Rusper did not look best pleased by the interruption, but acknowledged it. “My client provided a general sum and the discrepancy between this and Mrs Jeavons’ accounts has accumulated over the years into a tidy little saving.”
“But it does not belong to me,” Felicity burst out.
“It was provided for your use. My client had neither interest nor desire to know how it was spent. He understood there were expenses beyond your school and boarding fees, for clothing, for instance.”
“Then you kept the — the discrepancy, as you call it?”
Rusper’s smile grew. “My responsibility in the matter ended when you joined the staff of Mrs Jeavons’ academy, Miss Temple. I have long expected, however, that you would one day seek me out. And here you are.”
Raoul was ready with a question he was very sure would occur to Felicity, but he was forestalled by the clerk, turning with a paper in his hand.
“This is the final account, sir.”
Rusper took it and ran his eyes down the sheet. Felicity’s gaze was fixed upon the thing, her fingers tensely held in her lap, curling like claws. Keeping his question back for the moment, Raoul waited, finding in himself almost as much eagerness as he guessed Felicity was feeling. It was unlikely to prove an independence, but any amount was better than the zero of her current state.
The lawyer touched the paper with his finger. “Ah, I thought as much. I could not recall precisely, but if we add this to Mr Temple’s last allowance, I believe you may count upon some four hundred pounds, perhaps a trifle more. There will be an accumulation of interest, of course.”
Raoul grunted. A paltry amount, though better than he had expected. But Felicity appeared to be wholly bereft of speech. She was gazing at the lawyer open-mouthed, more shocked than Raoul had before seen her. He slid into the breach.
“What I wish to know, Mr Rusper, is why you did not, perhaps when Miss Temple came of age, seek her out instead? You held these monies for her. You knew where she was. Surely you must have known she was in need?”
Rusper looked conscious, but before he could answer, Felicity spoke at last.
“Fourhundredpounds?”
Had she even heard his question to the lawyer? Impatient, Raoul cut in. “It is scarcely a fortune, Felicity. But it might have made life a deal easier for you in Bath.”
She turned on him. “It may not be a fortune to you, but it is more money than I have ever seen in my life! I thought I had none at all, and now —” She leaned from her chair, putting out a hand towards the lawyer. “I cannot sufficiently thank you. You have given me hope and a chance to find a way to live again.”
Rusper touched his fingers to hers briefly, the natural austerity of his expression softening for an instant. “My dear Miss Temple, I only wish it were more. I was fond of your father. He amused me, little though he suspected it. I have rarely met with another with such a zestful approach to life. He had a generous spirit.”
“He had, hadn’t he? I adored him.”
Felicity’s voice quivered and Raoul glanced quickly at her. Her eyes were both glowing and glistening.
The lawyer, perhaps with an intention to give her time to compose herself, turned his gaze upon Raoul. “To answer your question, my lord, I judged it kinder not to intervene in Miss Temple’s life. The monies in my possession were and are to be used at my discretion.” He turned to address Felicity directly. “Without having it in my power to change your life in a radical fashion, Miss Temple, as I should have wished to do, I thought it less cruel to leave you in ignorance of your great-uncle’s involvement. I may have made the wrong choice, but I stand by it.”
Raoul would have hotly disputed the choice, but Felicity smiled warmly at the man.
“You chose right, sir. It could not have added to my comfort to know that the Beast rejected me as he had done my father. I grew up to the tune of Papa’s remembered maxims and learned to value my independence. It would have irked me horribly to be obliged to kowtow to the whims of a despot.”
The lawyer’s dry look reappeared. “Like father, like daughter?”
Felicity laughed, the most carefree sound Raoul had heard from her in days. His heart warmed, but as she and Rusper exchanged a reminiscence or two, he cast his mind back across the discussion and found one answer wanting. He broke in at the first lull.
“You did not say what happened to Mr Temple’s effects, sir.”
“Ah, that, yes.” Rusper cast a grave look towards Felicity. “There I had no choice, ma’am. All that Thornbury had packed up was returned to Sir Arthur. I have no knowledge of what he did with it all.”
Raoul inwardly cursed. He had hoped to avoid having to make contact with Felicity’s great-uncle. Unless she wished for it, which seemed unlikely. She looked a trifle disappointed, but she spread her hands.
“I dare say it makes no matter. I only thought of consulting his papers to see if I could learn something of his family.”
Thornbury, hovering at his employer’s elbow, leaned to murmur in Rusper’s ear. The lawyer’s eye brightened. “Ah, yes, I had forgot. Fetch them, if you please.” He turned back to Felicity as the clerk hastened from the room. “There were some papers we kept back, Miss Temple. Call it intuition, if you will. I did not think your father’s whimsy would sit well with my client.”
“Whimsy?” For a moment Felicity looked puzzled. Then delight spread across her countenance. “His stories! You kept them? Oh, Mr Rusper, thank you!”
The fellow looked as pleased as punch. Raoul was amazed at the change in him. “I well remember your father describing to me, with much embellishment, your reactions when he entertained you with his tales, my dear. Several of them were published, you know.”
