The Debutante of Drury Lane: Regency Romance Act II by Annabelle Anders

Author:Annabelle Anders
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: In For a Penny Publishing, LLC

Family Duties

“Your father has been expecting you, My Lord.” Mr. Tanner, the butler at Ashwood Manor, bowed. “He is in his study.”

Carter inhaled, bracing himself. As much as he dreaded meetings with the man who sired him, the prospect had almost been enough to keep his mind off his Elle Sparrow.

There was something about her that all but shredded his self-control, making her nearly impossible to resist. She was unlike any woman he’d ever known—humble but proud, creative but practical, and sexy as hell while looking as innocent as a lamb.

Carter stood outside his father’s study, clenching his fists and then unclenching them, picturing the bottle of whisky he kept in the bottom drawer of his desk.

Rather than sleep at his townhouse that night, he would return to the theater and make use of the small apartment he kept there for unusually late nights. That way, he could drink without having to face Martin—his valet.

Always good to have a plan in place for evenings such as this one.

It wasn’t because he didn’t love his father, quite the opposite, actually. Perhaps that was why these meetings never failed to leave him raw.

Because Carter would never be the son his father expected him to be. Drawing in a steady breath, he stepped inside.

“I’m surprised the great director has time to visit his father.” The Marquess of Ashwood barely glanced up when Carter closed the door behind him. Well into his sixties, Carter’s father was no longer the sturdy and robust gentleman he remembered from childhood. Silver had worked its way into the marquess’s hair, and his shoulders sloped more than usual.

His father had aged considerably since losing his marchioness, Carter’s mother, ten years before.

“Sit,” his father ordered.

Carter jammed his hands into the pockets of his jacket and ignored the command. “I visit.”

“On the rare occasion I send for you.” His father harumphed and then flicked a glance to the newspaper lying open on his desk—open to an article about the theater. “I see you’re going ahead with the renovations at Drury Lane.”

Carter nodded. Not only was he going ahead with the renovations, but he’d be funding a good portion himself. As the new majority owner.

His father frowned and then surprised Carter by announcing, “Anthony’s wife lost another child last week.”

Oh, hell.

“Again?” Carter struggled between sympathy for his brother and frustration with his father, whose sole purpose in life was to ensure the perpetuity of the marquessate.

Tugging at his cravat, he silently cursed Martin for tying it tighter than necessary. Was the room getting smaller?

He sat, but only because it was his choice to do so.

Viscount Elmwood, Carter’s eldest brother and his father’s heir, had married a perfectly appropriate young lady over a decade earlier. Unfortunately, however, the couple remained childless—and from what Anthony had told him, it wasn’t from a lack of trying. “My deepest regrets. How is Jane?”

His father’s grimace wasn’t the answer Carter wanted. “She’s weak. Her physicians doubt she can survive another attempt.”

The cloth around Carter’s neck cinched even tighter—or seemed to, anyway.

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