Barlow breathed deeply, perhaps quelling agreement.
Hester nodded. “May I take my niece’s place in prison?”
Jane sat bolt straight. “No, Auntie! Never. This is my burden, not yours.”
Tears lit Hester’s eyes and she nodded again. She leaned toward Mr. Barlow. “Sir, my niece and Mr. Ashford are young and yet bear alone the burdens of their family names with no remaining elders to guide them. I realize you represent Mr. Rutley in this specific matter. However, I wonder if you might see fit to offer them a token of advice.”
The request appeared to surprise Barlow. He frowned and glanced at Rutley. “Sir?”
Rutley waved a hand and stepped toward the door of his office. “I see no harm in it, given the finality of the matter. I must leave for an hour to attend another meeting anyway. Perhaps in the meantime you may impress upon these youngsters the necessity and inevitability of my actions.”
He collected his coat and hat and left without further adieus. Stunned silence held sway in the aftermath of his departure. It broke when Jane shifted her head to glare coolly at her lifelong adversary.
“See what you’ve done? Now we are both ruined.”
Chapter Two
Adam Ashford bristled at Miss Hancock’s accusation. All blame for the pending fiasco crouched at her family’s feet. He paused to measure her with an iron gaze. She presented the very picture of righteous indignation, her blue eyes piercing him like a flaming spear, her slender frame tense. A single strand of chestnut hair escaped her bonnet to fall across her cheek, giving evidence of a wild creature beneath, a creature willing to savage him unjustly. His tenuous control snapped.
“I beg to differ. What your great-grandfather began, you have finished. I assume your only regret is that your family will crumble with mine.”
She clenched her jaw and coiled for what should have proved a blistering diatribe, but her aunt’s touch suggested restraint. Her nostrils flared as she cut blazing eyes at the older woman, but then she dipped her head.
“See here!” Mr. Barlow’s voice knifed between the contestants. “I will offer no counsel to the unwise. Your insistence on lobbing accusations at each other provides ample evidence of your foolishness.”
Adam clenched and unclenched his fists before expelling a breath. He nodded to Barlow. “I will refrain, sir. I cannot speak forher.”
“And well he shouldn’t.” Miss Hancock’s voice dripped accusation. “But I will honor a truce while you advise us.”
Seemingly satisfied, Barlow stepped before them to lean against the massive desk. “Very well. I require context. The long-standing animosity between your families is well-known. To appropriately counsel you, I must hear the details asyouunderstand them.”
Miss Hancock nodded and removed her bonnet. Her coiled locks relaxed to caress slender shoulders, framing high cheekbones and a delicate nose that might have been attractive if not for her seemingly permanent frown. Adam sighed inaudibly. What a waste of a perfectly lovely face. Worse yet, if her Aunt Hester was any indication, Miss Hancock’s beauty would not soon fade.
“Very well, if you must know.” Miss Hancock’s response to Barlow’s demand interrupted Adam’s unintended scrutiny. He listened carefully, curious about her rendition of the dark events from a time long past. She shot him a glance of challenge before continuing. “My great-grandfather served as steward for Mr. Ashford’s great-grandfather. To augment the income of the Ashford estate, the two men established a lucrative trade in Glasgow, importing tobacco from the Americas for export to France. My ancestor used his share of the profits to build a successful mill back home. Mr. Ashford used his portion to expand his estate. All proceeded well for a time. However, their partnership unraveled during the Jacobite rebellion of 1745.”
“They were not partners,” Adam growled. “My great-grandfather bankrolled the enterprise. Mr. Hancock was merely an employee. Regardless, the rebellion put the business and their lives in dire straits. The Scottish holdings were forfeited to the rebels in exchange for safe passage across the English border.”
Barlow pursed his lips and nodded. “So, they lost everything?”
“Not everything.” Miss Hancock’s emphatic tone communicated an intent to reclaim the narrative. “My great-grandfather used his own funds to employ a trusted friend on behalf of the partnership to take sixty-four hundred gold guineas away from Glasgow. The hired man slipped away under the noses of the rebels and disappeared.”
Barlow expelled a breath. “Sixty-four hundred guineas are worth, what, nearly seven thousand pounds. The friend stole the gold, then?”
“That much is unclear. My great-grandfather did not hear from his friend for many months. Then he received a letter from the man describing the location of the gold.”
Adam wagged his forefinger vigorously in protest. “As did my great-grandfather. Because he bankrolled the entire venture, he laid claim to the gold.”
Her jaw clenched. “Because our ancestors were partners, and as the gold was from my great-grandfather’s portion of the enterprise, the rightful claim was his.”
“Why, that is the most ridiculous…” Adam stopped short. He tamped down annoyance to address Barlow. “Needless to say, sir, our forefathers disagreed over ownership of the treasure.”
Barlow snorted. “Clearly, the disagreement extends to the descendants. However, I fail to understand the source of the vitriol. Although the gold represents a significant sum, it does not account for the concerted efforts of four generations to ruin one another. What would explain that?”
“Murder.”
At Mrs. Byrd’s pronouncement, all eyes turned toward her. Barlow cocked his head in disbelief. “Murder?”
“As I said, sir. The men met to argue ownership. The disagreement erupted into a duel and each man mortally wounded the other. Neither survived the day. Each family blamed the other and has spent seventy years exacting revenge.”
