Character Showcase: Lord Brandon Beaufort

 

He’s the younger son of the Earl of Beaufort and therefore “the spare”. As a boy, he was destined for the church. That was his stern father’s plan, which nobody dared question. But Brandon has other dreams, and when he befriends Ramses Deverell he learns how to use his own voice and is encouraged to stand up for what he wants. Through Deverell's support, he finds the necessary courage and confidence in himself to become an artist.

Their friendship is forged at boarding school, when the boys are eleven. Ramses is not much of a scholar, so Brandon attempts to help him learn. But after only a year, Ramses decides to save his family the cost of that education and follows his own father’s footsteps into the Royal Navy. The two boys might have gone their separate ways then, but instead they stay in contact and whenever Ramses is in England on leave, he meets up with Brandon. After nineteen years, their bond is as strong as ever, and each time they are in company together, it’s as if they’ve never been apart.  They know everything about each other— even the things they think they’ve kept secret from the world.

Many people warned him never to trust a Deverell, but Brandon knows how lucky he is to count Ram as his oldest, most loyal friend. There is nobody else in his life so outspoken, fearless and driven; nobody else who could have opened his eyes to another world and new possibilities. Oh, Ram can be trouble at times, certainly— and likes to raise eyebrows. But Brandon knows how to handle the fellow’s moods and eccentricities, and he would stand up for Ram, no matter what, just as his friend has always done for him.

Brandon Beaufort doesn’t let anything ruffle his feathers. He was once a nervous, lonely, quiet boy, very much in his elder brother’s shadow and tormented by a cold-hearted, callous father. But he has grown up into a man who is finally happy in his own skin. He is calm in any storm, and a gentleman in any crisis.

Even so, don’t be fooled by that angelic face and his kindly, generous nature, because when pushed he can be just as mulish and tough-skinned as his notorious comrade.

Especially when he’s needed to pull his friend back from the darkest abyss.

“Do-gooder,” Ram calls him.

But like any knight in shining armor, Lord Brandon Beaufort believes in fighting for love.

And since his best friend once helped him find the way to happiness, he plans to repay the favour.

  Meet Lord Brandon Beaufort in DANCE WITH A DEVERELL

Happy Reading!

(Image: Portrait of a Young Gentleman by George Dawe, 1819)