“I’m not sure,” Roberts admitted. “I always reported your occasional messages to your father, but he forbade me to mention them to others in your family.”
“Probably hoping I’d die somewhere far away,” Gordon said acerbically.
“Perhaps,” the lawyer said uncomfortably. “I hadn’t received any of your letters since your father died, and I don’t know if he’d ever informed his heir of your continued existence. I did send my son up to Kingston Court to attend your oldest brother’s funeral and to explain the legal situation to your younger brothers.” He gave a swift smile. “I’m glad you presented yourself here since I wasn’t sure how to go about looking for you.”
“Kirkland gets the credit for making your life easier. I was quite accustomed to ignoring all family news.” Resigning himself to the inevitable, he continued. “I’d best travel up to Lancashire before Eldon gets too attached to the possibility of being the new Lord Kingston.”
“Is he apt to make trouble?” Kirkland asked.
Gordon shrugged. “I really don’t know. I barely remember him. But he and his younger brother, Francis, always seemed more reasonable than my older brothers.”
“Given the length of time you’ve been absent, it may be difficult for Lord Eldon to believe you’re alive,” Roberts admitted. “So traveling up there soon is advisable.”
Wishing he could just give the damned title and inheritance to Eldon, Gordon said, “I’ll make sure that he and Francis are well taken care of.” The estate certainly had enough wealth to ensure that his brothers could live very comfortably.
As the three of them left Roberts’s office, Gordon thanked Kirkland for his aid. “Not a problem,” Kirkland said. “Let me know if there is anything else I can help with. I have a fair amount of experience navigating the shoals of London officialdom.”
“I may take you up on that,” Gordon said. Looking down at Callie, he added, “For now, we go to Lancashire.”
Callie took his hand. “To get it over with!”
“Please keep me posted on your progress.” Kirkland tipped his hat. “You’ll get used to this soon, Lord Kingston. You might even find you enjoy the challenges of your new position.”
That was probably true, but Gordon still wished he wouldn’t have to.
Chapter 39
It had been fifteen years since Gordon had traveled this road, but he remembered it well. When they approached the top of the hill that overlooked the valley containing Long Lake and Kingston Court, he signaled the postilion to stop the chaise. As he opened the door, he said to Callie, “Time for a brief survey of our future.”
She stretched, then climbed out after him. “I’ll join you. After three days of rattling around in a coach, I welcome all opportunities to stretch my legs.”
Knowing they’d reach Kingston Court today, they’d both taken pains with their clothing. If there was one thing Gordon had learned in his checkered career, it was that dressing for the part was halfway to convincing people that he belonged in the role. If he was to be a marquess, he’d damn well look the part, and he did.
But he paled next to Callie, whose expert remodeling of a forest green gown with gold embroidered trim made her look like a queen. A glorious one, like Elizabeth, who had also had red in her hair. “One of these days there will be time enough for you to visit a modiste for a new wardrobe,” he said wryly.
She laughed, tightening her Kashmiri shawl around her shoulders against the autumn wind. “I hope so, but in the meantime, think how much money I’m saving you!”
“Since we don’t need to be frugal, I’ll have to spend any wardrobe savings on jewels to adorn you, not that you need jewels to look beautiful.”
“I’d rather have a really good riding horse.”
“That’s my girl,” he said fondly. “You can have both.”
He draped an arm around Callie’s shoulders and they strolled to the crest of the hill. The day had been overcast, but in late afternoon the sun had come out and the lake below gleamed like a mirror.
Callie said, “Rush Hall is just over that hill. Maybe tomorrow we can ride over and see if some members of my family are in residence. I left Elinor so quickly that I didn’t ask about anyone else.”
“We’ll do that. I wonder if the path we followed between our houses is still well worn, or if it’s grown over.” He fell silent, thinking of the easy joy of their friendship, and the difficulties of every other part of his childhood.
“We Brookes always took a different road into our valley, so I don’t think I’ve ever seen this view of your house before,” Callie said. “It looks really Gothic! Will there be bats and rattling chains?”
He smiled at the way she countered his tension. The rambling family seat did look rather Gothic, particularly the oldest section, which was a tower left over from a medieval castle. The stubby but suitably threatening tower stood on a steep hill overlooking the unimaginatively named Long Lake. The master’s quarters were in the tower, with a view of the water.
Later additions to the structure rambled down from the tower. That side of the hill was less steep, but it lacked the dramatic views of the lake. “I’m glad my room was in the newer section of the Court,” he said. “It was still damp and musty, but at least there were no bats, and any rattling chains were probably the sounds I made when I slipped out illegally at night.”
She said warningly, “Having a strong sense of the order of things, the servants will make us sleep in the master’s rooms in the old tower. Grand furniture and smoking fireplaces, I suspect. I never visited the tower.”
“I never saw much of the master’s rooms, but I did explore the lower tower. The stone walls are so thick that there’s a secret staircase hidden inside.”
