“Good god,” Blackwood said with a growl of disdain. “I knew the man was a rotter, but he always seemed a tightfisted one.”
James nodded. “A rotter indeed, and not at all a generous man. But he was a gambler, and apparently an extremely unlucky one.”
“That I knew. The gambling is what ended them. Thought he’d stopped as a result, but apparently he didnae.” Blackwood pinched the skin at the bridge of his nose. “Wish I’d met her before that bastard got to her.” He side-eyed James. “No offense to ye as his kin.”
“Say what you will. I’ve no love for the man, and I suspect the knowledge that I would inherit made him miserable.”
“Fell out with him, did ye?”
James let out a bitter chuckle. “That’s one way to put it.”
“Tell me the tale,” Blackwood urged. “If there’s to be no duel and yer lass hasn’t come down yet, we’ve time.”
James studied the older man and saw somethingof himself. Like he’d once done, Blackwood used his charm and easy manner to disarm. There was no reason not to tell the man the truth. The man couldn’t have a terribly high opinion of his uncle, as it was.
“I was orphaned at the age of ten. He was my only living relative in England, and he disowned me. More or less.” James couldn’t help a rueful smile. “Primogeniture doesn’t give a damn about family rows.”
“He was more than a rotter, then. A right villain.”
James couldn’t disagree, but acknowledging it with Blackwood made him curious. “How did Lady Cassandra become connected with Rossbury?”
“Why did she take up with the devil is what you’re asking.” Blackwood grimaced. “Poor timing. She’d lost her Lord Munro, a wild one he was, if the stories are true. Suppose Rossbury seemed tame. Stable. But he wasn’t, was he? Had that gambling problem. And that disgusted her as much as his coldness.”
“And then she met you?”
“Aye.” Blackwood’s voice grew deeper, his eyes almost misty. “And oh, lucky day that was.” He seemed far away, as if replaying a memory in his mind. Then he turned his hooded gaze on James again. “And what of your lucky day?”
“Mine?”
“The young lass coming to visit now is just a coincidence?”
“It is. We met by chance on the King’s Cross Stationplatform and introduced ourselves during the journey. I had no idea she was Lady Cassandra’s niece. I would have never wished to ruin her holiday.”
“But if you hadn’t journeyed to Scotland on that train, at that hour, you might have never met her. Fate has you in its sights, my boy.” Blackwood chuckled and tipped his head, assessing James with unnerving intensity. “Fond of her, are ye?”
“I am.” James found little point prevaricating to this colorful character of a man whose openness invited the same, or to himself. Not that he’d willingly volunteer any other details.
Blackwood’s body rumbled with a knowing chuckle. “That was unexpected, I take it.”
“Completely.” James took a sip of coffee and shook his head. “Nothing about this journey has gone as I’d expected.”
“Life does go that way, doesn’t it?” Blackwood stared at the fire and let out what seemed to James a wistful sigh. “But I must say,weknew this day was coming. Or at least I told Cass so, the minute she got word the old devil had taken ill.”
“Did she contact him?” James surmised the two had lost touch at the onset of his uncle’s illness. And it sounded as if Rossbury hadn’t had the funds or the physical strength to travel, but had Lady Cassandra gone to him?
“No, she’d come to loathe him and avoided his correspondence. She’s a glorious woman, my Cassandra, but speak to her of practicalities and she doesnae want to know.” He leaned forward,stretching out his arms to warm his hands by the fire. “I told her that bloody English earl wouldnae leave her a thing. Half expected some solicitor to toss her from Invermere long before ye.” With a wave toward James, he added, “No insult to ye.”
“Seeing as Drummond wanted you to kill me in a duel, I’ll settle for an insult.”
They exchanged a smile, and James felt an odd camaraderie with the man.
“So he truly left her nothing?”
“A piece of jewelry, according to Rossbury’s solicitor. But, no, not the manor.” James had never been proud to be related to Rufus Pembroke. Hell, he’d nursed his own resentments of the man all his life, but since arriving at Invermere, since meeting Lucy and learning more about Lady Cassandra, he truly understood what a small, cruel man he’d been.
“And you mean to sell quickly?”
“My shipping business needs an influx of capital.” James tapped his fingers on the chair. He spoke as if Pembroke Shipping had merely hit a wave of low cash flow but more and more, he wondered if he could ever truly piece the enterprise back together.
