“That’s right. You are a student of history?” Giles tilted his head to one side as he asked the question.
She fidgeted a little. “I like to read. It was frowned upon when I was growing up, and although there was a good library at Wilkerson House, I was told I should tend to women’s matters, not wasting my time with my head in a book.” She sighed. “I did manage to pick up a few things though. And reading about history was something I truly enjoyed.”
“Then you will be most pleased with the Wolfbridge library.” He smiled. “And no one will forbid you access to all the books you please.”
She shook her head. “You’d better finish your story first, if you would. I’m finding all this rather hard to believe.”
He nodded. “Very well then. Baron Wolfbridge and his Lady set the place to rights, and then got involved with Jacobites. Which, sadly, resulted in the death of his Lordship. The widowed Baroness Wolfbridge was beset from all sides with suitors, since the land was in good heart and she was now available.”
“Poor woman,” commented Adalyn sympathetically. “It must have been a sore trial for her.”
“Well, not really. She had a will of iron. She refused all offers of marriage, turned all potential husbands away, and ran the estate herself. She had no heirs, and adamantly rejected all the suggestions of the lawyers who produced a number of potential relatives who might have inherited.”
“A strong woman indeed.”
“At last, she realised that she had to do something. And at that very time she heard about a young woman who had just been widowed and was facing some of the troubles she herself had experienced. It happened that this poor girl was a distant relation. She summoned several distinguished lawyers, and told her servants to find this woman and bring her to Wolfbridge.”
Adalyn held her breath. The story had her spellbound, and Giles told it well, with such style that she could almost see herself there a hundred years before.
“The young woman was naturally astounded by Wolfbridge Manor. And even more so when she learned that it was to be hers.”
“Oh my,” exclaimed Adalyn.
“Lady Wolfbridge decided to turn her beloved home into a sanctuary of sorts. She decreed that henceforth, the property was to be used to house women who had suffered the same fate as herself and the young woman who now resided with her. Women who face an uncertain future—like yourself—through no fault of their own. Women upon whom Society has turned its back, leaving them alone, homeless and practically destitute.” He paused, a dramatic breath of silence. “I imagine the august legal minds were somewhat taken aback and there must have been plenty of relatives eager to overturn the entail. None succeeded. And that has always suggested to me that she had a great deal of help from higher places.”
“You believe there might have been some political influence?” Adalyn tilted her head to one side.
“Either that or a word or two in the right ear from a member of Royalty.” He shrugged. “I can only guess—there are certainly no indications of any such thing. But it is written into the entail of the estate, and since then, Wolfbridge has been handed down to women who have a connection, no matter how slight, to the original Wolfbridge line. With that iron-clad stipulation legally placed on record, matters were settled. Although unique, the lawyers obeyed Lady Wolfbridge and established the succession of the estate so as to preclude any attempts to have it removed or reworded. Some tried to break it from time to time, but they failed. Eventually they gave up.”
Adalyn blinked. “I don’t…I never…doIhave such a connection, Giles?”
“You do,” he answered. “Through your maternal grandfather.”
“Good heavens.” She struggled with the idea. “I had no idea. What an unlikely but fortunate connection it is, then.”
“I would agree, since you fulfill the requirements set forth for the tenancy. All the previous occupants have found themselves alone and without too many options.”
“Like me.”
“Yes, my Lady. Just like you.”
“So who is living there now?” Adalyn stared at Giles.
“Lady Panthea Marchwood was our most recent mistress. Her aunt’s husband was the connection to Wolfbridge. She left us nearly two years ago.”
“So it’s been empty since?”
“Other than the staff, yes. As you can imagine, it takes time to keep track of potential heirs. And often, there are none, as happened recently. We have been waiting, watching—and finally we found our next mistress.” He put his hand over hers. “And that would be you, my dear.”
She thought about that for a few minutes, silently trying to sort out the whirling myriad of questions within her mind. She settled on the simplest.
“How long have you been butler at Wolfbridge, Giles?”
“Close to twenty years now, my Lady. It is a unique position, since butlers accept the responsibility of running the house. We understand that the Manor will change hands when the time is right, but that our tenure is connected to the house, not the owner.”
“I’ve never heard of such an arrangement.”
“Well, I am not surprised,” he shrugged. “It is a somewhat eccentric agreement. And truth to tell, we have done our best to remain out of the eye of those who might find it peculiar. We’re in a quiet part of a quiet county. I am not sure how long that will be the case, but for now we like things as they are.”
