A Not So Respectable Gentleman? Read Free Page A

before wrapping his arms around Leo in a brotherly hug. The others swarmed around him. Charlotte burst into tears and wept against his chest. Nicholas and Stephen slapped him on the back. Even the pug raced around his feet and tried to jump up his legs. Only Annalise held back, but that was typical of her. She was observing the scene and would probably make a painting of it and call it The Return of the Prodigal Son.
    Only he had no intention of returning to the well-meaning bosom of his family. He was just passing through, literally waiting for his ship to come in.
    ‘What are you doing here?’ he managed to ask.
    Nicholas clapped his hands. ‘Come. Let us all sit and we will tell you.’
    One of the chairs was set just a little inside the circle. That was the one they left for him.
    Nicholas leaned forwards. ‘We are here out of concern for you.’
    Of course they were. ‘Concern?’ They intended to fix things for him. Take care of him as they’d always done.
    ‘We are so afraid for you, Leo!’ Ever the dramatist, Charlotte punctuated this with a sob. ‘What will become of you?’ Her dog jumped onto her lap and licked her face.
    This was all nonsense. ‘What the devil are you talking about?’
    Nicholas spoke. ‘You are spending your time drinking, womanising and gambling.’
    He certainly looked the part this morning.
    ‘It won’t do,’ Nicholas went on. ‘It is time you found some direction in your life.’
    ‘Some useful occupation,’ Stephen explained.
    ‘Before it is too late,’ Charlotte added.
    It appeared that rumours of his rakish living had preceded him. To be sure, he often stayed up all night playing cards, but he womanised hardly at all and actually drank very little.
    Except for this morning.
    They could not know of his more clandestine dealings, one that nearly got him killed, and others that skirted the law and earned him a great deal of wealth.
    Leo started to rise from his seat. ‘I assure you, I am well able to handle myself.’
    Brenner, who was seated next to him, put a hand on his shoulder and silently implored him to stay in the chair.
    He sat back down. ‘Do not trouble yourselves about me.’
    ‘But we do,’ whispered Annalise. ‘I mean, we must trouble ourselves.’
    Brenner took on a tone of reasonableness. ‘We understood your need to get away, to travel. It was good for you to see something of the world, but now—’
    ‘Now you are just drinking and gaming,’ Justine broke in. ‘You avoid the family. You avoid healthy pursuits.’
    How easily they believed the worst of him. And how readily they assumed it was their job to fix him.
    ‘You cannot know my pursuits.’ He gritted his teeth.
    ‘Oh, yes, we can.’ Nicholas levelled his gaze at him. ‘We have ways of finding out everything.’
    Not everything, Leo thought. They obviously knew nothing about his investments. He’d wager a pony that they had never heard of what he and Walker had been through. And they’d never known the real reason he had fled England, why he still had no use for London society.
    One after the other they begged him to change his life, to abandon his pursuit of pleasure. They implored him to care about something again, to invest his hopes and dreams in something.
    He ought to tell them, but the shipment of goods he was expecting was not precisely done to the letter of the law. Not that it would hurt anyone.
    ‘The thing is...’ Nicholas glanced towards Brenner, who nodded approval. ‘We have a surprise for you.’
    Stephen moved to the edge of his seat. ‘We’ve rebuilt the stable at Welbourne Manor! And the outbuildings. Bigger and better than before. It is all ready for you. Complete with a fine breeding pair from my stables, already in residence at the Manor. Say the word—today, if you like—and I’ll take you to Tattersall’s to buy more horses. If you need money—’
    Leo felt the blood rush to his face. ‘No.’
    Charlotte piped up. ‘Nothing has changed at Welbourne