Kate Noble by Compromised Read Free Book Online Page B

behind the large walnut table that served as a desk, which was normally covered six inches deep in various books, papers, and correspondence. Harris had obviously made quick work of cleaning it off before admitting the Earl, for it now shone with a polished brilliance. Max suddenly felt very much like a guest in his own home, and wondered where the study that he claimed as a refuge had gone.
    “’Bout time you came back. I haven’t the faintest idea what you think you’re doing riding at such an hour. You haven’t even changed your boots! Look at all the mud you are traipsing in, quite unseemly,” said the Earl, not even bothering to rise.
    Rising would have undone the image, thought Max, as he regarded his father. Oh yes, if he had risen to meet his son, it would have shown some consideration for Max as a beloved relative or at least as the master of this residence. Also, it would not do for a man who is supposed to be near his deathbed to stand upon someone’s entry. That act of social nicety is reserved for the healthy.
    Not that Max believed for a minute that his father was near death’s door—that ruse no longer worked on him. But now, seeing him for the first time in years, Max did have to admit that his father was looking older. The hair that was once a thick, distinguished gray was now limp, white, and thinning. His color was pale, and the normally strong frame seemed to hunch under its age. Max took note of a gold-headed cane in the corner, one he could tell was not purely ornamental.
    But the eyes—the green eyes that mirrored his own, were as sharp and as cold as ever.
    “Forgive me, Father,” Max said stiffly. “I was surprised—I should not have wanted to keep you waiting.”
    “’Course you didn’t,” his father retorted. “I heard you through the door. You came in to ‘get it over with’ as quickly as possible.”
    Max’s face reddened dully.
    “I wouldn’t have heard you if you were living somewhere with thicker walls,” his father said.
    “Somewhere like Longsbowe House, I suppose?” Sarcasm dripped from every word.
    “Longsbowe House in London is there for the purpose of it being used. Why you insist on wasting your money on this unfamiliar place is beyond me!”
    “It’s my money, Father, I’ll spend it as I choose. Tell me, what brings you to London when you have claimed to be too ill to remove yourself from Sussex? When you haven’t been to town in over fifteen years?”
    His father stared him down, placing his palms upon the desk. “Serious business brings me to this godforsaken town,” the Earl said. “Since you don’t respond to my letters, I felt it necessary to come and say what I have to in person.”
    Max suddenly felt very tired. “I’m no longer in short pants, Father. I have done nothing that requires a scolding.”
    The Earl brushed that aside. “It is precisely what you have not done that causes me to travel all over the country to speak with you.”
    The Earl lifted himself out of the chair, but leaned on the desk for support. He motioned to Max to have a seat. Max obediently took one of the chairs across from the desk, ready, if not precisely willing, to hear the Earl out.
    But his father’s first words surprised him.
    “You don’t like me. I know that. I confess I do not understand most of what you do either. You refuse to live as a Longsbowe, instead spending your time and life in this”—he waved his hand around—“place. You went to Oxford and the Continent, have been raised as a gentleman, and even though you insist on working for a wage, I daresay you enjoy your gentlemanly pursuits. But you have yet to take any responsibility for your station. You have not come back to Longsbowe Park and taken up the running of the estates. You have not pursued any woman of Quality who would make a suitable Countess for our distinguished name. Well, I have known for quite some time you were useless, but I refuse to have a wastrel for a son.”
    Max looked