“Lord save us! Poor Lady Alice! But… how could she know?”
“You forget that her other senses are much sharpened. She may be blind, but she hears extraordinarily well, and her sense of smell… the blood… she knew something was amiss, and then she stumbled upon the axe, which had been dropped on the floor.”
“Dear God! Poor lady! Butwhy, Miss Tess? Why would anyone kill your father? The chaplain, after all… a man of God. How could a chaplain have any enemies?”
Tess did not have quite such a rosy view of her father, but still, it was hard to imagine that he had upset anyone sufficiently to cause himself to be murdered.
“I suppose there’s one good thing to come out of this,” Tom said with a quick grin. “At least when the will is read, you’ll find out once and for all what your dowry will be.”
Tess’s spirits lifted fractionally. That was true! However dark the clouds may be, there was always a silver lining.
***
The will was read in the Earl of Rennington’s study, in the presence of only the earl and countess, Tess and the two lawyers from York. Tess’s mother, still too grieved at the tragic death of her husband, had not yet left her room. Tess and her aunt were in deep mourning, but although Tess disliked herself in black, there was no escaping that. Anything up to six months in full black, and perhaps another six months or so in half mourning, with greys and lilacs and touches of white on darker gowns. Tess fretted a little at the necessity, but she had neverbeen openly rebellious — that was not her way. So she sat meekly in her black gown, and waited patiently for the lawyers to shuffle their papers and clear their throats and begin the reading.
It was not so complicated as she had supposed. There were a few minor bequests first, for the servants — Papa’s valet, several of the grooms, something for the butler and under butler. His pocket watch, which had come from an uncle, was to go back to his brother in Hampshire, to stay in the Nicholson family. Then there was Mama’s jointure, fifteen thousand pounds in total, the income to be hers for her lifetime, and the whole to come to Tess after Mama’s death, or on remarriage.
Remarriage! That was a strange idea indeed. Surely Mama would never take another husband?
But then the lawyer cleared his throat again and looked directly at Tess again. “The remainder of my fortune to my daughter, Teresa Nicholson, on the sole condition that she marries a gentleman, and if she should not, or remains unmarried at the age of thirty, to be given to Pembroke College, Oxford, to found a Fellowship on whatever terms may be deemed appropriate. I appoint my wife, the Lady Alice Nicholson, as guardian to our daughter if she is not yet of age, and I appoint as trustees of her fortune until she marries the Right Honourable the Earl of Rennington and his heir, if of age, and if not, the most senior of the family lawyers. These same trustees to be also executors of this will.”
The voices droned on with the final formalities, but Tess could barely wait for the last few words to trickle into silence before she burst out, “But whatismy fortune? How much is it?”
The lawyer who had read the will removed his spectacles. “As to that, we cannot yet say, Miss Nicholson. It will comprise all your father’s personal effects not otherwise disposed of, any money or valuables here or in the bank, any investments… we will have to investigate. There is also a house at Pickering whichthe late earl bequeathed him. That is now yours. We know of no other property.”
The two lawyers exchanged glances, and the other one said gently, “I do not believe you should harbour unrealistic expectations, Miss Nicholson. Your father’s stipend was very generous, but not such as would enable him to establish himself as a wealthy man. It may be that when he chose to use the word‘fortune’in his will, your father meant only relative to his circumstances when he first arrived at Corland thirty years ago. When a man has nothing at all, then even savings of a few thousand will seem like a fortune.”
“A few thousand!” she said, with something close to disgust. That would not do!
She went at once to Tom Shapman’s workshop and unburdened herself of all her grievances into his sympathetic ears.
“A gentleman!” Tom said, the plane in his hand pausing its rhythmic movements. “Ah, that’s my fault, Miss Tess. I did more harm than good by going to your father last year and asking for your hand. I thought it was wrong at the time, and now see what’s happened — he’s insisting you marry a gentleman, or you’ll not get a penny piece.”
“That is just like him!” she cried, perching on an unfinished travel box. “Even in death, he is controlling us… controllingme.I must dance to his tune, whether I will or not. He is determined that I shall never marry you, and I am just as determined that I shall.”
“That’s all very well, but he’s right, isn’t he?” Tom said, putting the plane down altogether and pulling over a chair. “You’re the earl’s niece. You shouldn’t be looking at a man who earns his bread with his hands.”
“I cannot think of a man more worth looking at,” Tess said with a burst of laughter. “You are the best looking man in the North Riding, Tom.”
He reddened slightly. “Now, now, none of your nonsense, Miss Tess. Even if that were true, it’s nothing to the point. You should marry a gentleman, or a nobleman, like that lord that your lady mother wanted for you. Lord Tarvin. He’d be a fine husband for a lady like you.”
“Pfft! Edward Harfield? The stuffiest man imaginable. I hate him!”
“You’re just cross with him because he never danced with you that time he came for the ball.”
“Never danced with me and never said more than‘How do you do?’as we were introduced. Heignoredme, Tom. Three days he was here, and he ignored me the whole time, as if I were too lowly a creature to be worthy of his condescension.”
“You were barely fifteen,” Tom said, smiling at her.
“And Olivia wasthirteen, but he danced with her! And talked to her, several times. Not that he said anything worth hearing, Olivia said. Lord, but he is boring!”
“Hush now, Miss Tess. Don’t be saying‘Lord this’and‘Lord that’like some of the rougher folk do. You’ve been brought up better than that.”
A voice from the kitchen burst into mirthful laughter. “Aye, you tell her!” Betty said. “She takes no notice of anyone else.”
“She takes no notice of me, neither,” Tom said ruefully. “Does what she wants, and always has, and gets all of us jumping to her commands. It’s your own family you should be talking to, Miss Tess, not the likes of me.”
“Oh, pfft!” Tess said, but without heat. It was hard to be cross with Tom, so fine and handsome andmanlyas he was. Not like the namby-pamby gentlemen she met — her own cousins, and the oh-so-eligible Edward, Lord Tarvin. “Mama shuts herselfaway in her room, and nobody else cares about me. I have to look after myself and make my own friends. You are still my friend, are you not, Tom?”
