The Wyndham Legacy (Legacy 1)

6

“THIS IS MARCUS Wyndham, the earl of Chase, Mr. Wicks. He is my cousin.”

“My lord,” Mr. Wicks said, his voice surprisingly vigorous for a gentleman of his advanced years. Marcus also saw the sharp intelligence in the old gentleman’s eyes at that moment. He realized that he would be a formidable opponent, no matter what his age. “It is a pleasure to meet you, sir. Er, it perhaps seems strange to you that I must see you as well as Miss Wyndham.”

“Actually, now, she is a lady. However, Lady Duchess Wyndham sounds a bit farfetched.”

“I agree,” she said. “Let us simply retain Miss Wyndham or perhaps even Miss Cochrane.”

“No,” Marcus said. “No, I won’t allow that. You are now a Wyndham and that is what you will be called. I like Lady Duchess.”

She gave him a slight smile, looked down at her white hands lying still in her lap. She said nothing more.

Marcus looked away from her to the solicitor. “Perhaps, Mr. Wicks, you would care to be seated near the fire. You can tell us what you must from that vantage.”

“Thank you, my lord. The weather is a bit brisk today and I find that the older my bones survive, the thinner they become. Now, let’s begin.”

Marcus sat beside the Duchess on an exquisite old Queen Anne settee, beautifully sculpted, covered with pale cream and dark blue brocade.

“Now, my lord, you are fully aware that your uncle, the former earl of Chase, married Mrs. Cochrane and legitimized the child of their union.”

“Yes, I approve of his action. However, why wasn’t I informed immediately?”

Mr. Wicks didn’t hesitate, but said frankly, “It was my agreement with your uncle. All was to be finalized before any of the Wyndham family was informed, including his youngest brother’s wife and her family currently residing in the Colonies in a place called Baltimore, and, naturally, your mother. This was to protect Miss Wyndham, er, Lady Duchess. Surely that is understandable, my lord.”

“Yes, certainly,” Marcus said, rising quickly and striding over to the fireplace. “Had I known before the legalities were completed, I would have posted immediately to Smarden and strangled her in her bed and thrown her body over the Dover cliffs. Yes, it makes a great deal of sense to a brigand of my stamp.”

The Duchess cleared her throat. “He’s merely jesting, Mr. Wicks. Unfortunately, after the death of Charlie and Mark, my father took a dislike to his lordship, because he was alive and they weren’t. Then, of course, all his wife’s babes died. This must have been the reason for his behavior, not because he didn’t believe Marcus honorable, but simply to rub his nose in it, so to speak. Marcus, it’s true. I trust you will not think of it further.”

“Don’t you believe it, Duchess. He blamed me for not being there to save them, that, or die with them. I was close by, over at the Rothermere Stud, but not close enough. He saw that as full measure of my perfidy, my lack of honor. He quite hated me, Duchess.”

“Surely you’re exaggerating,” she said.

“Am I, Mr. Wicks? Did my uncle tell you rather how fond he was of me? How delighted he was to see me succeed him?”

“Perhaps it is best if I address that a bit later, my lord. Now, sir, you must wonder why I requested your presence.”

Marcus merely inclined his head, an action that made him look older and strangely, quite forbidding.

“There’s no easy way to say this, my lord.”

“Then spit it out, Mr. Wicks.”

“The former earl left all monies, all properties, all houses, and all possessions not entailed specifically to his successor, namely you, my lord, to his daughter, Josephina Wyndham.”

There was utter silence. Marcus stared at her for a long moment, then said in a too calm voice, “Josephina? That is quite the ugliest name I have ever heard. You must thank me every night in your prayers that I renamed you Duchess.”

Mr. Wicks looked at sea, and twitched his papers about nervously. “Did you understand what I said, my lord?”

“Yes, certainly, sir. You have just told me that I am a pauper. A pauper living in this great mansion, but a pauper nonetheless. I have been stripped of everything. If he had chosen to beggar his family in a more efficacious manner, why, I couldn’t begin to imagine what it would be. You see, Duchess, I wasn’t at all mistaken about my uncle’s true feelings for me. Did he bother seeing to his own daughters, Antonia and Fanny?”

“Yes, my lord. He left each of them ten thousand pounds. But that was in his previous will. That will still stands, including all the bequests to servants, other retainers, and the remaining Wyndham relatives.”

“So I was the butt of his vengeance—I, his heir.”

“Not entirely, my lord. It is just that now, Lady Josephina is, well—”

“Don’t refer to her by that repellent name. She owns everything except for Chase Park, I believe. Is there anything else entailed to me, Mr. Wicks?”