The Portrait of a Scarred Duke by Patricia Haverton

Chapter 1

“Done for the day?”

Elijah Keating looked up from his books to see his best friend, the handsome and rakish Marquess of Dartbury, leaning against the doorframe. “Don’t you have anything to do with yourself, John?” he asked. “How is it that you always manage to show up at my office just as soon as I’m done for the day?”

“It’s a talent,” John said with a grin. “Besides, you work far too hard. All of the other barristers in town have closed up shop.”

“Well, there’s a reason I’m the most successful barrister in town,” Elijah said.

“Because you’re the smartest,” John said.

“Because I work the hardest,” Elijah corrected. “I have several important cases right now, as a matter of fact, and I can’t neglect them just because you are bored.”

“But I’m extremely bored,” John said. “Come on, Elijah. You’ve done enough for one day. Come and have drinks with me.”

Elijah rolled his eyes, but he closed his books and stacked them on the corner of his desk. “Very well,” he said. “I suppose the rest of this can wait until morning.”

“Good man.” John clapped him on the shoulder. “We’ll go to the pub on the corner, all right?”

“The pub we always go to?” Elijah asked wryly.

“The very same,” John said. “Come on, it’s been days since you and I have been out together. You deserve to have a little fun, Elijah. All you ever do is work.”

Elijah extinguished the candle on his desk and grabbed his coat from the rack. “You know,” he said, “this would all carry a lot more weight with me if you had ever done a day’s work in your life.”

John laughed. “It’s true,” he confessed. “But would you really work, if you were in my shoes?”

“Yes, I would!” Elijah said. “You may feel satisfied with the life you lead, John, but I need to accomplish things in order to be happy with myself.”

“Oh, I accomplish plenty of things,” John said. “It’s just that my accomplishments lie outside the business world.”

“For example?”

“When was the last time you were with a woman?”

Elijah shook his head. “That sort of thing hardly counts as an accomplishment,” he said.

“You wouldn’t say that if you were catching any women’s notice,” John said. “Truly, time spent in the company of a pretty woman is the best time one can spend. I’ll never lie on my deathbed wishing I had spent more hours working.” He made a face. “But you—someday, when you’re old and no longer in your prime, you may wish you had spent more time on romantic pursuits.”

“And when you say romantic pursuits, do you mean patronizing the local brothel? Because I have to tell you, John, that doesn’t really qualify as romance.”

“Oh, loosen your collar,” John said. “Have a little fun for once in your life. You deserve it, with how hard you work all the time.”

“Patronizing a brothel doesn’t sound like fun to me, I’m afraid,” Elijah said.

It was easy for John to talk about these things. It was easy for him to waste his days and nights in ways that wouldn’t advance his life at all. He was a Marquess already. There were responsibilities associated with that position, of course, but John was able to dedicate the majority of his life to idle pursuits in a way that Elijah just wasn’t.

As the foremost barrister in town and a wealthy man in his own right, Elijah was largely accepted by members of the ton. He considered John his best friend, and when he went out and socialized with John and his companions, he fit in fairly effortlessly.

But he was always conscious of the differences between them. They might all be rich, but John and his friends had inherited their wealth, and Elijah had to work for every penny. They might all be respected, but Elijah had earned the respect he was given through hard work and careful study. He knew that John was an educated gentleman, but he also knew that John would never do anything with that education. He didn’t need to make his way in the world, as Elijah did.

That was why John could squander his time and money at brothels.

But even if Elijah had time and money to burn, he wouldn’t have wanted to patronize a brothel. What he’d said to John was true—that wasn’t romance. And Elijah cared a great deal for romance. If he was going to spend time with a woman, it was going to be someone he truly cared for.

Someone like—

“Elijah!” John was staring at him. “What on Earth are you thinking about? You walked right past the pub!”

“Oh,” Elijah said, shaking away the thoughts of the lady who was so often on his mind. “Forgive me, John. I was distracted.”

“Distracted by what?” John pressed. “You had your head in the clouds.”

“Just work,” Elijah fibbed. He turned toward the door of the pub. “You’re right. I should leave that behind me. Let’s get that drink.”

They made their way into the dim light of the pub. It was already beginning to fill up for the evening, and several gentlemen down at the end of the bar called out to John as they walked in.

Elijah followed his friend over to the group, scanning for familiar faces. He didn’t recognize anyone, which was no great surprise. Even though John frequently made an effort to include him in his social affairs, Elijah was sure he would never know everyone in John’s social circle. There were too many events to which he couldn’t be invited, too many balls and parties that were limited strictly to members of the ton. He would always be an outsider, at least to some extent.

“Good evening, gentlemen!” John said as they approached the group. “I hope you haven’t started the festivities without us!”

“Never!” a red-haired man said. “Who have you brought with you, Johnny?”

“This is my good friend, Elijah,” John said. “Of course, I’ve told you all about him.”

“The barrister?” The man frowned. “I didn’t realize you were bringing him.”

“Oh, relax, Fred,” John said. “He’s a good friend of mine. You’ll like him.” He turned to Elijah. “The Earl of Essex,” he explained. “He’s not yet twenty, but we let him drink with us anyway.”

“It seems you’ll let just about anybody drink with you,” the Earl of Essex muttered.

“Wait a moment,” Elijah said. “I do know you. You were a client of mine last year. You and your father. I helped you with a property matter. Don’t you remember?”

The Earl shrugged. “A lot of people work for me,” he said. “I can’t possibly remember all of them.”

Apparently, the Earl was determined to be rude and dismissive. Well, Elijah wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction.

“Bartender,” Elijah said, signaling. “An ale for me, please, and one for my new friend, the Earl of Essex.”

John burst out laughing. “That’s putting him in his place. Well done, Elijah.”

“I don’t need a commoner to buy me drinks,” the Earl said, glaring.

Elijah was hard pressed not to laugh. He really did look like a child. In a few years, he would come to realize that he was only betraying his own insecurities by refusing to associate with anyone outside the ton.

“The choice is yours, My Lord,” he told the Earl. “If you can’t accept a drink offered in friendship and respect, certainly no one will force you to drink it.”

The bartender delivered the drinks. Elijah picked his up and took a long swallow, humming with satisfaction. When he set the mug down, he saw that the Earl of Essex had picked his up. Although he still wore a scowl, he was sipping.

We may be friends yet,Elijah thought. It wouldn’t be the first time one of John’s acquaintances had resisted socializing with him at first, only to be won over as time progressed.

“What are we doing tonight?” John asked, looking around at the rest of the group.

“We might go to the music hall,” someone suggested.

“We might stay here and keep drinking,” someone else said with a laugh.

“I’m not going to be able to stay out late,” Elijah said. “I have work in the morning.

“You own the business!” John protested. “You’re the barrister! Can’t you simply open late? What difference would it make?”

“I have meetings scheduled with clients,” Elijah explained. John wouldn’t understand this. The people he met with were his peers. He could reschedule his meetings with them, and there would be no consequences. But Elijah didn’t have that privilege. His clients were nobles, for the most part. They appreciated his knowledge and skill, but they would be quick to abandon him if they thought they were being disrespected.

And tomorrow I’m to meet with the Duke of Merkworth…

That, in particular, was a meeting he did not want to be unprepared for. It was incredibly important to Elijah that he make a good impression on the Duke.

One more thing John could never understand.

“Well, your friend can go on home, then,” the Earl said. “We can certainly have plenty of fun without him.”

“You’re being rude, Fred,” John said.

The Earl shrugged and said nothing, drinking deeply from his ale.

“I hope you enjoy that drink,” Elijah said, smiling at the Earl. “It was my pleasure to get to see you again.”

John took Elijah by the arm and let him away from the group.

“I’m sorry about him,” he said. “I don’t know why we let him associate with us. He’s almost ten years younger than the rest of us. I suppose the hope is that he’ll do a bit of maturing and be more pleasant to spend time with.”

“I’m sure he will,” Elijah said. “You needn’t worry about it, John. He didn’t bother me.”

“Don’t leave because of him,” John urged. “Or if you must, I’ll go with you.”

Elijah shook his head. “You knew that these gentlemen would be here tonight, am I right?”

“Are you upset with me?”

“Not at all. But I came out in part because I thought you had no one to socialize with. Now that you do, I see that it’s all right for me to head on home.”

“But you’ve only had one drink, Elijah!”

“And one was enough,” Elijah assured him. “John, you have nothing to worry about or apologize for. Everything is fine between you and I. But I do have work in the morning to think about, and it’s time I took my leave. Thank you for persuading me to come out tonight. I had a good time.”

“Did you?” John asked dubiously.

Elijah laughed. “Well, I’m glad I came, at any rate. We can do it again sometime soon.”

“Is that a promise?”

“It is,” Elijah said. “I know I’ve been too wrapped up in my work lately. It will be good for me to get out a little more, and I’m lucky to have a friend like you who’ll make sure that I do. But no brothels!”

John grinned. “I think I can agree to that,” he said. “We’ll stick to the pubs. There’s plenty of fun to be had in places like this.”

Elijah nodded. “Make sure you get home safely tonight, all right?”

“Of course,” John said. “Nothing dangerous ever happens in this town. I’ll be fine.”

Elijah nodded. His friend was right. This wasn’t the kind of place where a man had to be afraid to walk home after dark.

Still, he couldn’t shake a sense of unease. There was a part of him that felt like it might be wiser to stay here with John and walk home together.

No, I’m being silly. I have to get home and to bed so I’ll be well rested for tomorrow.