“You’re the oldest son of the earl, the late earl—Eddie and Tom’s father must be your real father. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
A pause. “Xanth, I don’t know where you’ve got this idea from, but?—”
“Here, look.” More shuffling. “Your house in London, your law practice, your master’s degree in America… The old earl—Tom’s grandfather—paid for everything.”
Duncan’s grip tightened on Amelia’s arm.
“Oh, no, Xanth, that was a family legacy, from an aunt of my father’s. It?—”
“It wasn’t, Connor! That’s what your father—what Duncan—has told you all these years, but I have proof. All that money came from the old earl, Eddie’s granddad. There are bank accounts, deeds. There’s no great aunt. Look, follow the money.”
Another pause. Tom looked towards the door, thoughtfully.
“I have no idea what all this means,” Connor said slowly.
“I do. I’ve been looking into it for months. I didn’t want to say anything until I was certain, but these are the last pieces of the puzzle. It’s more than half a million pounds he’s given you. Why else would the old earl have given you that kind of money, unlessyou were his kin, his heir even? It’s obvious he wanted to set you up, after they lost Eddie! Well, practically lost him.”
“Where did all these papers come from?”
“All over, but most of it was in your dad’s—Duncan’s—study.”
Duncan grunted. Tom found Amelia’s gaze again, his mouth dropping open. It wasXanthein the study? She had been at the estate for theUpstairs, Downstairstour. She must have left her van beside the road and gone in on foot.
“Duncan’s been keeping it from you,” Xanthe said. “Everyone has. It’s been sitting there all along. And see this? It’s a copy of a page in the earl’s family book thing—the family rules.”
Tom raised an eyebrow.
“Says here that illegitimate children can be counted as heirs if the paternity can be proven,” Xanthe continued, “which we can do these days, with a DNA test.”
“Eddie’s still the earl, Xanth. Even if any of this was—which it can’t be—he’s older than me.”
“No, it says right here, look, that heirs have to be ‘in sound mind.’ Eddie should never have become the earl. It goes to the next eldest, which is you. All this, it’s rightfully yours.” Amelia imagined Xanthe waving her arms to indicate the estate. “It’s ours. It’s our baby’s. You could save it. We could save it.”
“This doesn’t make any?—”
“Think about it. Everyone knew Eddie’s mum and dad hated each other. I mean everyone always wondered?—”
“Connor, I need you in here!” Duncan yelled, his arm tightening around Amelia.
“I have to go and help Dad with a thing,” Connor said to Xanthe. “I’ll come to the village as soon as I’m done, okay?”
“Here, take all this and have a look at it, okay? I have copies. You need to stop the sale. We can’t let them smash the place down. We could make a go of it. Make a home.”
“Xanth, this is the last place on earth I’d want to live. Plus, the debts… I told you, there’s nothing left, anyway. Besides which, this is all madness.”
“It’s not, babe. Promise me you’ll read it. We have to move quickly. I mean, I hate to do this to Tom—he’s been so good to me—but the truth needs to come out. And it’s not like he cares about the title. The one he’s got had to be forced on him!”
“I’ll read it, I promise. But you have to go, okay? There’s a lot we have to do here, and?—”
Duncan cleared his throat. “Connor! Don’t forget to do what we talked about.”
Connor took a big intake of breath, audible even from inside. “Let me walk you to your van. And I need you to do something for us. Pop into the police station and tell the sergeant that Tom and his friend have wandered off into the moor. No big drama, just a heads-up, but they were drinking some strong liquor, and we’re concerned about Tom’s mental health…” Their voices and footsteps trailed off.
Tom was watching Duncan intently. “Duncan? What was all that about—the money?”
Duncan made a growling sound in his throat, which reminded Amelia of something from the night of the murder, not that it was a murder, not then, at least. She frowned. The argument! She remembered the conversation she overheard between the cyclopses—between Duncan and Connor. Duncan had made that same growling noise.
The van started and moved off, gravel rattling under the tires. One of the main doors opened and Connor walked in, flicking through a stack of paper. He kicked the door closed.
