The Unknown Heir. Anne Herries
very much doubt it,’ Jared said. He grinned, looking much like his more handsome cousin for a moment. They were both tall, strong men with broad shoulders, slim hips and the athletic look of men who had passed out of West Point with first-class honours. Both were rich men, both attractive in their own way, though of the two Red was the most striking, his hair a flaming torch as a ray of sunshine touched it. Jared’s hair was a darker shade of auburn, his features harsher and less attractive when in repose. Only when he smiled was it noticeable that the two were cousins. ‘The lawyer’s letter was all about the honour of the family name. Apparently, it is my duty to go over there and set things to rights.’
‘You mean they’ve got wind that you’re as rich as Croesus and they want some of it,’ Red drawled, his top lip curling in disgust. ‘You’re a fool if you do it, Jared.’
Jared nodded because his cousin was echoing the thoughts that had been running through his head for the past week since the latest letter arrived.
‘What’s more, they seem to imagine I need a lesson in manners,’ he said. ‘They are sending someone to talk to me and take me back on the ship to England. I have been advised that I should leave the purchase of any new clothes I might need until I get there. Apparently, a female cousin is going to teach me what to wear and how to behave in society.’
‘Well, dang my hide!’ Red exclaimed, a huge grin spreading over his face. ‘Think you’re an ignorant hillbilly, do they?’
‘Well, the lawyer didn’t quite say that, but that’s about the size of it,’ Jared agreed, amused by his cousin’s unaccustomed language. ‘He is coming today. I was wondering where to receive him.’
‘What do you mean?’ Red asked, puzzled. He glanced around the large room, which was furnished with the finest French furniture from the Empire period and contained treasures that a lot of Jared’s neighbours would give their eye-teeth to own. ‘You’ve plenty of property you could choose to receive him in. Why not this place? One look should disabuse their agent of any erroneous ideas they happen to have formed of your education and standing in American society.’
‘Yes, I dare say it would,’ Jared said, a wicked glint in his eyes. They were somewhere between green and blue in colour and at that moment the expression in them was both deep and mysterious. ‘But it makes me angry when I think of the way the old man treated my mother. He was a martinet by all accounts and he could afford to ignore her, because he had all those sons and grandsons. It must have given him some grief to realise that I was the only one left to him.’
‘Yes, I suppose so,’ Red drawled. Knowing his cousin well from the time they spent at military academy together, he knew that some devilish plan was lurking behind that look. ‘Going to tell me any time this week? Only I’ve got a pretty girl waiting for me to show this afternoon.’
‘You know that shack down by the river?’
‘The warehouse you bought last week?’ Red’s eyes narrowed. ‘You were going to pull it down and build new, as I recall.’
‘Fortunately, I haven’t got around to it,’ Jared said. ‘Do you think your lady love would mind if you were a little late for your important meeting, Red? Only you can do me a favour if you will.’
‘No problem,’ his cousin said. ‘Sue Ellen looks beautiful when she’s angry. She may shoot me on sight, but I guess I’ll take the chance.’ He raised his brows. ‘So what is the plan?’
‘I’m going to meet Mr Birch there in the river shack,’ Jared said. ‘I’ll dig out some of Pa’s old working clothes and give him a fright. Since he’s expecting me to be ignorant and disgusting, I may as well give him what he wants.’
‘Good,’ Red said and grinned broadly, loving the plan. ‘Where do I come in?’
‘Well, I think they may have done their research,’ Jared said. ‘But they made a big mistake. You see, I’m a no-good gambler, like my father, and last month I lost everything to you.’ He smiled at his cousin. ‘Think you can do that for me?’
‘Yes,’ Red said and laughed. ‘I reckon that will teach those aristocratic relatives of yours a lesson—but what then? You won’t actually go over there, will you?’
‘Well, that depends,’ Jared said. ‘I’m curious to see what happened to all those sons and grandsons, but I’m still thinking about it.’
‘Well, take your time making up your mind,’ Red told him. ‘If they have sent someone all this way, they want something—and they need it desperately.’
‘Yes,’ Jared agreed, his eyes narrowed, angry. ‘I am certain they do.’
‘Thank you for coming to me before you see Grandfather, Mr Birch,’ Hester said when she greeted him in the parlour at Shelbourne. It was spring, some months since her grandfather had first told her of his intention to send for the heir, and Mr Birch’s recent letter had shocked them. ‘Your letter upset him and I have wondered if the heir can possibly be as terrible as you suggested. Grandfather’s reports all indicated that he was wealthy and reasonably well educated. Didn’t he go to an exclusive military academy?’
‘It appears that he was thrown out halfway through his training, because of his drinking and gambling,’ Mr Birch said and sighed. He had worked for the Duke of Shelbourne since he first became a lawyer and his loyalty was unswerving. ‘It is the cousin—Mr Roderick Clinton—who has all the money, and he is really quite a gentleman, even if he does use some odd words occasionally. Now that would have been easy enough for you to correct, Miss Sheldon—but I fear Mr Jared Clinton is beyond your help. He lives in the most appalling shack and his clothes…’ He shuddered at the memory and the appalling smell that had clung to the heir apparent when they first met. Only his duty had kept him from turning tail in the first instance. ‘I managed to get him looking fairly decent for the journey to London, but he refuses to buy anything further, even though I assured him the duke has opened an account for him at Coutts Bank. It seems that he did have money until recently and lost it at the tables when drunk. He told me that he has to learn to control his bad habits before he can take anything from the duke.’
‘Well, at least he seems to be aware of his duty to Grandfather,’ Hester said, her sigh even deeper and more heartfelt than her lawyer’s if that were possible. Her glossy dark hair was drawn back in a severe knot at the back of her head, which did nothing for her features. She was, however, elegantly dressed, though the colours she chose were usually of a subdued hue. There had been so many tragedies over the past few years, including the death of her stepfather and half-brother John, and she had grown resigned to remaining at Shelbourne House to comfort her mother and Grandfather, neither of whom cared to go into society these days. ‘I suppose that is something. And since most of my step-uncles and cousins were gamblers, I suppose we cannot look for our American heir to be an exception. I was afraid it was too good to be true when the report came saying that he was industrious, honourable and clever.’
‘If only you had been born a man,’ Mr Birch said. ‘You are everything that this family needs, Miss Sheldon. I have always thought the female line had all the common sense in this family.’
‘You forget that I am no blood relation to the duke,’ Hester told him. ‘I love Shelbourne as if he were my true grandfather, and he loves me, but that is as far as it goes.’
‘Yes, I had forgotten for the moment, but I am sure that no one could have a more loving granddaughter, Miss Sheldon.’
‘I wish that there was some way in which I could protect Grandfather,’ Hester said. ‘The male line of this family are cursed, Mr Birch. For years I believed that the old story was a myth, just a foolish tale, as my step-uncles were profligate gamblers and drinkers—but since Papa died and then there was John…’ Her voice broke as the grief welled inside her.
‘It is just a tale,’ her lawyer assured her. ‘It is true that the family has been unfortunate for the past few years. Your stepfather’s brothers all carried the illness passed down through their mother,