funds were set aside for me upon his death. Is it so wrong for me to wish to do something else with it?”
"Father is less than a year in the grave," the duke shook his head in distaste.
Lord John knew this conversation wasn't going to be easy, but he was determined to see it through. He had no desire to use the money set aside as his inheritance to start a career in the Royal Navy. Instead, he wanted to take it to support himself until able to make an income of his own as an author.
"You are twenty-one years old. You actually think five thousand pounds is enough to live on for the rest of your life?" the duke scoffed. "It was meant to set you up in a profitable career. That is why Father trusted these things to me. You would rather squander it away. What will you do then? Your living entrusted by Father will certainly not be enough. In fact, I daresay you have already spent the bulk of this year's funds with six months still left in it."
"I am well aware that a hundred and fifty pounds a year would hardly make a comfortable life. I have no intention of taking the sum set aside and just squandering it as you put it," Lord John did his best to speak calmly.
It wasn't always easy to do so when the duke treated him as an infant. Currently, the duke was pacing the space in front of the library hearth of the London house. Lord John did his best to stay seated on the window bench while his brother raged on.
"Do you hope to marry well, then? I can't say you are going at it right if this season reflects your efforts. Lady Temperance has clearly come to her senses, yet you have made no effort to secure it. I was content to let the matter go as you are still young, and I knew the first few years of officer life would not suit a wife well. You can be damned sure she won't have you when she learns you have taken your commission funds with no intention of joining."
"I don't really care if she will take me or not," Lord John said through gritted teeth.
He had no intention of marrying the lady after she had made such an open show of seeking another's hand. It had been well-known that the two were set to be matched. However, when a titled gentleman took a liking to her, she threw their attachment out of the window. He would not renew it with her now simply because she had tasted her own medicine.
"Then please share with me, brother, what great plan you have to put your funds to," the duke spoke with impatience.
"You are well aware I have much preferred books to military service."
"Are you to go into law than? What a terrible fall from an officer. I can tell you right now that Mother would not survive the shame of a son who would choose law. It is barely a gentlemanly vocation."
"I do not desire to go into law," Lord John worked hard to keep his voice steady. "Though one would think a mother would wish for her son's happiness over the Ton’s opinions."
"Seriously, John! Are you so simple in the head? Our name is everything! Happiness? What does that matter."
"Maybe you do not get to choose happiness for yourself, but I am not so shackled, Your Grace," Lord John jibed.
He knew instantly it was the wrong thing to do. The Duke of Ludford knew from infancy that he was to inherit his father's title, land and all the responsibility that came with it. If their mother wasn't lecturing him on his future responsibilities, she scolded him on behaviour that was not becoming of a future duke.
"It is only a shackle when it comes to you," the duke spat.
He stopped in his pacing and faced his younger brother head-on, blue eyes narrowed to icy slits.
"That shackle gives me the burden of seeing you right in life. You may not have my burden, but there is still one for you to bear. You are a member of this family, and as such you will not shame our name."
"I misspoke, Daniel. Forgive me," Lord John said softly.
Enraging his brother even further would get him nowhere. Though he didn't like it, he needed his brother's approval to release his funds.
"You know I have had a passion for writing since I