The Earl's Outrageous Lover

The Earl's Outrageous Lover

by Elizabeth Lennox

Copyright ©2012 by Elizabeth Lennox

All rights reserved.

This is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner.  Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Prologue – One Year Earlier

Jessica Mallory stared at the man, stunned by what he’d just told her.  “Please, tell me you’re kidding.”   She wiped the tears from her eyes so she could focus more clearly on the tall, thin man sitting behind her father’s desk.

The man straightened his yellow tie nervously.  “I’m afraid it is no joke, Ms. Mallory.”

She let out the air in her lungs and slumped back against the chair in stunned horror.  “Fine.  Just sell it all off.  His assets don’t mean much to me anyway.  Let someone else run the factories.”

Her father’s irritating lawyer again shook his head.  “I’m sorry, but that’s not allowed.”

Jessica couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  It had been a horrible week that started with her parents dying in a car accident.  There had been so many details to figure out and all she wanted to do was curl into a ball and cry out her grief.  But every time she resolved one issue, someone came to her with yet another.  Their death had occurred on Monday.  The exhausting funeral had been Thursday morning and today, Friday, she was sitting with her father’s lawyer discussing her parents’ will and trying to figure out why her father had done something so insane.

“What century did my father live in?”  she whispered, shaking her head as she tried to absorb the terms of her father’s wishes.

The man blinked.  “Excuse me?”

Jessica looked up, not realizing that she’d spoken out loud.  “I was just wondering what century my father lived in,” she said more clearly.  “This will would be more appropriate for someone who lived in the eighteenth century.  The terms of this will are so outrageous.  It’s like the plot to a really cheap novel!”

The man smiled briefly because he agreed with the exquisite women.  But he was only the messenger and it wasn’t his job to offer his opinion.  The will had been drawn up by one of his colleagues six years earlier.  “I agree that the terms are….unusual,” he stated as he looked down at the document, his mind whirling with the bizarre provisions.  “But unfortunately, they are legal and binding.”

Jessica thought through her options but she didn’t really appear to have any but one.  “Okay, so let me get this straight.  If I’m not married by the time I’m twenty-five years old, the three factories in Scotland, the one in Manchester and all the other entities my father accumulated over his lifetime will be shut down, the equipment inside each factory will be dismantled and sold for parts, the actual buildings in which these factories are house in will be blown up and over one thousand families will be out of a job.”

The lawyer hesitated, but in the end, Ms. Mallory’s summation was complete.  He pulled a piece of paper out of the filing folder and handed it to her.  “Here’s a list of the contractors that have been retained to accomplish all of what you’ve just mentioned.  So yes, your father was quite serious.  He wanted you married and this was his way of accomplishing that.”

Jessica couldn’t believe that her father…a memory came to mind, the day her father had picked her up from boarding school so he could tell her that he’d gotten her into one of the finest finishing schools in Great Britain, a school which would set her up perfectly for a well placed marriage.

It was also the first time she’d ever defied her father.  She’d sat in the back of the car next to him and told him that she wouldn’t be attending the finishing school of his choice.  She’d calmly explained that she’d already applied to the University of London and would be attending that institution in the fall instead.  She’d challenged him to disown her back then but he hadn’t.  He’d waited.  And now he was getting his revenge for her defiance.

Why couldn’t he just be proud of her?  She’d finished at the top of her class, had interned at some of the finest hospitals under great psychologists and psychiatrists.  Didn’t he even care that she was following her heart?  That she could help people and heal people?

Apparently not, she thought as she looked out the large picture window, noticing the last of the catering trucks pulling out of the driveway of her father’s London home.  A home which she now owned, or at least was allowed to live in until she married, at which time, ownership would then be transferred to her husband.

What a mess, she thought.  “I supposed I have some thinking to do, don’t I?”  she finally replied to the lawyer who was calmly sitting at her father’s massive desk, looking painfully awkward.

With those words of dismissal, he gathered up his papers and shoved them quickly into his leather briefcase.  “Let me know if I can assist you in any way,” he said, taking her hand and bowing slightly before departing the house.

Jessica didn’t stay in that room, disliking the dusty, musty smell.  Her father had smoked cigars in that office with his cronies and the smell was still there so she wandered into the living room.  Where her father’s office was bleak and dingy with dark wood paneled walls and heavy leather chairs, the living room was where her mother had held court.  It was the opposite in every way.  The walls were a soft cream color and the sofas were all done in a robin’s egg blue shade as were the curtains.  There was a large fireplace where her mother used to curl up in front of on cold winter days or where she served tea to the various wives of her father’s business interests.

She curled up on that sofa, pulling the cashmere throw down over her as the night descended.  She still had no idea how to get herself out of this problem.  But her mind refused to function.  She was too hurt over everything she’d learned today.  Her parents were gone now so she couldn’t even ask for an explanation.  She had lots of friends, but no one she could really turn to for help with this kind of a predicament.  There had been the name of the executor of her father’s will, but she didn’t think she’d ever met the man.  At least she didn’t recognize the man’s name, but there were many people in and out of her father’s life so it could have been any one of his good friends.

She fell asleep that night curled up on her mother’s sofa, the blue throw blanket wrapped around her.  She didn’t sleep well though.  Instead of a sound sleep after the exhausting events of the past week, she was plagued with dreams of wedding dresses floating around her head, taunting her and laughing because she couldn’t wear any of them.  Nor could she reach the alter because a chain was wrapped around her ankle, keeping her from succeeding.

The following morning, she showered and pulled on a pair of jeans and an old sweatshirt, trying to shrug off the disturbing dreams.  One thing was clear, despite her groggy state of mind, she had to make a decision about what she was going to do about her father’s will and she couldn’t make that decision without facts.  She had the directions to her father’s factories in one hand and an overnight bag in another.  She was on a mission!

It took her three hours but she finally found the first factory.  Sitting outside in the parking lot, she smiled as she watched several of the workers wander out during their break.  They sat on one of the low walls and sipped coffee or soda while punching each other on the shoulder as they joked about something.  At the other end, there was a delivery door with suppliers coming and going, the whole operation looking very industrious.

On the one hand, she was proud of her father for running such a smooth operation.  But on the other hand, she really hated him for putting all of these peoples’ livelihoods at risk simply so he could get back at her for defying him that one time.  And really, why would he care if she was married or not?  It wasn’t as if she could guarantee that the man she married would be good at business.  What if she married someone who liked history or maybe a scientist?  Or just a simple accountant?  That wouldn’t help lead these businesses to bigger and better things!  Or even stability!

What a mess, she thought as she drove away.  It took her two days, but she went to every business her father had owned at the end of his lifetime.  With some, she went inside, introduced herself and asked for a tour of the facility.  At other times, she just sat in her car and watched, noticing small things about the workers and the industriousness of everyone around it.

She realized two things during these tours.  First of all, if she failed to find a husband, she wouldn’t just be putting her father’s workers out of business.  She would be hurting hundreds of suppliers as well, not to mention the businesses that depended on the output of these factories.

The second thing she realized was that she couldn’t let them down.  She had to accomplish this mission, regardless of how much she disagreed with her father’s mandates.  He’d done this to her, not to the workers.  If she’d been a better daughter, she would have gone to him and worked with him to find a compromise.  Instead, she’d simply gone off to school, ignoring his preferences because she’d considered this to be her life.  Not anymore.  Her choices for the next twelve months would result in so many people being able to pay their mortgage and put food on their tables.

She wasn’t opposed to marriage.  She just hadn’t thought she’d be married so young.  But it wasn’t unheard of to be married by twenty-five.  Her mother had been married by the age of twenty and had given birth at twenty-one.

Oh, if only her mother had been able to conceive of another baby, she thought with a deep sadness that left tears streaming down her face.  She curled her legs up underneath her and pulled the soft, blue cashmere blanket around her.  Where would Jessica be right now if her father had been able to raise a son as well as a daughter?  Or what if she’d been born a male instead of a female?  What if she’d just given in and gone to finishing school as her father had wanted?  If her marriage to…whoever he’d chosen hadn’t worked…would he still be angry with her?

As exhaustion took over and her eyes closed, she accepted that these scenarios didn’t really matter.  Because she had been an only child, she’d been born a female and she’d gone her own way at eighteen.  So all her musings were pointless because, in the end, she was still here and she still had to face the hard reality that her father had distrusted her so much and been so angry at her defiance that he’d created a will that trapped her into looking for a husband over the next twelve months.

The last thing she thought about before she gave in to sleep was that she needed to contact this Charles Livingston, the man named as executor of her father’s will, to see what he could do to help her through this problem of finding a husband quickly and under bizarre circumstances.

Chapter 1

Edward Livingston, Earl of Locton, straightened his tie as he walked down the central stairway of his ancestral home, accepted the steaming hot, black coffee from his butler and walked out of the house, his mind already reviewing his busy schedule for the day.  As he was every morning at this time, his driver Tim stood at the bottom of the stone stairs, the door to the back of the limousine open.  Tim bowed ever so slightly as Edward descended the stairs.  “Good morning, my lord.”

“Good morning, Tim.  How is Martha?”  Edward asked, referring to Tim’s wife who helped out in the kitchens occasionally.

“Very well, thank you, my lord.”  And that was the end of Edward’s socializing with his staff for the day.  He was already pulling out a file folder for his first meeting by the time Tim closed the door and walked around to the front of the vehicle.  Edward pressed a button on the panel of his door to call his executive assistant and instantly a crisp, efficient voice greeted him.

“Good morning, my lord,” Alice replied.

Edward didn’t even acknowledge the greeting, nor praise her for being in the office before him and prepared for the day.  He paid her a very good salary and he expected her to be professional, punctual and detailed.  He called her precisely at seven-thirty each morning for any updates to his schedule or events that had occurred overnight.  Alice rarely disappointed him and on those rare occasions when she did, he never raised his voice.  He found that a pointed look was sufficient to gain the expected results he required of his staff.  His companies ran like a well oiled machine and he expected results from everyone on his team, or they could find other employment.

“Good morning, Alice.”  He didn’t ask for the updates.  Alice knew to simply deliver them since that was the exact purpose of this call.

“I’ve already updated your schedule and it is on your blackberry and there is a printout in your morning file.”  Edward pulled the printout from the file folder that Tim had ensured was on the seat before Edward walked out of the house.  He glanced over the information, asking questions and handing out directions on several of the items.

By the time the limousine pulled up to the headquarters building, he was fully briefed on the day’s upcoming events and walked straight into his first meeting.

By ten o’clock that morning, he was passing by Alice’s desk, heading towards his own office when she called out for him.  “I’m sorry, my lord,” Alice said, standing up and handing him a sheet of paper.  “Your uncle has been calling every few minutes for the past two hours.  Apparently, he’s been in a skiing accident in Switzerland and needs to speak with you urgently.”

Edward didn’t show any outward sign of his irritation with his schedule being interrupted.  He glanced at his watch and nodded.  “Put the call through.  I’ll take it in my office.”  He walked into his office and sat down behind his large, steel and glass desk.  The difference between the way Edward ran the Livingston holdings and his father’s methods was that Edward’s financial acumen had tripled the family’s net worth in the past 5 years whereas his predecessors had simply maintained the status quo.  Edward enjoyed business and making deals, had a ten year plan to expand his holdings even further.  He wasn’t satisfied with just maintaining.  Expanding, creating, figuring out the next move and what his enemies and competitors would do before they even knew it themselves, that was the challenge that pushed him on each day.

Some would consider the enormous weight of his responsibilities to be crushing, but he took everything in stride, analyzing the data and making rational evaluations based on facts and leaving emotions out of any equation and decision.  He didn’t consider it to be a weight of responsibility, but more of a contest as to what he could do better, or bigger.

His uncle, on the other hand, was not of the same opinion.  After his father’s death ten years ago, Uncle Charles had urged Edward to have more fun, to take time off and go on genuine vacations.  Edward didn’t need to take time off, he needed to get to his next meeting.  And finding out why Uncle Charles was in the hospital, from skiing no less, was an irritation that would create several shifts in his schedule that weren’t appreciated.  But family was important, and that had been drilled into him from childhood.  Family, responsibility and the Earl of Locton title were what he had to constantly keep in mind during everything he did throughout each day.

“Uncle Charles, why are you in the hospital?”  he asked, looking down at the papers Alice had efficiently arranged on his desk.

“Eddie, my boy!  How the hell are you?”  his uncle cheerfully answered, completely ignoring Edward’s question and using the hated nickname.  The man didn’t sound like someone who had just been in a skiing accident, Edward thought absently.

Edward’s mind was focused more on the contract Alice had place in the center of his desk, the contract he would be discussing in his next meeting that would finalize his company’s purchase of a business worth more than three billion dollars.  “Busy.  What’s going on and why are you in the hospital?”  he asked, repeating his question, pushing the contract back after checking the clauses he’d been concerned about while his mind already started going over the details for his next meeting.

His uncle wasn’t fazed by Edward’s impatient tone at all, used to it from years of experience.  “Look away from all of your papers Eddie.  I have something important to discuss with you, my boy.”

Edward sighed and did as his uncle asked, taking a seat in the large leather chair and spinning around so that he was looking out at the London skyline instead of the contracts and reports.  “Okay, you have my undivided attention.  Now will you tell me why you are in the hospital?  Alice mentioned you’d broken your leg while skiing but surely that doesn’t require a hospital stay, does it?”

Charles chuckled softly and Edward heard some music in the background.  “Not normally, but when an old man like me gets knocked down while racing, that creates a bit of a nuisance break.  Apparently, the leg needs to heal a bit before I can put any weight on it.  They also said something about my heart, but that’s pointless at this stage of the game.”

That caught Edward’s attention.  “What’s wrong with your heart, Uncle Charles?”  he asked, more alert and concerned than he had been a moment ago.  Uncle Charles might be outrageous and irresponsible, but he was family.  The only family he had left and he didn’t like hearing that something might be threatening the man’s health.

“I’m an old man, Edward!  That about sums it all up.”

“Nonsense,” Edward countered.  “I’ll have Dr. Mamford arrive in the morning.  He’s the best cardiologist in the world.  Let him examine you and he’ll get you fixed up.”

Charles laughed again, emotion filling the sound.  “You’re a wonderful man, Edward.  You just need to loosen up a bit and have some fun.  Don’t worry about Dr. Mamford.  The doctors here are taking wonderful care of me.  But I have a favor to ask.  I’ve committed to something and with my broken leg, I won’t be able to fulfill that commitment.  I was hoping you could take over and finish up the issue.”

“Of course.  Send me the documents and I’ll wrap up the issue for you.”  He was still going to have the doctor review his uncle’s medical files, already making a note to Alice to have the hospital send the medical information over to the renowned cardiologist.

“Well, it isn’t really a document but it’s a legal matter.”

“Just send it over.  Don’t worry about anything, just concentrate on getting healthy again.”

“Slow down.  Before you take on this challenge, understand that there’s a deadline of only a matter of weeks.”

Edward shook his head.  “No matter, Uncle Charles.  Just send me the details,” he said patiently.

“She’s twenty-four years old, a stunning beauty, lots of fun and she needs to get married in two week’s time.”

Edward was completely confused now.  “Excuse me?”  he replied after a long pause while he absorbed his uncle’s statement.

Charles laughed again, delighted that he’d been able to stun his always calm and collected nephew.  “I’m the executor of her father’s will.  And her father demanded that she get married by the time she was twenty-five or she loses all of her inheritance.  But she turns twenty-five in two weeks, Edward.  And she hasn’t found anyone who sparks an interest and she’s willing to marry a man who is kind and generous who has already proposed.  Unfortunately, they don’t love each other and this little woman deserves something better.  The only reason her father is doing this to her now is because she defied him about his plans for her future.  There are a lot of jobs at stake and this little beauty is distraught over the fact that she can’t save everyone.  She’s willing to marry a man she doesn’t love at this point just to save those jobs.  I can’t let that happen.”

“Is she that obnoxious?”  he asked, wondering what could be so difficult about finding a groom for a wealthy heiress.  It should have taken days, not months.

“On the contrary.  Everywhere we go, she meets people and they are instantly part of her social group.  She loves all of her friends and they return the feelings.  The men’s feelings are significantly deeper than just friendship, but she sees all of them only as friends and nothing more, even though they tend to fall all over themselves to gain her attention.  Not that she’d notice though.  She’s too kind and generous to hurt their feelings, thinking they’re all her best friend.  Unfortunately, just not husband material.  Like I said, she’s beautiful and lively and she has a love of life that’s contagious, hence the reason I’m in a hospital bed instead of home reading my boring books.  We’ve been trotting all over Europe looking for the ideal groom and having a wonderful time, but she hasn’t found anyone with whom she would want to marry.”

“And that’s where I come in?”  Edward asked, already mentally lining up eligible bachelors for the woman in question.  He had several social engagements over the next few days.  He figured he could introduce her to some appropriate men and have this finished by the weekend.  It was Wednesday, perhaps Alice could arrange the wedding by the following Saturday.  He had to be in Rome by the following Monday so that would work out well.

“Exactly.  If you’re up for the challenge.  She’s vivacious and charming, but she has a mind of her own.”

“Don’t worry Uncle Charles,” he said, ready to lay down the law to whatever irresponsible party girl had attached herself to his uncle.  “I’ll handle her and get her married off quickly.  Just heal up and I’ll see you for the wedding.”

“I knew I could count on you.  She’s on her way already and should be there soon.”

“I’ll have Tim pick her up at the airport then.”

Charles chuckled at Edward’s offer.  “Don’t worry about picking her up.  She can get to your office easily.”

Edward grimaced, picturing several things in his mind on how she would obtain a ride from the airport to his office.  “That’s fine.  What’s her name?”

“You might even know of her,” Charles replied.  “She was much younger, but I know your father and hers socialized occasionally.  Her name is Jessica Mallory and she’s an absolute delight!  Be kind to her, Edward.  She’s been through a great deal, losing both of her parents just over eleven months ago.  Apparently she was very close to her mother even though they were very strict and possibly a bit old fashioned, but she’s moved on with grace and dignity, embracing life with both arms.”

Edward refrained from rolling his eyes.  “Understand, Uncle Charles.  Send over her parents’ will and I’ll ensure that she fulfills the obligations of their provisions.”

“I know you will, dear boy!”  he chuckled.  “The documents should already be on the way.  Good luck!  Remember, two weeks and she has to be married.”

“Understand,” Edward repeated.  “I’ll check in with you this weekend.”

Charles shook his head as he hung up the phone.  His plan was in place and he almost laughed out loud at how easily Edward had fallen into the trap.  It was all for his own good, he told himself.  Jessica would breathe some life into Edward’s dreary existence if his nephew would just allow her to work her magic.  She’d definitely done it for him and he already thought of Jessica as an angel.  One that he wanted in his family more than anything.

The only obstacle was Edward’s monumental stubbornness, he thought with a small kernel of concern.  But he knew that Jessica was perfect for Edward.  If anyone could break through that tough, hard exterior Edward showed to the outside world, it would be Jessica’s kind, gentle and loving touch.