A Debt From the Past (3 page)

The lawyer spoke for the first time, shuffling with unease. ‘I am sorry, Miss Langton, but it is as Lord Sharland says. Your godfather came to see me before he left for India to make these arrangements. I tried to persuade him not to, but he would not listen to me.’

‘I would like to see the legal papers, please, Mr Crighton.’

‘You need not bother yourself with details, Miss Langton,’ the stranger said, not giving the lawyer a chance to speak again. ‘You have Mr Crighton’s word that this is all legal.’

‘I doubt that very much, sir. You need not burden yourself with me. My father trained me well, and I have been running the estate on my own quite efficiently, and I shall continue to do so.’

‘I think not.’

‘How dare you walk in here and threaten to take over my affairs!’ She was on her feet again. ‘If you are truly the Sharland heir and now my guardian, you are honour-bound to abide by the agreement made between my father and godfather. The running of the estate was to be left in my hands.’

‘You are mistaken, Miss Langton. There is no legal document to that effect, and I only have your word for such an arrangement,’ he added.

‘I am not given to telling lies, sir! Mr Crighton must have the details.’

‘I have seen all the documents, and they state quite clearly that your guardian is to have control over your affairs until you reach the age of twenty one.’ The expression in his eyes was unreadable.

Helen drew in a deep breath and reached out to grasp her friend’s hand, coming close to whisper one word: ‘Caution!’

But Beth was too upset and angry to listen. ‘Do not distress yourself, Helen; there has been some dreadful mistake, and I shall soon have it clarified.’

At that moment the butler entered the drawing room and addressed her. His normally impassive expression had disappeared and he looked disapproving. ‘A carriage has arrived loaded with luggage, Miss Langton, and the man assures me that he was told to deliver it to this address.’

‘That is quite correct.’ His lordship rose to his feet. ‘Ask the man to take it up to the master suite.’

‘You will do no such thing!’ Beth raised her voice; his arrogance was beyond the pale. ‘What right do you have to move your belongings into my home?’

His sigh was weary. ‘You do not reach twenty-one for another year, so until then I shall take over the running of the Langton estate and use this mansion as if it were mine.’

‘You cannot! I forbid it.’ She was more than angry by now; she was frightened.

His laugh was humourless. ‘You cannot stop me, Miss Langton. From the moment I was declared your guardian, you ceased to have any rights over your father’s property. It is effectively mine to do with as I wish for the next year.’

Beth felt ill, but she would not allow this obnoxious man to believe he had won. ‘I demand proof!’

‘I do not care for your inference that I might be a liar. I am now the legal master of this house and your affairs.’

For the first time in her life a feeling of helplessness washed through her, but her stubborn character would not allow her to give up. ‘But why do you not stay at your own house? The Sharland estate is no more than six miles away; there is no need for you to move in here, surely?’

‘From what I have been told, you are sadly in need of supervision, and I cannot do that while I am residing in the Sharland house. Anyway, the house will not be habitable for some months while renovations are taking place to turn it into a school. I intend to see that you no longer run wild.’ He pursed his lips in disapproval. ‘I would have expected you to still be in deep mourning for your father. I believe he died less than a year ago.’

‘My father forbade it.’ She was incensed by his attitude; what right did he have to judge her? ‘He said life was for the living. He never did agree with the dowdy dress and long periods of mourning.’

‘A remarkable man, then.’

‘Yes, he was.’

He cast her one more disapproving glance and then strode out of the room. The butler remained, obviously bewildered and distressed. ‘Miss Langton?’

She tore her angry gaze away from the retreating figure and gave Jenkins a quick explanation.

His usually impassive expression wavered for a moment. ‘I’m very sorry to hear about Lord Sharland. What shall we do about this gentleman moving in?’

‘Do as he says for the moment, Jenkins, and tell the rest of the staff what has happened. Then have the master suite made ready for him. We shall have to go along with this for the time being. There has been a grave error made here, but I shall soon sort it out, and then we shall have the pleasure of throwing him and his belongings on to the street. For I have no doubt that is where he belongs!’

‘What a terrible thing to happen to Lord Sharland.’ The butler shook his head in sorrow. ‘He was such a kind man.’

‘Yes, he was, and that makes this all the more unbelievable.’ Her voice trembled as grief began to overcome her. With tears filling her eyes, she held her hand out for her Helen. ‘I will retire, Helen, while we decide what is to be done.’

Before leaving the room, she faced the lawyer. ‘I shall be calling on you, Mr Crighton, when I shall expect to see all relevant papers and receive a full explanation about this disgraceful arrangement.’

The lawyer bowed his head. ‘I am holding a letter for you from Lord Edward Sharland, Miss Langton, and there are provisions in the will I must discuss with you and Lady Helen.’

‘Why did you not bring the letter with you?’

‘Er ... I was ordered by Lord Edward not to let anyone else know about the letter.’ He glanced nervously around the room to make sure they were alone. ‘And he did mean no one.’

‘Very well. We shall be at your office early in the morning.’

Once in the privacy of her room, Beth allowed the tears to flow freely, unable to believe that her dear godfather was dead and that he should have put the Langton estate at the mercy of this stranger.

There was a tentative knock at the door and her maid, Jenny, peered in. ‘Cook said to bring you a tray of tea, miss.’

‘Thank you, Jenny. That is most thoughtful of her.’ Beth dried her eyes. It was not wise to allow grief to distract her from the seriousness of the situation. ‘Jenny, will you ask Tom to come and see me, please.’

‘Up here, miss?’

‘Yes, and tell him not to let our visitor see him. Leave the door slightly open when you leave.’

The maid hurried away, and before Beth and Helen had a chance to finish their first cup of tea, a young boy slid into the room.

‘No one saw me, miss,’ he whispered.

‘Good. Come in and shut the door, Tom. I want you to do something for me.’ When the lad nodded, she continued. ‘Go and find the estate manager, Mr Greenway, and tell him that I’ll come to the grain barn in an hour’s time to see him. We have urgent matters to discuss, but it is imperative that the new Lord Sharland doesn’t know we are meeting.’

‘Understood, miss.’ Tom opened the door a crack, then slid through the door and disappeared without making a sound.

‘That boy is going to be very useful, Helen, for I fear we shall have to move with stealth. Until I am able to sort this mess out, everyone here will have to obey that obnoxious man, but I shall watch every move he makes. I refuse to put the prosperity of my family estate at the mercy of a man I do not know. I am hoping that my godfather’s letter will throw some light on this mystery, for I cannot imagine why he has done this.’

‘Neither can I.’ Helen was shaking her head. ‘It is so unlike him to do such a thing, and I cannot imagine what the lawyer needs to discuss with me.’

‘I hope we shall find some answers tomorrow.’

Watching the time carefully, they finished the tea, and then Beth said, ‘Time to go, Helen. We’ll take the back stairs via the servants’ quarters; with luck, we should be able to reach the stables unobserved.’

Halfway down, they met the butler. ‘Where is he, Jenkins?’

Still in the master’s rooms, miss. He’s asked for hot water so he can bathe.’

‘Ah, that should keep him occupied for a while. I’m going to meet Mr Greenway to tell him what has happened and work out a plan of action with him. The estate must not suffer because of this unfortunate turn of events.’

‘You’ll have to hurry, then, miss, because he’s informed Cook that in future dinner will be served at seven o’clock and not eight. We’ll try and keep him busy until you get back.’

‘Thank you, Jenkins. If he asks for me, tell him that I am indisposed.’

‘I’ll do that, miss.’

The stables were not overlooked from the house and they ran the last few yards.

Tom was there with three horses already saddled. ‘I’d better come with you, miss, in case his nibs turns up.’

As wretched as she felt, that almost brought a smile to Beth’s face. Tom was only thirteen, with a lot of growing still to do, but he’d clearly taken on the role of her protector.

‘Thank you, Tom. We shall be pleased to have you ride with us.’

The estate manager was waiting for them, anxious to hear what had happened. ‘Young Tom told us the sad news about Lord Edward, Miss Langton, but he didn’t know much about the stranger who’s turned up.’

Beth quickly explained and saw Mr Greenway’s face darken with concern. ‘I don’t like the sound of that. This estate runs smoothly and makes a steady profit. Your father saw to that and he taught you his ways. As soon as you could sit on a horse, you were by his side, asking questions. You’ve a good business head on your shoulders, and we don’t want a stranger coming in and changing things.’

‘That is also my concern, so I want you to come and see me if he does anything you disagree with.’ Beth ran a hand over her tired eyes. ‘Please tell everyone to obey him for the moment, while I endeavour to find a way to overturn this decision. I cannot believe my godfather would put me in such a perilous position.’

‘Neither can I, but we’ll do as you say and try to see he doesn’t do too much damage. Do you know what experience he has in running an estate?’

‘I’m afraid not.’ Beth shook her head in dismay. ‘I know nothing about the man. It has come as a complete surprise to hear that my godfather had a son. I didn’t even know he had been married. I am going to look into his legitimacy very carefully.’

‘Try not to worry too much, Miss Langton. I’ll spread the word, and you can be sure that he won’t be able to make a move without one of us seeing.’

‘Thank you. I will meet you here at our usual time each week, and not at the house, so we can go through everything together. I shall still keep the accounts, whether this man likes it or not! Now, you must all be very careful, for he does not appear to be a man with any kindness in him, and I do not want to lose any of you.’

Helen came into the barn with Tom. ‘We should get back. It would not do to be late for dinner. Until you have the full facts, it would not be wise to antagonize this man.’

Beth nodded, grateful for her friend’s steady wisdom. ‘You’re right, Helen. We must not give any indication that we are plotting behind his back to be rid of him.’

It was a relief when Beth saw that her unwelcome guest was not at breakfast. Dinner the night before had been an ordeal. She would have preferred to have taken a meal in her rooms but was aware that she must not show the slightest sign of weakness. Not only was she dreadfully upset about her godfather’s death so soon after her dear father, but she was furious that this arrogant man had taken her place at the head of the table. Hiding her displeasure, she had tried to find out more about him by being as polite as possible. To no avail. Not one piece of information did she manage to glean from him.

The butler held her chair for her, and she asked, ‘Where is he, Jenkins?’

He came down two hours ago, Miss Langton, and has now left with Tom.’

Beth’s frown deepened. ‘If he’s taken Tom with him, then there’s no doubt he is going to inspect the estate.’

‘Very likely, miss. He didn’t say where he was going or when he would be back. Cook is uncertain what to do about lunch.’

‘If his lordship does not turn up in time for lunch, then he will have to go hungry.’ Beth was in no mood to be charitable. One thing she could not abide in a man was bad manners. And this one appeared to have them in abundance.

The butler’s mouth twitched at the corners. ‘I’ll tell Cook you require lunch as usual, shall I?’

‘Indeed. The smooth running of this house is my responsibility, and if he wishes to relieve me of that task also, he will discover he has a fight on his hands.’

Helen looked at her with concern. ‘I don’t think it would be wise to upset him. We know so little about him.’

‘Little!’ Beth’s laugh lacked humour. ‘We know
nothing
about him, and as soon as we have eaten we will visit Mr Crighton and demand some answers.

The lawyer shuffled the papers on his desk, showing his unease, clearly not relishing this unpleasant task. ‘I assure you, Miss Langton, that it is legal. Your godfather left a sealed package with me to be opened upon his death. In it he stated that his son, James Sharland, was his heir, and if he died before your twenty-first birthday, his son was to take over as your guardian.’

‘This is the first I have heard of such a person.’ She was becoming more concerned by the minute, for she had not thought her godfather to be a secretive man.

‘But what about my father’s wishes – that I continue to run the estate, even if I had not reached my majority before he died?’

‘That was only a verbal arrangement and it was never put in writing. Your father and godfather were certain one of them would survive to see that the agreement was carried out.’ He lifted his hands in a helpless gesture. ‘I did urge that it all be put into proper order, but they kept finding excuses not to do it.’

That didn’t surprise her; they had always needed prodding to make them deal with the important things in life. Her father and godfather had been dear people, but they’d had the lamentable habit of procrastinating. ‘Are you telling me that I have to be under this man’s control for the next year?’

‘Yes, unless you marry, of course, and then everything will go to your husband.’