In truth, though his duty to the marquessate should have come first and foremost, Max could no longer deny he’d put such obligation to the back of his mind. Put simply, he’d wanted to play soldier.
Thrust into his title whilst still only a young man, Max had known very little of anything other than duty. He’d be forever grateful for Queen Charlotte’s insistence that he complete his education before taking up the mantel of Marquess, but it meant he’d gone straight from Oxford into the responsibilities of running a substantial estate.
It hadn’t immediately been so time-consuming as the majority of the accounting continued to be done by the estate manager. However, Fielding had been originally employed by his father, and his age eventually caught up with him until Max had taken over the bookkeeping himself.
However, while Max was entirely content to live a predominantly solitary life at Guildford Hall, he’d keenly followed Major General Wellesley’s campaigns in the Peninsular War, and when the opportunity came to do his part, Max had jumped at the chance, telling himself that it was past time his little brother was given some responsibilities.
In retrospect, his stupidity truly beggared belief.
And now here he was, getting steadily drunk to avoid the thought that he needed to find himself a rich wife. Naturally, he’d always expected to get leg-shackled eventually, but not like this. Never like this. In truth, he’d never in a thousand years expected to have to marry for money. Or humiliate himself by admitting the Wolverton’s had lost nearly everything without actually stating how. The gossip mongers would undoubtedly go into a frenzy of speculation.
Shaking his head, Max thought back to the diamond necklace he spied around the neck of the chit at the ball earlier. Clearly no one realised it was a Wolverton family heirloom. A beautiful piece, but not one that was instantly recognisable. His brother had been clever in that at least.
UnlikeSepideh.
Max thought back to the first time his father had shown him the flawless pink diamond. He’d been ten years old. ‘This was a gift to your great grandfather from the Shah of Persia in gratitude for saving the life of his daughter.’ He handed the gem to Max who clutched it tightly, terrified he might drop it. ‘It’s the biggest diamond in the world,’ the boy breathed in awe, holding it up to the light.
His father shook his head with a smile. ‘It was cut from another even larger stone they calledThe Great Tablewhich was said to have decorated the throne of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. Legend has it thatThe Great Tablewas cut into three pieces.’ He pointed to the diamond still clutched in Max’s hands. ‘This is the smallest. It was given the name ofSepideh, meaningbreak of dawn. It is the greatest legacy of the Wolverton family, and when I die, it will be your responsibility. It is almost priceless, Max. Guard it well. One day you may need it.
The next time Max had laid eyes on the diamond had been the day of his parents’ funeral. He remembered thinking at the time that he’d give the gem away in an instant if it would turn back the clock.
Since then, he’d given the gemstone very little thought.Sepidehhad remained in a specially commissioned vault at Guildford Hall.
Until now.
Until Hugo had somehow got his grubby little paws on it.
Whoever his brother had sold the diamond to would not dare show it in public, but someone had it. And that someone had been aware that the transaction was entirely illegal so had undoubtedly paid his brother the smallest fraction of its true worth - simply to hide it away.
Max was determined to find out who Hugo had sold it to and get the heirloom back, even if he had to wring his brother’s neck in the process.
Chapter Two
‘So, what do you intend to do about it father?’
Reverend Shackleford winced and stared over his desk at Patience who was now tapping her feet impatiently.
‘Well mayhap considering an improvement to your conduct would be a good start,’ her father muttered in exasperation.
‘I can no more change myself than you can,’ Patience retorted. To the Reverend’s surprise, his daughter looked suspiciously close to tears. ‘We have to stop this farce father. I have no wish to be married. We both know that I’ll simply be an embarrassment to anyone who makes the mistake of offering for me.’ She blinked back the threatened tears before continuing. ‘Even if I manage to avoid making a complete cake of myself or worse for the duration of the Season, we’re talking about the rest of mylife.’
The wordlifewas shouted loud enough for the whole vicarage to hear - most especially Agnes, accompanied by the four younger Shacklefords surreptitiously eavesdropping behind the study door.
‘Well look at Temperance,’ the Reverend attempted to placate. ‘In truth, she was far worse than you, my girl, and now, well … I’m told she’s all the crack.’
‘I don’t want to be all the crack,’ wailed Patience, causing her father to come out in a cold sweat. He wasn’t accustomed to dealing with female histrionics, for the most part preferring to solve problems behind the scenes, so to speak. He stared at his daughter’s crimson-stained face and wondered with some alarm if she was about to have some sort of apoplexy.
‘Agnes,’ he yelled, unaware that his beloved was currently loitering directly outside. He almost fell off his chair as the study door was flung open only a second later. ‘I entirely agree,’ the matron declared without preamble. ‘Augustus,’ she continued in an unexpectedly vigorous tone of voice, ‘we must take action if we are to avoid being a laughingstock.’
‘Steady on,’ the Reverend protested with a frown, ‘surely she’s not that bad.’
‘She is and more, as you well know,’ retorted Agnes.
Reverend Shackleford had, of course, been thinking exactly the same thing not moments before, but for some reason, the sight of his wife up in the boughs about the whole deuced business made him inexplicably defensive.
‘Well,’ he sniffed, clearly not thinking his response through, ‘at least she didn’t almost shove the Queen of England into the duck pond.’
There was a collective intake of breath by everyone in the vicinity (which by now was almost everyone in the household) followed by a silence so absolute, even Freddy looked up.
