Читать книгу Bride By Friday - TRISHA DAVID - Страница 8

CHAPTER THREE

‘SO TELL me how you come to be an Australian earl?’ Tess asked over her second cup of coffee. To her surprise, she’d packed away another vast breakfast.

‘I told you you shouldn’t have eaten the airline breakfast,’ Charlie had told her as she’d looked at her loaded plate in dismay, but in the end it hadn’t made any difference at all. She had been making up for lost time. Now Mary had whisked herself off to supervise unpacking and they were left alone.

It felt weird. It was eleven in the morning and she was sitting in a bathrobe over breakfast with the Earl of Dalston.

With Charlie.

‘You’ve already figured it,’ Charlie told her. ‘My uncle died without issue.’

‘Issue?’

‘Kids.’ He gnnned. ‘Toe-rags. Noisy little blighters who spend all your money. My uncle could never abide them. Or women either. He romanticized marriage—he thought every man should have a wife—but he was too lousy to get one for himself. Even sharing the toothpaste would have made him wince.’

‘He and your father were brothers?’

‘Yep. They were as unalike as two men could be, but brothers for all that.’ Charlie poured himself another coffee and leaned back. ‘As soon as he came of age, Dad took his share of the family fortune and set himself up on a farm in Australia. He married my mom—an American girl—and my uncle decided then that we were completely beyond the pale. Dad died two years ago, without ever having come back to the old country.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘Don’t be.’ Charlie smiled. ‘My father had a better life than my uncle ever had. He and my mom were very much in love. He died just a few months after she did, and neither of them regretted a thing about their lives. Except maybe not having more children.’

‘There’s only you?’

‘Yep.’

Tess nodded, thinking it through. ‘But... if your father hasn’t been back...how come you’ve been here?’

‘I was heir to the earldom,’ Charlie said simply. ‘My father always knew my uncle wouldn’t marry and my mom and dad taught me what to expect early. They sent me over to stay with my grandparents.’

‘Your grandparents?’

‘My grandfather was the eleventh earl,’ Charlie told her. ‘He died eight years ago. He and I were best of friends. It was only my uncle who couldn’t bear the thought that I’d inherit.’

‘Why?’

‘I broke a Dresden vase when I was nine years old.’ Charlie’s lazy grin flashed out again—magnetic and intense. ‘The dogs and I were chasing my uncle’s cat at the time. A fatter, lazier cat you’ve never seen and I let my grandfather’s hounds into the house, just to stir her. I don’t think my uncle ever forgave me. He thought I was a wastrel and a scoundrel. And totally useless at taking on responsibilities.’

‘And a wife is supposed to cure all that?’

Charlie’s eyes widened. ‘Of course,’ he said blandly. ‘How can it not? If you take me on, how can I help but turn into the epitome of steadiness and sober duty?’

‘It doesn’t sound much fun,’ Tessa said doubtfully, considering. ‘Steadiness and sober duty.’

‘With you it would be.’

‘Charlie...’ Tessa’s colour mounted again. ‘Don’t!’

‘Because of Donald?’

‘Yes, because of Donald,’ she snapped. ‘And a thousand other reasons. The idea is totally crazy.’ She pushed back her cup. ‘Now...I need to find my clothes.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘I have an appointment this afternoon somewhere in Kensmgton. I don’t know where that is and I need to find it.’

‘It’s ten minutes’ walk from here.’

‘Really?’

‘Well, it depends whereabouts in Kensington, but fifteen minutes at the outside.’ Charhe’s eyes didn’t leave hers. ‘I can take you there if you need me.’

‘I don’t. Thank you.’ Good grief, she had to start being independent soon.

‘And you’re not going to tell me what the appointment is?’

‘There’s no need.’

‘No need to tell me?’

He was watching her with that calm kindness of his—the kindness that could be her undoing. The kindness that made her want to place all her cares on his broad shoulders. Which was ridiculous. She was an independent woman. Tessa’s mother had been ill for years and Tess had taken over family responsibilities early. She was a trained nurse in charge of a small hospital. She was competent to fight her own battles.

But, independent or not, maybe Charles Cameron deserved to be told why she was floundering here. After all, he was giving her free accommodation. Even Donald would tell her to be grateful.

So she told him.

‘I have an appointment with my sister’s lawyer,’ she said slowly, the pain in her voice impossible to conceal. ‘My sister and her husband died last week in a car crash just north of London. My sister’s husband is English and they lived here. The funeral was five days ago. I’ve just come over to...’ Her voice faltered to a halt.

‘To say goodbye?’ Charlie said softly and Tessa’s eyes flew to his face.

‘I suppose you think that’s stupid.’

‘I don’t think anything of the kind.’ Charlie’s large hand came over the table and gripped hers. And held. ‘When my grandfather died I was in America with my mom’s people and didn’t hear of his death for two weeks. My uncle saw no need to contact me. But when I heard...I had to come. Just to stand by his grave and say what I had to say.’

Tess blinked. And blinked again.

‘I’m not going to cry,’ she said.

‘No. Of course you’re not.’ Charlie cupped her chin in his fingers and tilted her face so she was looking at him. ‘You’re the bravest...’

‘I am not!’ Tess shoved her chair back and rose. ‘And if you keep this up, I will cry again and it serves you right if I do.’

‘I agree.’

‘I don’t want you to agree,’ she said crossly. ‘I want you to tell me I’m stupid like everyone else does.’

‘Like Donald? Does Donald tell you you’re stupid?’

She retreated and glowered and Charlie laughed and held up his hands in surrender.

‘Okay. Okay. I won’t sympathize any more and I won’t cast any nasturtiums at Dreadful Donald. Tell me why we’re going to see your sister’s lawyer.’

‘Not we.’

‘We,’ he said firmly. ‘Now I know for certain that you’re a damsel in distress, my hero instinct won’t be ignored. I refuse to let you battle lawyers on your own.’

‘I’m not battling...’

‘You always battle lawyers,’ Charlie said in a voice of sage experience. ‘Look at me. I’m marrymg to escape ’em.’

‘Charlie...’

‘Tell me.’

Tess took a deep breath and counted to ten, fighting for control. Fighting to ignore Charlie’s preposterous suggestion that she marry him.

‘I just need.. I need to find out where I stand with Ben,’ she said.

‘Ben? Another man?’ He was gently teasing, but Charlie’s eyes weren’t teasing. They were probing and intelligent and...

And knowing, Tess thought. As if he could see the trouble written across her heart.

‘Ben’s my nephew,’ she said stiffly. There was no laughter where Ben was concerned. ‘He’s three’

‘Christine’s child?’

‘Christine’s child.’

‘Oh, no.’ The trouble in Tessa’s face was mirrored in Charlie’s eyes. ‘He wasn’t hurt?’

‘No,’ she said quickly. ‘He’s safe.’

‘And he’s with?’

‘His grandmother. Christine’s mother-in-law.’

‘I see.’ Charlie leaned back in his chair. ‘And you’re going to see the lawyers because—’

‘Because I need to know whether I can get access if Mrs Blainey refuses to let me see him,’ Tess said slowly, thinking it through as she spoke. ‘Mrs Blainey—my sister’s mother-in-law and Ben’s grandmother—didn’t want me to come. She says it’ll upset Ben. You see, Chnstine and I are twins. I look like...’

She faltered to a halt.

‘You look like Christine,’ Charlie finished for her. ‘But you’ve come anyway and you still want to see Ben. I can understand that.’

‘I can’t get any answers from the laywer over the phone,’ Tess said. ‘I’ve only been able to make an appointment with the junior partner in the firm—not with the lawyer who acts for Christine. He also acts for Mrs Blainey, you see. But if I see him...he’ll have to say whether I have a legal right to see Ben. ’

‘If he can’t then I have an excellent lawyer who can find out for us,’ Charlie said. ‘I’ll even put aside my aversion to lawyers in the cause.’ He rose and crossed to her, and before she could stop him he took both her hands and squeezed them together in his. ‘We’ll resort to his advice together. But before we revert to such drastic measures as bringing in more legal eagles, let’s see what we can do ourselves, Tess Flanagan. Together.’

Tess had been dreading her time with Christine’s lawyer. The junior who’d spoken to her on the telephone had been supercilious and condescending.

‘I’m sure Master Ben’s well taken care of, Miss Flanagan. Mr Walter Scott’s taking care of all the legal affairs of the estate. if you need any information, please write to this address.’

Mr Edward Scott, junior partner, had agreed to her request for an appointment with reluctance, and Tess had allowed herself two days in London in case of problems. She expected problems.

She hadn’t counted on Charlie.

Charlie at her side, dressed to face city lawyers, was a presence indeed.

Tess wore a simple linen suit, soft blue and pressed into looking its best by Mary’s careful ministration. Tess looked neat and presentable but not an imposing presence at all. Charlie made up for it.

Charles Cameron had stood out among the suits in business class in the aeroplane, and Tess had thought it was because he was wearing casual clothes. It was no such thing. In a dark, impeccably cut business suit, Charlie would turn Just as many heads as he had in his moleskins. After a couple of hours on her wonderful bed, Tess emerged from her blue bedroom to find him waiting for her, and the sight of him just took her breath away.

The bruise on his eye had darkened but it took nothing from his appearance. Rather, it heightened the impression of strength, as if he’d just come from battle—victonous.

‘You...you don’t have to do this,’ she managed, trying not to stare. ‘I can go by myself.’

‘I’ve put on a tie especially,’ he said reproachfully. ‘Don’t quibble.’

That was the only protest she was allowed to make. Tess subsided and didn’t quibble at all.

Scott, Scott and McPherson was a firm of lawyers of long standing. Henry drove Charles and Tess to a building steeped in history, and the worn brass plate outside said that whatever historic events had taken place here, Scott, Scott and McPherson had been around long enough to see them.

Tess took a deep breath, looking at the ancient stone lions guarding the portals. If this place had been purpose built to intimidate, it could scarcely have been more successful.

‘Gird your loins here, lass,’ Charlie said beside her.

‘Together we can conquer anything—even lawyers.’

‘What exactly does gird your loins mean?’ Tess asked carefully, and Charlie chuckled.

‘Whatever it is, I just bet you can’t do it in pantyhose. Just don’t let anyone push you around. I’m with you all the way.’ He thrust the double doors wide and ushered her inside.

Tessa’s reception was just as she had suspected it might be. Mr Edward Scott, junior partner, kept Tess and Charles waiting for twenty minutes in an outer waiting room that was as uncomfortable as it was austere. Finally he condescended to show them into his inner sanctum. His welcome was wintry. He sat them on two uncomfortable chairs and asked how he could help them in the tone of one who didn’t expect to help them one bit.

Tess introduced Charles simply as Charles Cameron—for heaven’s sake, what else was she to call him? The lawyer gave Charlie a long, assessing look, but Charles was keeping a low profile. He listened patiently while Tessa was effectively brushed aside as having nothing to do with her sister’s affairs.

‘As I told you on the telephone,’ Mr Scott junior explained yet again, ‘the estate is being looked after by Mr Scott senior and he’s in the north at the moment.’

‘But I’d like to see my nephew, and maybe have access to some of my sister’s things,’ Tess said meekly. ‘There are family things... Christine and I were twins and...’

‘All that will be sorted out when the estate is finalized. And as for having access, I believe Mrs Blainey has objected. She feels the family resemblance will unsettle the child.’

‘You don’t believe it might be good for Ben to know he has an aunt who loves him?’ Charlie asked diffidently, and the lawyer flashed him a look of disdain.

‘Mrs Blainey thinks not,’ he said flatly. It was said as a statement not to be argued with.

‘Well, I need to see Mrs Blainey face to face,’ Tess managed. ‘Christine gave me her telephone number some time ago, but I don’t have her address. Could you at least give me that?’

‘Mrs Blainey will give it to you if she sees fit. Telephone her and ask her.’

‘I have.’ Tess swallowed. ‘She won’t.’

‘Then there’s nothing more to be said.’ The lawyer rose. The interview, it seemed, was over. ‘I’m sorry, miss, if you’ve wasted your time coming to England, but I did warn you.’

‘Just a moment.’ Charlie hadn’t moved. Now he brushed an imaginary speck of dust from his immaculate trousers and searched for more. ‘We wish to see a copy of Mrs Blainey’s will,’ he said softly. ‘Now.’

‘I beg your pardon?’ The lawyer’s face showed astonishment. ‘Mrs Blainey’s not dead.’

Charlie sighed as if the man was being obtuse and gave up hunting for dust on his trousers. ‘I meant Mrs Blainey junior, of course. Christine. Tessa’s sister.’ He looked up and met the lawyer’s eyes and his face was implacable.

‘We have the right to see her will,’ he said flatly. ‘I understand Christine’s husband was killed instantly in the car accident and Christine died some twelve hours later. My lawyer tells me that anything her husband left her is therefore Christine’s to dispose of. As Tessa is Christine’s twin sister and Christine was a widow at the time of her death, it appears reasonable to believe something may be left to Tessa. The will was lodged in this office. We wish to see it.’

And he went back to dusting his trousers.

The lawyer stared down at Charlie for a long moment—and then he cleared his throat. All of a sudden he was uncomfortable. ‘I believe Mr Scott Senior has taken the documents north with him,’ he said.

‘But you knew Miss Flanagan was coming here today.’ There was an iciness in Charlie’s voice that Tess hadn’t heard before. His eyes swept up to meet the lawyer’s. His look was flint and steel. ‘Find her a copy,’ he said. ‘Now.’

‘I don’t believe we can...’

‘You can,’ Charlie said. ‘If Mr Scott senior, removed the only copy of the will when he knew Christine’s sister was due here today, then he’s been irresponsible to say the least. It’s two on a Tuesday afternoon. I imagine Mr Scott senior is somewhere near a telephone. Contact him and get the will faxed here. We’ll wait for as long as it takes.’

‘I don’t know whether I...’

‘We’re waiting,’ Charlie said inexorably. ‘Do it.’

‘May I ask what role you have here?’ the lawyer demanded, trying desperately to regain ascendancy. He stared at Charlie down his long, thin nose. His lawyer’s stare was intended to disconcert but Charlie simply stared blandly back. Undeterred, the lawyer continued. ‘I didn’t catch your name. I believe if this is no business of yours then I must ask you to leave.’

‘Oh, no, you don’t,’ Charles said softly. ‘I don’t know what game you’re playing here, sport, but I don’t intimidate as easily as that.’ He rose and placed a hand on Tessa’s shoulder. Pressed down with fingers that caressed as well as pressured. Sending tingles straight down to her toes and back again. But Charles was handing over his business card to the lawyer.

‘This is who I am,’ he said brusquely. ‘Tessa’s my affianced wife. We flew in together from Australia this morning and we intend to get some answers. And we want some answers. Now!’

Tess opened her mouth to speak—but no words came. Charles’ hand on her shoulder was urgently insistent and the sensation from his fingers was numbing all by itself. Sit back and say nothing, the hand said, and Tessa’s objections to what he’d just told the lawyer remained unvoiced.

The lawyer wasn’t watching Tessa to see her astonishment. He was astonished enough himself. He glanced down at Charlie’s business card and his jaw dropped a foot.

‘Lord Dalston... You’re Lord Dalston?’ His voice was frankly incredulous. Another glance at Charlie and he appeared to change his mind. Disbelief faded. Charlie’s bearing was every inch the aristocrat. ‘I’m sorry, but...’ He could barely stammer. ‘Lord Dalston...’

‘That’s the one,’ Charlie said pleasantly. ‘And I have lawyers of my own. One of whom I contacted this morning to find out Tessa’s rights. We’re entitled to see the will, so run along and fetch a copy, my lad, or I’ll have to instigate proceedings of my own. I don’t know what delaying tactics Mrs Blainey senior has instructed your firm to use, but I’m quite sure they’re illegal. Tessa’s time in this country is short and if you waste it, then we’ll sue for costs and for any unnecessary emotional hardship it might entail.’ His lips twitched mto a curve. ‘And believe me, I’m just the person to help her do it.’

Charlie sat down again, his hand still warm on Tessa’s shoulder, and he smiled up at the lawyer with a smile that Tess could only describe as dangerous. He crossed his legs, as though he was prepared to wait for what he needed—but not for very long. Not for very long at all.

‘How did you know when my sister died?’ It was all Tess could do to get her voice to work and it came out a squeak.

‘I was curious,’ Charlie told her blandly. The lawyer had left them alone and Tess had turned to Charles in astonishment. ‘While you were having your nap after breakfast, I did some research. It wasn’t hard to find the names of a couple killed in a motor accident a week ago. The details were in all the papers, including the fact that your sister died in a coma twelve hours after her husband.’

‘I see.’ Tess swallowed. ‘Does that make a difference?’

‘It might,’ Charlie told her. ‘Let’s wait and see.’ He frowned. ‘I’m beginning to think the will might be interesting. They’re going to such pains to keep it from you...’

‘They’re not keeping it. They’ve just taken it north...’

‘But why?’ Charles frowned. ‘That’s unusual. The original of a will should be kept in lawyers’ vaults and only copies taken out of the office. Tess, would Mrs Blainey know you couldn’t afford more than one tnp to England?’

‘She might,’ Tess said doubtfully and then firmed. Her head was finally starting to work again. ‘Yes, she would. Christine always bemoaned the fact that I couldn’t afford to come over for the wedding or come and visit her’

‘So...if she wants to keep you from Ben, or whatever the will says you’re entitled to, why not keep the will from you until after you return to Australia? That way, hopefully, you couldn’t return to stake your claim.’

‘But...why on earth would she do such a thing^?’

‘Let’s wait and see what’s in the will.’

It took Scott junior only ten minutes to get a copy of Christine’s will. How he did, Tess neither knew nor cared. She took the document from the lawyer’s hands and there was a long silence as she read through to the end.

When she finished, Tessa’s face turned as white as chalk. She looked up at the lawyer. ‘But this says...’

‘I know what it says,’ the lawyer said heavily. ‘Mrs Blainey intends to appeal.’

‘May I see?’ Charlie leaned over and lifted the will from Tessa’s nerveless fingers. He read it through to the end. And whistled.

‘Good grief!’

Tessa closed her eyes. ‘I don’t believe it,’ she said faintly. ‘Why would Christine do something like this?’

‘She must have had her reasons,’ Charlie said softly. ‘But whether you ever know what they are or not, you have some serious thinking to do.’ He lifted the document and read aloud.

‘In the event of my husband predeceasing me, then I bequeath all my worldly goods to my son, Benjamin, these possessions to be held in trust solely by my sister, Tessa Flanagan, to be used and administered at her sole discretion until Ben reaches twenty-one years of age. And, also in the event of my husband’s death, I leave Ben’s guardianship to my sister and ask that she take sole care of him.’ Charlie paused.

Tessa was almost speechless. She shook her head, trying to clear the fog. ‘Is it... Is this legally binding?’

‘Mrs Christine Blainey didn’t use our services to draft the will,’ the lawyer said, in a tone that spoke of severe disapproval. ‘If she had, we would have advised her most strongly against such a course of action. She lodged it with us in a sealed envelope. Clearly her husband’s intention was not that all his possessions pass away from the family.’

‘They’re not passing from the family,’ Charlie objected. ‘They’re passing to his son.’

‘But they’re movmg out of his mother’s control.’

‘Is that such a crime?’

‘I believe Mrs Blainey thinks so.’ The lawyer hesitated and then relented a little. ‘Mrs Blainey’s a very determined lady.’

‘I imagine she must be.’ Charlie looked across at Tessa, his eyes speculative. ‘Well, Tessa, what are you going to do about this?’

‘Will Mrs Blainey fight the will?’ Tess asked. ‘Are there grounds?’

The lawyer looked from Charlie to Tessa and back again. Clearly he was coming to a decision. When Tess and Charles had walked into the room, this man had been loyal to a fault to the unknown Mrs Blainey. Now though... The lawyer’s loyalties were shifting before their eyes, and Tess wondered just how much that had to do with Charlie’s magic title.

‘I believe her only grounds for legal action are that her son would not have wished Miss Flanagan to care for her grandchild,’ the lawyer conceded. ‘Her son’s will didn’t mention guardianship at all, but...’

The lawyer paused. Warring loyalties were plainly written on his face. Another glance at Charles and his mind was made up. ‘I believe...if Mrs Blainey has the care of her grandson for a lengthy time, then she can apply to the courts for custody, saying it’s in the child’s best interests to stay with her long term. That hardly holds true now as the child’s been with her for only a week, but it may be her idea in refusing access now.’