“I understand.”
The porter admitted them and conducted them up a short flight of stairs to a chamber whose windows overlooked the square. The room was orderly to the point of austerity: shelves of ledgers, a long table of dark wood, three high-backed chairs drawn up behind it.
Three gentlemen rose as Elizabeth entered. The eldest, spare and silver-haired, inclined his head. “Miss Bennet. Mr Gardiner. My name is Rotherdam. Pray, be seated.”
She took the chair indicated; her uncle seated himself at her right.
Mr Rotherdam unfolded a document before him. “Thank you for your reply to our notice, Miss Bennet. We appreciate your attendance to this matter.”
There seemed little she needed to say to that, so she simply inclined her head.
“And you are aware of the nature of the settlement?”
“In outline,” she said. “My uncle has apprised me of its origin and a few rather spare details.”
A faint nod passed among the three. “It is not our wish,” Mr Rotherdam said, “to impose upon you. The instrument is explicit in its provision that acceptance be rendered freely.”
“And personally,” another added.
Elizabeth’s gaze moved between them. “I wondered at that particular insistence in your letter.”
“It is required,” Mr Rotherdam replied. “The founding deed specifies that the eligible steward must signify assent in her own person, and, in the case of acceptance, present herself at Blackscar to assume the charge.”
Her uncle’s hand stilled upon the arm of his chair, then clenched into a light fist.
“At Blackscar,” Elizabeth repeated. “In person?”
“Yes. We are aware, Miss Bennet, that it is no easy distance, particularly this time of year, but that is the term laid out.”
Mr Gardiner cleared his throat gently. “I presume I may accompany my niece in the event she elects to inspect the property.”
“You may travelwithher, certainly,” said the third Trustee. “But the declaration itself must be rendered without proxy.”
Elizabeth folded her hands upon her lap. “May I inquire about the details?”
The three exchanged a glance so slight that it might have been accidental. Mr Rotherdam adjusted the paper before him.
“Miss Bennet, you attain your majority in two days’ time.”
Elizabeth nodded. “On the fifteenth.”
“Just so. The settlement specifies that acknowledgment must be rendered within a reasonable period of that date.”
“And what constitutes 'reasonable'?”
“In former generations, the matter was settled within the quarter,” he replied. “We have already allowed for delay.”
“In deference to my sister,” Elizabeth said evenly.
A faint tightening passed across his features. “In deference to circumstance.”
She inclined her head but did not concede the correction. “If I am to decide, I should wish to know what I am deciding upon. You speak of Blackscar as though I ought to picture it. At present, my mind can hardly overcome the rather gothic-sounding name.”
The second Trustee smiled slightly. “It lies upon the Northumberland coast, between Alnwick and the fishing village of Seahaven. A reef extends there some distance from shore. Before the Lantern’s erection, wrecks upon that stretch were... frequent.”
“And widely fatal,” the third gentleman supplied quietly.
“And the tower itself?”
