Belonging To The Earl

6.

The living room was unbearably quiet, and they all knew that Agatha, was struggling desperately to stifle the wrath surging in her.

She never would have imagined something as horrendous and outrageous as this. Never had she imagined her Jordon to be this preposterous; this outlandish. Had his relationship with his father affected him that much?. But what if what his father had done had truly affected him in the worst way possible?

The viscountess sat up straighter, her blue gaze cool. "I told your father you would be obstinate, way more than he had been." Her cool, levelled gaze was sending daggers towards Jordon, and if he didn’t know it before, he certainly knew now that he had gotten himself into a deep mess.

"Thank you for the compliment, aunt."

"Your growing up with him has left you bitter." Her voice was oddly calm, and Jordon had no idea what to expect from his aunt anymore. He had expected to be chastised from the moment he arrived at the Earlington estate. He certainly hadn’t expected his aunt to be this calm.

"You should have listened to him when he said I'm nothing but a curse to him," he said coldly. He hadn't intended for his voice to sound so harsh, but it had, and he couldn't help the stab of pain that shot through his chest.

Agatha's heart tightened at the raw emotion in her nephew's voice. "You weren't supposed to have let his words get to you. You are better than that, Jordon."

A tick appeared high on his cheekbone and he restrained his temper with difficulty. "In the interest of peace in the family, however, strained that maybe, let's not discuss father anymore. You know nothing about the matter."

"I know perfectly well what my eyes had been seeing."

"Enough, please Ma'am," he said, his voice taut.

The uncomfortable stillness returned to the living room, and even though Jason hadn’t intended to say a word until they had gotten to the reason behind their visit, he still couldn't ignore the raw emotion in his brother's voice. How bad had their father hurt him?

"We might perhaps proceed to what has actually bought us here," he said, leaning forward. Left to him, this issue would've been approached in a very different way. But if this would make his brother happy, then he'd do it. "We came to a conclusion, but we wanted to hear from you first. It has been decided that I will pose as him for a while." He paused, gauging the reaction from his aunt. "While I strongly disagree with that arrangement, I can understand the reason it has to be done. But, having another opinion from you would help us immensely."

Agatha's brows were furrowed together in deep thought. She might have never liked her brother's second wife, but she had to help her nephew. Her examining gaze swept over Jordon. "I don't like this," she said, tight-lipped. "I can smell something bad out of this."

Already flushed from anger, Jordon turned away, directing his attention to the large painting by the window.

"I came here because I had assumed you'd help me out, not judge me.

Agatha surveyed her Nephew. "Do you love her, my Lord?"

The formal way in which she had addressed him made Jordon's stomach tighten. Was he truly in love with Alyssa? He can't really say for sure right now.

"I believe I do." His voice sounded hollow even to his ears, and the grip Alyssa had on his hands tightened. He looked up at her and grinned confidently. "Yes. I do love her, Madam."

Agatha exhaled softly. "If not precisely in those words, you've insinuated as much in every nuance of our conversations that you do. Now, what was the agreement?"

"Jason only need to pretend to be me for some time, until Alyssa gives birth and we return. I plan to travel to America with her, and Jason can pretend to be me until I come back. Before I do, he is to make Lady Thornton hate him enough to decide not to marry him anymore. That way, I'll have no problem trying to maintain my relationship with Alyssa. Even if I have to hide it for the time being."

"That's an absurd idea," Agatha said tightly, her gaze sweeping from Jordon to Jason, searching his gaze to see if he was on board with an arrangement as ridiculous as this. "I suggest we shouldn't do things that way. Why don't we introduce Jason to society and suggest he and Lady Thornton be married instead of you? Ideally, he was supposed to be the Earl since he's the oldest. Do you want to give up your earldom for Alyssa, Jordon?"

His jaw was hard. If he truly wished to keep things in control, he had to let his brother take everything, including the earldom.

"Don't even think about it, Jordon," Alyssa's voice was desperate. "I can go far away and give birth, then come back to you when that is done. I can give up the baby for adoption."

"But I want the baby, I can't just give it up."

"Then we can think of something else. I don't like this idea any more than any of you do."

"You should've thought of all that when you decided to get into a relationship with him." Agatha's voice was icy, and a heated, hateful gaze was focused on Alyssa.

"I can't control my heart! You can't blame me for loving him," Alyssa replied icily.

"Are you sure you do love him? If you do, giving up his earldom should've made you happy, if not joyful."

"This has nothing to do with his title, My Lady. I suggest you refrain from insulting me." There was an edge to Alyssa's voice, and she couldn't control it. She had never really liked the old viscountess, marital relationships be damned.

"I'll appreciate it so much if you don't disrespect her any more than you have already, Madam. I request full respect for the mother my child."

If the words had been a shock to her, Agatha didn't show it. She masked her feelings as much as she could, and smiled softly.

"When do you intend to introduce Lady Thornton to Jason, Jordon?" she asked as calmly as she could. She had always liked Lady Thornton and had been so glad when she was informed of the betrothal. If Jordon was going to let a woman like her go for Alyssa's sake, then she might as well try and see things work out between her and Jason.

She definitely would.

"At the masquerade ball Lord Westermol will be hosting," he said. His voice was gruff, and there was a slight hint of guilt at how he had treated his aunt. "I'll show her to him from afar and have him talk to her first; see how to approach things before he finally gives her a call."

Agatha was quiet, weighing her options. Slowly, she smiled and nodded her head. "Of course, that might work. Let's start that way, Jordon. And I do hope you don't get to lament your decision soon." There was a warning in her voice Jordon chose to ignore.

He had come this far, Alyssa and the baby would be his, even if he did lose everything. Including his identity.