“But Josie is safe, one assumes?”
“She had some archdeacon fellow to marry her — someone from Woodridge’s family. Yes, she is safe, for although she is illegitimate, that no longer matters now that she is married.”
The questions went on, but Bertram heard little of it. His own fears buzzed in his head so loudly that nothing else penetrated. He was heir to an earldom… There were men who would relish such a change in their fortunes, but he was not one of them.An earl!And he would have to marry, that was the worst of it. He would have to go to town and caper about in ballrooms and do the pretty to well-connected but dull females, instead of mouldering in his library for the rest of his life. He had two younger brothers, after all, to do what was necessary to continue the family line. Not that he was against the idea on principle, but the only woman he could imagine letting into his life would be someone as bookish as he was. If a wife would sit quietly in the library, as engrossed in her reading as he was, then he would have no objection, but as he had never met such a creature, he remained unwed.
But after a while, as he looked round the room, he realised that others were far worse off than he was. Walter, for instance, had lost his entire inheritance. The rest of the cousins were rendered illegitimate. Lady Rennington was not even a wife any longer! That was a quite undeserved punishment when they had done nothing wrong…noneof them had done anything wrong, yet they were all cast down, and Bertram and his father unexpectedly uplifted. He should not be ungrateful… but he was, for all that. No one was pleased by this turn of events.
The room eventually fell into a deep silence, broken only by the occasional sob from Bertram’s mother. Everyone had run out of questions, it seemed.
After some time, Eustace said, “I suppose you will have to give up Miss Franklyn, Walter.”
Bertram had forgotten Bea Franklyn. She and Walter had been betrothed for the best part of a year, awaiting a favourable moment to marry. She was an odd, forward sort of girl, who had set her cap at Walter almost from the moment she had movedinto the parish. Walter had been amused by her persistent assault, but she had forty thousand pounds and some very distinguished connections, so he had yielded gracefully in the end.
But now, even if the marriage were to go ahead as planned, the Franklyns needed to be informed of the change in Walter’s circumstances. He was dispatched to deliver the news, and everyone else was bundled out of the room, the ladies to see the ailing Dowager Countess, and the men presumably to congregate in corners of the library and discuss the disastrous turn of events at inordinate length.
“We will talk more of this later,” the earl said. “Pray leave me now. George, you and Bertram may stay.”
Olivia was about to leave the room, but now she stopped. “Does that mean Izzy is not Lady Farramont?” she said, wide-eyed. “Is she Lady Isabel again?”
“No, because she is illegitimate,” Eustace said, his voice harsh. “She is merely Miss Isabel Atherton, you are Miss Olivia Atherton and I am not even an Honourable any more. We are all stripped of our titles, little sister, just like Walter, so you had better get used to it.”
She burst into tears, and raced from the room.
“That was unkind, cousin,” Bertram said to Eustace.
He had the grace to look a little ashamed. “You are right, but… it is such a shock, and coming after the business with Nicholson… it is hard to be rational when one has lost everything. And what did I say that was untrue? We must all grow accustomed to our new place in society. You must not be too severe on us, you whose station in life is so immeasurably improved.”
“Has it?” Bertram said, astonished. “You think I want this?”
“To be rich? To wield great power? To hold a rank which commands respect from the entire world? Why would you not want it? Anyone would.”
“I had sooner be respected for my character and my achievements than for something that came to me only by an accident of birth, cousin.”
Eustace laughed and shook his head. “What an unnatural creature you are, to be sure. Yes, yes, Father, I am going.”
The door closed behind him with a soft thunk, and then Bertram was alone with his father and his uncle.
“Brandy,” Father said. “You need a brandy, Charles, and so do I, God knows. Bertram, will you do the honours? Lord, this is far worse than any of us could have dreamt. Our imaginations were well exercised by your letter, but nothing we thought of came close to the truth. This is appalling, Charles.”
The earl sighed. “It is not quite as bad as it seems. The marriage vows can be made again, so Caroline may be comfortable. For the children, Walter is the worst affected, but at least he is engaged to be married already. He will have Miss Franklyn’s fortune to support the life of a gentleman, and I will honour my side of the settlements, naturally — the house, and an increased allowance. I shall not cut him adrift. Eustace has his own estate and independence, Josie and Izzy are married, and Kent and Olivia are young enough to make a recover from this blow, as we all shall, in time.”
“You might, but what of us?” Father said. “I shall do my duty, of course, as your brother, and accept the burden when it falls to me, as I was raised to do, but do consider Bertram’s plight. By the time he was born, you already had two sons. He has never had the least expectation of succeeding to the title. It is a great upheaval for him.”
“True, but a good one, surely?” the earl said. “Look at the opportunities that will now open to him — no longer merely theson of a country gentleman, but a future heir to an earldom. He will have the world at his feet, and may take his pick of eligible young ladies. If he comes to town with us next spring—”
“No,” Father said firmly. “I will not have him hounded to make a suitable match, as I was — and as you were, Charles. Lord, the so-called eligible young ladies who were paraded under our noses! It was dreadful, and I will not have Bertram pressed in that way. He has never shown the least interest in females, and that has never mattered to me because I have two other sons. Lucas is already showing signs that he will want to marry sooner rather than later. You may takehimto town with you if you wish, but not Bertram.”
“You let your children run rings round you, brother,” the earl said, but with a glimmer of a smile. “Very well, it shall be as you wish, but nevertheless he is now second in line for the title and estates, and I should like him — both of you, in fact — to have some idea of what you will be taking on in the future.”
“Well, if we must,” Father said dubiously. “Clarke takes care of everything for you, does he not? Good fellow, Clarke.”
“An excellent man, although I never wanted him. I thought to leave Nicholson to handle everything, as he used to do for my father, but when the estates passed to me, the lawyers thought it better to have someone from outside the family. The awkwardness if there were any mistakes in the accounts, you see.”
“Oh, quite,” Father said. “We will have a word with Clarke, then, and he can explain it to us. Not that we need to. I am sure your affairs are in good order, and you will be with us for many more years yet, God willing.”
“Will tomorrow suit you — about twelve, say? I shall look out the account books.”
They agreed to it, although not with much enthusiasm. Bertram’s father had married a wealthy woman and livedcomfortably on her fortune without ever needing to think about money, and so Bertram had never had to think about it, either. Their modest estate and a sum in the four percents did not require much in the way of management. The prospect of, one day, being responsible for the earl’s numerous holdings and investments sank them in gloom.
