Page 2 of Introducing Mr. Winterbourne

“Simon?” he asked, puzzled. “Why would he need showing around?”

Simon Freeman had become engaged to Lysander’s sister Althea two months before. The earl had been part horrified, part delighted by the match. On the one hand, as the son of a mill owner, Simon Freeman was tainted by commerce and was a humiliatingly low match for Lord Winterbourne’s second daughter—the earldom was four hundred years old after all, and Lysander’s mother’s ancestors had come to England with William the Conqueror. On the other hand, Simon’s family was outrageously wealthy, and the earl needed money desperately. Before Simon had come along, he’d even been considering selling the Abbey.

It wasn’t going to be a one-sided bargain. Simon had political ambitions. Marriage into the Winterbourne clan would considerably smooth his entry to the inner circles of political power.

“No, not Simon.” The earl sighed impatiently. “He hardly needs anyone to show him around—no, I mean his brother,AdamFreeman. He’s come to Town for a few weeks.” The earl grimaced. “Unfortunately, he’s staying on till May for the wedding.”

Lysander blinked, trying to remember what he’d heard about Adam Freeman. He was Simon’s older brother and the head of the Freeman family. It was Adam who held the purse strings, not Simon. Simon might be independently wealthy thanks to a generous settlement in his late father’s will, but Adam was the one who had taken over the running of his father’s businesses and who continued to grow the Freeman empire. And crucially, it was Adam who’d bought out the mortgages over the earl’s estates and cleared his towering pile of debts. The earl had complained bitterly of the unpleasant afternoon he’d recently had to spend with the man, going through them all.

“Insufferable money-grubber,”he’d said.“You should’ve seen how much he enjoyed rubbing my nose in it.”

And now he wanted Lysander to squire the man around?

“Well?” the earl prompted, interrupting Lysander’s tumbling thoughts.

“I thought we were agreed that I could go back to the Abbey for a few months?” Lysander answered carefully. “I was planning on leaving tomorrow. Holmes and I were going to sit down together on Friday to discuss some of the alterations that are needed to the dairy and what can be done about improving the tenants’ cottages—now that we’ve got some funds, I mean.”

Funds from Adam Freeman, that was.

The earl’s lips thinned with displeasure. “Well, that was before Simon asked that you show his brother around. Keeping Freeman happy is rather more important than mending a few cottages, Lysander.” He turned back to the papers on the desk and began to fiddle with them. “Besides, on reflection, I think it best that you—well, step back from estate business.”

For a few long beats, Lysander just stared at his father in silence, his heart beginning to pound, a sick feeling growing in his stomach.

“What do you mean?” he said at last, hating the break he heard in his own voice. The unmistakable edge of disappointment. “Father, I—I don’t understand. I thought we agreed that I would work with Holmes for a few months, start learning how to manage the estate—”

“Yes, well, I’ve been reflecting on that, and I’ve come to the view that I should never have agreed to such a plan,” the earl said. He kept his gaze averted, refusing to meet Lysander’s eyes. “Ultimately, the Abbey’s going to Alexander. He’s the one who needs to learn to look after it.”

“But he’s not interested!”

Alexander was just like their father—he’d squander everything at the tables, and it would all go to rack and ruin if someone else didn’t manage the place—preferably someone with the ability to put their foot down with Alexander from time to time.

“Nevertheless,” the earl bit out, “Alexander is—”

“I don’t want to be incharge, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Lysander interrupted desperately. He put his elbows on the desk and leaned forward, trying to catch his father’s eye, but the earl kept his gaze stubbornly averted. “I don’t mind just managing the estate for Alexander!”

“It’s not that,” the earl snapped. “The point is this: your brother is the heir. He will deal with the estate as he sees fit. Your path in life will be different. I’ve spoken with Henry—”

“I told you I don’t want to join the church!”

“Yes, you said so. Nevertheless, I’ve spoken to Henry and invited him to dine with us next week. I want you to hear him out.” The earl paused, then added flatly, “It’s a respectable, proper career for a younger son.”

“And it’ll improve your marriage prospects, darling,” the countess put in. “I would so like to see you married to a nice young lady.”

Lysander felt like he couldn’t breathe. He tugged at the neck of his cravat. “Mother,” he said. “Please. You know how I feel about this.”

Lady Jemima made a sympathetic pout. “Oh, darling,” she said. “Yes, you alwaysdidlove being outdoors, but there’s no reason you couldn’t ask for a position in some pretty village somewhere! Some of the houses the Church provides are really very sizeable—just the thing for a young married couple. Why, the old vicarage near the Abbey must have five bedchambers at least!”

“That’s not what I meant—” Lysander began, frustrated. So typical of his mother. Thinking of what she wanted for him, rather than what would makehimhappy. As if he wanted to be married!

“I know, dearest,” she said, her tone dripping with sympathy. “You’ve always liked mucking about with horses and mud, haven’t you? Just like when you were a little boy. But you see, you can’t be a boy forever ...”

Mucking about with horses and mud. That was what she thought he meant.

She’d never understand. No more than the earl did. In their minds, the world was fixed. Immutable. As was his place in it.

Distantly, Lysander realised that he’d been expecting this. Waiting for it. He’d known during his conversation with the earl last week that his father wasn’t happy with what they’d agreed.

This had always been coming. He was just as trapped as he’d always been. Dependent on a father who couldn’t stay away from the gaming tables. Fit for nothing but whatever occupation his father might obtain for him by grace and favour.