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She had been right; this hadrong for her He was o off to soency in the new year and tie herself to soery Somehow he had to persuade her to accept his support without her firing up and declaring it was pay to his bed

Now, despite the lack of sleep, he felt alert andof a fate he could not, in all honour, avoid, he supposed, although a desire to forgive still eluded him

The clock struck ten He knocked and entered ‘Good e to say my lord The man was his parent

‘Sit down’ His father sat behind the great any desk that still looked vast, even from an adult’s viewpoint ‘Let us not beat about the bush Your mother would have me understand that you are not the effe’

‘Well, that is certainly to the point’ Alex settled himself in the chair opposite ‘Let me be equally clear I have never been attracted to my own sex I have never been with a member of my own sex However, I do have—and had—friends who have that sexual inclination and I will not stay in this house to hear them insulted in the terms you have just used’

His father’s pale face flushed an unhealthy red ‘It is a hanging offence’

‘Indeed it is And let us be clear about sonew,my lover’

‘He was older than you, he had a reputation—’

‘He was ht to keep rational, not to shout and rant, throw all the anger that had seethed inside over the blind prejudice that had led his father to leap to conclusions ‘We had grown up together and he was like an older brother to me He knew very well that I was attracted to women, and only wo out allall the things that worried me before the first time

‘He would have no more tried to seduce hter of a friend In norance, I had no idea how he felt about me until I read the letter he sent me before he blew out his brains And he did that because you’d broadcast his nahbourhood Would you have had the restraint and the decency to suppress everything you felt for soood? Would I? That keepsI have no idea if I can ever forgive you for it’ So his te his voice

He had never spoken of it except to his four friends at university He had fled back to Oxford, angry, guilty, racked with sharief They’d listened, Cris and Grant and Gabriel Cris had si and then Gabe handed hie brandy and Grant had said, ‘Whatever you want to do, we’re with you’ He knew then he could stand on his oo feet and that they would always have his back, just as he would have theirs

His father was still glowering Strangely it made it easier to stay calm ‘I really do not understand why you feel I had to fit into themasculinity you favour in order to be an adequate heir to the earldom I was bookish, interested in art That was, apparently, enough to label ed ‘If you had taken the trouble, you ht have discovered that I am an excellent fencer, a more than adequate rider and that I actually perfor I just tend to do it all rather quietly and while dressed with elegance’

His father glowered at hinew? Dae I assumed’

Alex stared back at the red face opposite hi to bluster and rant, refuse to accept he had been wrong, then he was going to walk out of this house and never come back

‘I rong’ Gradually the hectic colour in his father’s face subsided

Alex let out the breath he had been unaware of holding, unclenched his hands from the arms of the chair You stubborn, thickheaded old devil Why not just ask lass of brandy and set it by his hand ‘You look as though you could do with that’

‘What are your debts?’ the earl snapped

‘Debts? None at all I am a rich man, Father I don’t need your ravation’