Page 10 of A Relentless Rake

The exact opposite, in fact. The late earl had secretly kept mistresses, all the while pretending to the world that he was first and foremost a family man. Alec wouldneverlie to the world the way his father had.

“You should stop believing the rumors,” he suggested.

She flicked at an invisible crumb on her skirt and sniffed. “Rumors seem to be the only way I know what my son has been doing lately.”

At that, he could no longer hold back a burst of laughter.

Good God, she was a terrible actress! She was no more concerned about his escapades than he was. Whatever brought her here this morning, it wasn’t gossip.

Unfortunately, his motherdidhave a history of being blind to what her family was doing, even inside her own home. His father had certainly proven that.

Rupert Sinclair, Earl of St James, had been a monster. Society only ever saw a respectable peer who donated generously to the poor, never missed a church service, preached in Parliament about moral fortitude, and never uttered one word in anger or impropriety. Yet that same man had preyed upon innocent women and children, squandered the greater portion of the family fortune on drunken binges, gambling, bad investments… That is, the part he hadn’t wasted on the prostitutes he’d paid to let him preach to them while he beat them in an attempt to drive the wickedness from them. As for the children, those he bought outright from men in dark alleys. God only knew what he’d done to them. After all, if he’d beaten his own son, what would he have done to someone else’s child?

It wasn’t until after the earl’s death when Alec returned from the Continent that he learned the full extent of his father’s evil, but his mother had been here the entire time. Had Isabel Sinclair truly been oblivious to her husband’s malevolence, or had she simply turned a blind eye, even to the evil carried out in her own home?

Alec had never possessed the courage to ask her.

“Is this the reason for your visit, then?” he baited her. “Are you proposing that I take a mistress?”

“Of course not.”

He lifted his cup to take a sip of tea. “What a shame, then, because—”

“I’m proposing you take a wife.”

Thatbrought him sputtering to attention. Coughing to clear his throat, he sat up straight and steadied his teacup before he spilled it on the Turkish rug. “I do not want a wife.”

“This is not about what you want. This is about what youneed. And you, Alexander, need a wife.” She reached casually to take one of the biscuits from the tray as if they were discussing nothing more contentious than the weather. “I’ve seldom seen a man more in need of a wife than you.”

Andtherewas the mother he knew. A lioness disguised in sprigged muslin.

“You’re thirty years old now,” she continued. “You need to establish a respectable, solid, and secure future for yourself and the earldom, and the only way to do that is for you to stop behaving disreputably.”

Christ.She made him sound like a lecherous old man.

“No mother will let a man with a questionable reputation within a mile of her daughter.”

Oh, she was wrong there! Marriage-minded mamas would rush toward him like moths to a flame the moment they discovered he was looking for a wife. They wanted his fortune and his title. His indiscretions be damned.

“You need to establish a proper household for yourself with an appropriate wife who can support you in society and Parliament. Someone who can give you a real home to return to at the end of the day, who can provide companionship and guidance.”

He rolled his eyes. “Have you been reading books on courtship again?”

She ignored that. “Besides, I want grandchildren.” She paused to drive home her point. “Lotsof grandchildren.”

Thank God he had a sister. “I’m certain Elizabeth will give you dozens to—”

“I also want you to be happy.”

The concern behind her words sliced into him. He might disagree with her methods, but he couldn’t argue that she didn’t want the best for her family. “But I am happy.”Happy enough, anyway. “I like my life the way it is, with all the freedoms that come with being a bachelor gentleman. And I have no plans to change.”

His mother said quietly, “Neither did your father.”

His eyes darted up to hers as his heart thudded painfully against his ribs, yet he kept his expression inscrutable. He didn’t want her to know how much she’d just wounded him.

He wasnothinglike his father.

For God’s sake, he’d spent his entire life making certain of it. When he was younger, he’d thought his father was respectable and pious, and Alec had dedicated himself to being the worst scapegrace and rogue he could, just to spite the man. Years later, when Rupert Sinclair died and he’d discovered the depth of his father’s debaucheries, he’d dedicated himself to being the truly respectable man his father had never been.