The sheer volume of tasks she needed to carry out was a little overwhelming. If only she knew where to start. The answer, it transpired, lay within the top drawer, in the contents of a folded packet wrapped in red ribbon. She studied her name clearly written in her uncle’s scrawling script and carefully tugged at the bow. Her hand shook a little at what the note might reveal, but she refused to shy away from anything now. Squaring her shoulders, she eased the parchment open and began to read:
My dearest Tahlia,
By the time you read this you should already be aware that you have inherited the entirety of my estate. While it cannot make up for the way you were treated before you left here, I hope it will bring you and Joseph a future devoid of worries and concerns.
It is fair to say that certain matters have come to light since your departure that have given me cause to regret my hasty decisions back then. While there is no way to alter the path we chose, I can bring you certain pieces of information which might help you settle your mind to what happened.
My solicitor, the one who notified you of your inheritance and sent you the keys to the house, has some documentation of vital importance. I would be grateful if you could take the time before you return home to see Mr Kibble, and collect the letter I have left for you. I will leave it to you to decide what you wish to do with the personal news. However, I ask only one thing of you; that you read the documentation, act as appropriate, and mention it to nobody.
Yours,
Henry
“Act as appropriate?” she muttered. “What does that mean? How curious.”
“What is?” Oscar asked as he entered the room and dropped a pile of wood onto the hearth.
“My uncle left some documentation for me at the solicitors,” Tahlia sighed as she waved to a pile of papers. “Why didn’t he leave it for me in the house somewhere?”
“You uncle knew that, in the event of his death, the house would be empty until you got here. Maybe he thought the papers would be safer with the solicitor,” Oscar reasoned.
Tahlia conceded that he had a point. “I wonder what he has left me.”
Oscar glanced at the clock. “Well, you won’t find out if you don’t arrange to see the solicitor. I hope he can see you within the next few days or we are going to be away from home for a lot longer than you anticipated.”
Tahlia nodded. In spite of the fact she had not had anything to eat today; she hurried out of the room to fetch her shawl.
“I will go straight to the solicitor now,” she muttered. “Maybe someone will be able to speak with me.”
“Do you want me to find a carriage?” Oscar called after her.
Before Tahlia could reply, the front door bell tinkled. She frowned at the butler and waited on the stairs while he answered it. Her stomach lurched as she watched a rather nondescript courier shove another package through the door and then leave. It all happened so swiftly that Tahlia might have imagined it; if it wasn’t for the package Oscar was now staring down at.
He turned around and lifted his brows at Tahlia.
“It seems that your admirer is determined,” he declared. He held the package tentatively, as though he wasn’t entirely sure what to do with it.
Tahlia paid it no attention. She was staring at the empty doorway, mulling over the heavily garbed man who had delivered it. There was something unusual about him, only she couldn’t quite decide what. Apart from the fact that he had been dressed from head to foot in black, with a thick, equally black scarf obscuring his face, he could have been an ordinary courier. Most coachmen dressed just like him on a cold and smoggy day
like today. However, unless something drastic had changed in London without her being aware of it, most couriers didn’t dress like that deliveryman did. He was dressed like he was about to mug somebody.
“How strange,” she muttered to herself.
“Tahlia?”
She jerked and stared at the package Oscar was holding out to her. She sighed as she took it off him and carried it into the study, only vaguely aware of Oscar close behind her. A sense of unease settled over her as she removed the outer packaging. Equally as disturbing as the person who had delivered it, this package was different to the one which had been delivered earlier.
“Do you think it is from the same person?” Oscar asked with a frown as he came to stand beside the desk.
“I am not sure,” she replied honestly.
They both remained quiet while they studied the package. Unlike the first one, this second arrival was wrapped in a rather coarse hessian material and tied with thin string. It was also considerably grubbier than the first.
Tahlia’s hand shook as she lifted the lid free of the box. Together with Cecily, Oscar and Tahlia stared down at the contents.
“Oh, my,” she whispered, only faintly aware of Cecily’s shocked gasp.
“Whoever your admirer is, ma’am, he must think an awful lot of you,” Cecily muttered.