all invitations to balls for our household. I used to take a great interestin those invitations and in assisting my sisters in selecting their gowns for the events, but my father put a stop to that.”
“He did?” Dev was quickly gaining a greater understanding of who, or rather what, Castleton was.
“Yes.” Castleton looked straight forward as if staring into the abyss. “He deemed such behavior to be unmanly. He has since set about attempting to make me into more of a man by dragging me to the boxing ring, dog and horse races, and sporting matches of all descriptions.”
Dev made a grave sound and nodded.
He thought that would be the end of it, but Castleton was suddenly like a kettle that had been left on to boil for too long.
“I am a terrible shot,” he blurted, something akin to anger or frustration powering his words. “I have no stomach for the kill. I do not particularly care for horses or riding either. I have no skill with a sword, and I am uninterested in the topics of conversation that most men of my age and class delight in. I did not stand out at Eton or Cambridge, I was bullied and—” His word stopped suddenly and he swallowed, as if remembering terrible things.
Or perhaps merely things that gave him pause. Dev had attended Oxford, not Cambridge, but he knew the sort of things young men got up to when they were in such an environment. He’d kissed his first man, and buggered more than a few, during his university days. A sweet, soft man like Castleton would have had all the attention he could desire on that score at university, even at Eton, whether he’d been willing or not.
“I would rather take tea with Lady Everly and my friends,” Castleton finished quietly, looking down at his feet as they made the final approach to a large house that Dev was reasonably certain belonged to the Duke of Bedminster. “I would rather discuss the latest fashions from Paris orwhich country houses have the best gardens or greenhouses than drink, smoke, and gamble at a club.”
Dev’s heart went out to the young man. In the course of their short walk, he’d learned a great deal about the Earl of Castleton. He was lovely and kind, more intelligent than he was letting on, and he was most decidedly a Uranian. One of the softer variety, the sort Dev liked very much, at that. To be all those things and trapped in the role of heir to a dukedom must have been a trial indeed for the man.
“This is your patch?” Dev asked, making light of their arrival in front of Bedminster House.
Castleton glanced mournfully up at the front door, then to Dev. “Yes, it is.”
The sadness and wariness that rolled off Castleton was heartbreaking. The man was not happy, not even in his own home. In fact, Dev was reasonably certain home might be the place Castleton felt the least safe. He’d heard enough stories from his playmates at university and beyond to know how treacherous a man’s own home was when he had different tastes. His heart went out to Castleton.
Still pretending that they were simply two blokes who had met on the street and enjoyed the walk home, Dev turned to Castleton with a quick bow. “Any time you need my services as a walking companion, particularly at night, you need but ask,” he said, speaking as though it were a jest but meaning it from the bottom of his heart. “And any time you would like to call upon me at Russell House, I would be most happy to receive you.”
Castleton’s brow shot up. “Truly? You would truly wish to make my acquaintance?”
“Of course,” Dev said with a shrug. “Our walk just now has been delightful. I only wish it could have lasted longer.” He paused, then added, “I feel as though you are in need of someone to talk to, someone who might understand a bitmore about the things that trouble you than you might think.”
It was as specific as he dared to be without proof of his suspicions. If Castleton had been anyone else, he might have invited him over for a night of buggering, but sense, and something deeper in his chest, told him Castleton was far too gentle for such things. Not that they both wouldn’t enjoy them.
“I thank you,” Castleton said, managing a weak smile. “I am most grateful for the offer.”
“And I am happy to make it,” Dev said.
