Bennett looked waxen. “Just so. I apologize if this was distasteful for you. The house has a way of making its will known, you’ll find.”
Cordelia’s eyes narrowed. “You’re sayingthe housedid this?”
The old man’s face fell. “I have worked for your family a long time,” he said. “And my father before me. And while I consider myself a man of reason and education, I must admit, there is much about Bone Hill I have witnessed over the years which cannot be rightly explained. It is a fine house, and a peculiar one. I’ll say no more than that. Not within these walls.”
The marrow in Cordelia’s bones went cold and runny.
Bennett turned for the stairs with a wary glance toward the door he’d just closed. “We should resume our discussion in the library, I think. Keep to the first floor for now.”
“Wait,” Eustace interrupted. “You only mentioned choosing another room for tonight. Why? What happens after tonight?”
“Your aunt will be interred, of course,” he told them. “Tomorrow morning.”
“Oh, but we haven’t spoken to anyone yet. Do we need to contact the funeral home?” Cordelia asked.
“By no means,” he said, ushering them back toward the stairs. “Everything has been arranged. Preparations are already under way. Your aunt has left specific instructions. Your presence will be required, of course, as part of the family. But beyond that, the best thing you can do is stay out of the way.”
As they headed down the stairs, Cordelia had an idea. “It would be great, Mr. Tog—I mean, Bennett, if you would be available to give these historical tours on showings.”
He stopped abruptly and turned to face her. “Showings?”
“Yes. I mean, only for those we know are serious. We’ll take them by appointment, of course. No surprise visits. History can really drive a sale.”
Bennett’s face seemed to sag even farther, like a melting candle. “Sale?”
The man reminded Cordelia of a sick parrot. “Yes. My sister and I intend to list the property as soon as we can.”
Here, he smiled assuredly, suddenly understanding her meaning. “I’m afraid that won’t be possible,” he said before turning around and starting back down the stairs.
Cordelia shot her sister a surprised look. “What do you mean?” she called.
Bennett stopped again, this time at the very base of the staircase. “Your aunt has left you a modest inheritance, but it is in fact bound to the estate through a trust.”
“A trust?” Eustace asked.
He grinned, steepling his fingers in front of the lapels of his dark gray suit. “In order to receive the Bone inheritance, you must maintain the estate within the family line.”
“You mean live here?” Cordelia pressed. This was a wrinkle she had not been prepared to iron out.
While inheriting a house just as she was losing another might sound like a miraculous solution, Cordelia did not want to share space with the haunts of the estate. She’d gone well out of her way as an adult to avoid properties with lingering inhabitants. It was the only way she’d kept from going out of her mind with terror. And she needed every penny to get John’s creditors off her back.
Her fingers began to twitch at her side.It can’t be possible,she thought. Only yesterday they’d had zero service, but a technologicalpingquickly confirmed a message. She turned and glanced at her phone.Connecticut is nice this time of year. Minus a day for the time zone difference. 27 and counting.
The number was yet againunknown.
Cordelia nearly swallowed her own tongue.That’s not how time zones work,she wanted to scream, but it didn’t matter. Busy and his associates were watching her, and they made the rules.
“Indeed,” Bennett informed them. “That is how it has always been done since your great-great-great-grandfather, Erazmus, built the house here at Bone Hill.”
“What do you mean bymodest?” Cordelia asked. She needed alotof money.Modestwas not what she was hoping for. “How much is this inheritance?”
He leveled a patronizing smile at her. “As the trustee, I determine when and if you should be informed of the specifics, and sums are not what’s important right now. I’m sure you’d agree, with your aunt so recently departed.”
Cordelia shut her mouth, adequately chastened.
“Surely there’s another way…” Eustace plied the attorney.
“You can, of course, forfeit the inheritance,” he said plainly.
