An Earl’s Broken Heart by Ella Edon
Chapter Two
It was the same sinking feeling every time Levi entered his father’s study. Under normal circumstances, it would have been a paradise to him; bookshelves lined the room from wall to wall with books on every matter of importance, every sweet word of poetry, every inspired telling of a story. His mother had made the room what it was, and yet his father’s energy lingered over it. Perhaps it was the large painting that hung from the far wall. It depicted a young, handsome gentleman with broad shoulders, bold eyes, and the winning Cooper smile. The subject was Levi’s late uncle Ethan, the very image of the perfect specimen from the Cooper line.
The more Levi looked at the painting, the more it seemed his uncle Ethan was mocking him. His winning smile was almost a smirk, the look of a gentleman on the verge of laughter.
It was customary for the Earl of Exeter to make him wait. The unease in Levi’s stomach seemed to build with the waiting, every second was more uncomfortable than the last. He drummed his thigh with increasing speed as the soft tick-tock of the grandfather clock beside the door made a mockery of his patience. He tried to tell himself he wasn’t nervous. Surely you can’t be afraid of an old gentleman.
As though an actor on perfect cue, his father stepped into the room. He wore a dark waistcoat and breeches over a white linen shirt. He was still a tall, powerfully built gentleman, though he now carried more paunch around his arms and stomach than the lean muscle of days gone by. He had dark, arresting eyes that seemed to bore into anything they settled on.
Levi rose to his feet and bowed. “Father.”
“Son. So good of you to choose to visit me.”
Levi let the jibe pass without comment. It was a silent slap in the face. Levi hadn’t chosen to visit; he had been summoned. His father had that way of rebuking him. Even when he was saying something sweet, there was always an under-taste of something bitter.
“Tell me, son, have you found a wife yet?”
Levi opened his mouth to speak, but his father cut his sentence in half.
“Of course, you haven’t. You’ve hardly ever done anything on your own. In this, too, I have come to your aid.”
“I…I beg your pardon, Father.”
His father smiled. “I’ve found a wife for you.”
A chill shot down Levi’s spine. He took a slow breath before speaking. “You’ve found a wife for me?”
“An excellent one. Beautiful too. You’ll see for yourself.”
“Father, I –”
“Speak up when you’re talking to me, boy,” his father snapped. “Project your voice.”
Levi drew in breath, swallowed and remastered himself. “Father, I appreciate what you are trying to do, but I don’t need you to find me a wife. I can handle that myself when the time arises.”
“Nonsense. Don’t be stupid, boy. You’ve never been able to make a good decision about anything, and I won’t risk you messing this up like you do everything else. This isn’t about you; it’s about our legacy.”
“I –”
“I’ve already arranged it with the Duke of Gloucester. You’re to marry his daughter, Lady Katherine. Impeccable breeding, good blood, and pretty, too, if I may say so. It will ally our two great families and bring some much-needed stability to the earldom.”
“Father, I –”
“Listen to me. I’ve arranged a dinner party next week at Gatton Hall. It will last seven days, and the Duke will attend with his wife and daughter. I anticipate your attendance, and you will not disappoint me in this. You are my son and I am your father, and if nothing else, you will give me every drop of respect you owe me, understood?”
Levi balled up his fist and bit down hard on his lip. His father was a bull in a tight corral, and he was a broken-legged matador. No matter what he did, he could find no escape from his horns. The man simply didn’t listen. When he felt his mind was made up, he tried to dominate Levi into compliance. Levi wouldn’t let him win in this, but here in his study, it was neither the time nor the place to give his father a piece of his mind. So, he had to make a show of interest to some nobleman’s daughter; he could do that if he had to. He couldn’t win this battle, but he would win the war. He would marry when he was good and ready, no matter what his father said.
He gave his father an ingratiating smile. “Understood, Father.”
His father returned the smile. His voice took on a light, musing quality. “Good.”
As a child, Levi had treasured his father. In those days, he seemed a colossus - proud and strong. As he grew older and his father began to wield his pride and strength as weapons against him, Levi heard all manner of excuses from his relatives. They all said the same thing, the Earl was a kind gentleman until his brother Ethan died. After that, everything changed.
His father had become a gentleman who was slow to praise and lightning quick to criticize. In times past, he had ripped Levi to shreds with his words, making him feel absolutely minuscule. Whenever Levi had managed to do anything well, or make a success of anything, his father would tell him how his uncle would have done it better or faster.
There was a time when he believed that his father would have loved him if he was better. That time was long gone and Levi had learned the truth: nothing would ever be enough for him. When he discovered the futility of trying to get in his father’s good graces, Levi decided to become the disgraceful gentleman his father accused him of being. He poured his energy into gambling and youthful hellraising, giving himself to every excess. For every act of rebuke from his father, Levi retaliated with an act of rascality. It was the only weapon he had in their proxy war.
Years of being the victim of his father’s manipulations had taught him a fair bit about his tricks. Sometimes, when his father was being cruel, it was only to throw him off and distract him from some ulterior purpose. He was a master of misdirection. Levi had only one defensive technique when his father was trying to bludgeon his senses: close his hands behind his back and look away to hide his irritation. He was doing that now as his father went on about how he was going to marry someone he had never met for reasons that were not his own.
His mind drifted away from his father’s study, back to the opera. Where he had heard that remarkable woman sing. The texture of that voice, the intensity of it, the way every word seemed to speak deeply to his heart. He would be back at the opera soon. He had to be.
“What are you looking at?” his father asked, pulling Levi back to the study.
“I beg your pardon, Father?”
His father followed Levi’s eyes. He was turned directly to the painting of Ethan.
His father narrowed his eyes. “Your uncle was twenty when he died. He was strong, intelligent, and a born leader. He always took on his responsibility and respected others. When he heard someone cry out from the woods, he stopped his carriage to assist them when someone robbed and killed him. My brother died because he had the decency to help those he thought were in need. Ethan bore the weight of the earldom on his shoulders, and he carried it light as a feather.” His father’s eyes turned to Levi. “You might look like him, but you’ll never be half the gentleman he was. All you have ever cared about is yourself. Drinking, womanizing, and gambling with your friends. Spurning the good name that I worked for and that your uncle died for. This is your chance - do something right and prove me wrong. Be a gentleman for the very first time in your life.”
Levi was stunned for a moment. Then he snapped back to consciousness, and the rage was there, everywhere. He stepped towards his father, intending to clip the old gentleman around the ears. But then he saw the look in his father’s eyes. He was goading him. Manipulating him so he could have something against him to use in one of his schemes.
Just like that, Levi’s anger started to recede. He let out a deep breath and let the candle of fury within burn out. Steeling himself, he spoke slowly. “Father, I am going to leave now. I will be back for the party and look forward to meeting Lady Katherine.”
His father made a dismissive gesture with his hands as though to say “be gone.” “I’ll send a formal invitation. Don’t be late.”
As Levi walked over to his carriage pulsing with anger, he made a promise to himself. He was going to live true to himself, no matter what it would cost him. No matter the consequences, something had to change.