Page 7 of The Theory of Earls (The Beautiful Barringtons 1)

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“It’s much too early for you to be here.”

Anthony Marcus Barrington, Earl of Welles ignored the grouchy tone in his brother’s voice.

“It’s after twelve; I was leaving another meeting and thought I’d stop by.” His ‘meeting’ had been leaving the bed of his latest mistress, a Parisian ballet dancer who had wept rivers of tears as he’d tried to disengage himself from her naked form to leave the bed. Claudette had become needier in the last few months and finding out about her affair with one of her fellow ballet dancers had given Tony the perfect excuse to end their association.

A snort of disbelief came from the man who approached him with a crystal decanter and two glasses. Leo looked well-rested despite his objection to the hour. His brother rarely slept more than five or six hours and never sought his own bed until just before dawn. “Your mistress, I suppose? The French girl. Did you finally end it?”

“Yes.” Tony pulled off his gloves and laid them on the table. “Bring that over here.” He waved at the decanter. “No more pretending to enjoy pretentious French wine for me.”

“You don’t mind if I call on Claudette then, do you?” Leo smiled, showing a row of even, white teeth.

“No, she probably wouldn’t know the difference.”

Tony’s resemblance to his brother was rather uncanny, considering the two weren’t twins. Leo was an inch shorter and slightly broader through the chest than Tony, but the eyes were the same, as was the rich brown of their hair. He and his bastard half-brother looked so much alike most people mistook one for the other, especially at a distance.

Tony took the proffered glass, inhaling the contents with a smile. “Well-aged scotch.”

“I don’treallymean to call on Claudette,” Leo stated. “She’s delicious, but I believe we share enough.”

That was certainly true. “It’s just as well; she’s been tupping one of her fellow dancers.”

“Another ballerina?” Leo sounded hopeful.

“Sadly, no. The leading man.”

“Well, then she definitely has no appeal for me.” Leo settled into the chair next to him and they clinked glasses.

Leo Murphy, not only his brother but also Tony’s closest friend, took a sip of the scotch, shivering as the liquid slid down his throat. “Christ,I wasn’t ready for that.”

He and Leo had spent their childhood together, running through the woods and staging mock battles on the Duke of Averell’s country estate. The duke’s heir and the son of an Irish housemaid had never known they were blood until the death of Tony’s mother. Having had a relationship with Leo’s mother prior to his marriage, the duke decided to keep both his wife and mistress under one roof rather than break things off. Molly eventually became lady’s maid to Tony’s mother.

It was a convenient arrangement for Marcus, the Duke of Averell, until it wasn’t.

“Averell sent me word again. Another letter full of platitudes. Wants to grant me one of his unentailed estates.” Leo’s gaze fell to the fire in the grate. “I wish he’d stop. Give up. I’ve no desire for a relationship with him after everything that happened.”

“The old prick is tenacious, I’ll give him that.” Tony sipped at his drink.

“Fat lot of good it will do him. I didn’t even take the money he offered me so I could start Elysium.”

Instead, Tony had given Leo the funds for a share of the business. He’d already made his investment back many times over and never regretted it. Besides, the heir to a duchy becoming a partner in a notorious pleasure palace had infuriated the duke.

Molly had been devastated by the death of Tony’s mother, Katherine. Despite her lengthy relationship with the duke and the affair, Molly had cared deeply for her mistress. After Katherine’s death, Molly had become incredibly religious and moved herself and Leo to the outskirts of London. She had then met and married a hack driver who had provided her and Leo with a comfortable home, but little else. Leo didn’t have fond memories of his stepfather, a brutish man who had been free with his fists. Thankfully, the marriage hadn’t lasted. Molly’s husband had fallen down the stairs one night, drunk, breaking his neck.

Tony had serious doubts the death had been accidental. Leo blamed the duke for all of it.

Glancing at Leo, Tony took in his brother’s garishly patterned waistcoat with a small frown of distaste. Leo had always favored such clothing; often it was the only way patrons of Elysium could tell them apart. Today’s waistcoat was particularly loud, consisting of a swirling mass of mustard and pale blue silk stitched with gold thread.

“Ifyouwould just capitulate,” Leo continued, “he’d leavemealone. I told him to bugger off. I’ve more than enough money to buy my own bloody estate if I wish to do so. And I don’t. What would I do in the country? Traipse about the gardens? I also don’t need him spouting off to everyone that he’s my father. Other lords don’t acknowledge every extra branch on their tree. Why must Averell do so?”

“I’ve no intention of ever giving him what he wants.” His father wanted Tony to marry and provide an heir for the prestigious Averell dukedom. But Tony was filled with loathing for his father for all the wrongs done to his mother. “I enjoy informing the duke, on the rare occasions we speak,” Tony rolled the glass between his palms, “that I’llneverproduce his bloody heir. It delights me to tell him the legitimate line of the Duke of Averell will die an untimely death, just as my mother did. It is my father’s misfortune the title can’t go to some obscure cousin living across the ocean in New York.”

“Is there really some unknown distant relation of your family moldering about in America?”

“It’syourfamily as well.” Tony waved his hand. “Ourfather’s elder half-sister caused quite a scandal when she married into a prominent New York family. Jilted a marquess to do so. She has sons. An entire army of them. Pity one of my cousins isn’t free to inherit.”

Leo snorted and poured them both another finger of the scotch. They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, both lost in their own thoughts, before Leo said, “The girls and Amanda are in London.”

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