“There is no dishonor in being without funds.”
“I’m not saying there is,” Jack was quick to answer. “I’ve lived by my wits and eaten hardtack.”
“Although you needn’t. You had a family to take you in.”
Jack decided not to argue that point. Besides, his curiosity was about Lady Charlene. “She doesn’t? Not one of her stellar relatives would open their doors?”
“Did you ever hear of Dearne?”
Jack shook his head.
“He was a miserable gambler. Drink ruined his brain. They pulled him out of the Thames. He left his wife and child with nothing. A few years later and the wife died. Lady Charlene is their orphan.”
“Tragic.”
“More than that—Father gambled with Dearne. I don’t know if you remember but Father won the Scots pearls off of him and whatever else he could take. He found it great sport although it was much like blind robbery.”
Jack sat up. “Areyoucriticizing Father?” He made a pretense of looking around. “Am I in London? Is this trulymybrother?”
The look Gavin gave him would have skewered him if it had been a sword. “I am aware Father had faults. I wasn’t blind, Jack.”
Jack had thought so. He’d never imagined his brother would question their father. Certainly not in the way Jack had. “I admit I am surprised to hear you say this.”
“You must think me a dunderhead.”
“It may not be wise to say.”
Gavin ignored the barb. “I learned after Father died that what he did and what he had expected from me were two different things.”
This was news. “Such as?” Jack asked.
“Father had been bleeding the estates dry gambling on bad investments. I am certain he meant to recoup his losses but he died before he could.”
“Had he lost that much money?”
“Most of it.”
“What did you do?”
“I went to Fyclan Morris. You remember him?”
Jack nodded. “Of course. Elin’s father. He was standing by Mother last night.”
“Morris’s wife died a year or so ago. He and Mother have been keeping each other company.”
That was another interesting tidbit of news.
“Morris helped me put most of the fortune back together. It was a harrowing adventure. Father had invested in the wildest of schemes.”
“Such as?”
“He favored inventions, many of which were the handiwork of charlatans and if it included electricity, he would double the amount he invested. Then there were risky expeditions. A few came through but not with the riches Father had anticipated. I learned the important lesson that what people see on the outside isn’t always true on the inside.”
He was right. “And how are you now?”
“Better than I should be. Morris is a genius when it comes to money and I’ve been very lucky.”
“Or shrewd,” Jack said with admiration. He had assumed that all had been easy for his twin. Instead, Gavin had been trapped in his own little box. Granted their sire had built it for him, but it had been his choice to stay and fight and he had. “I give you credit. That must have been a challenge.”
