Chapter 28
TWENTY-EIGHT
THE TRUSTEE
James
Gordain entered the den, Callum hot on his heels.
An almost instant response to my summons.
I lifted my gaze from the stack of paperwork Ella had taken from our parents’ safe—all of which I’d seen before and providing no new information on my legal situation—and raised an eyebrow at the two big men.
Over the past week, wedding planning had taken off in earnest. Beth and I had booked a registrar, chosen the church in the village for the ceremony so we didn’t tread on the toes of Callum and Mathilda’s wedding, weeks away but the first to be held in the castle, and handed most of the rest of the planning to a very willing Mathilda.
We’d informed Beth’s foster mother, who’d only chuckled and said she’d buy a new hat, and I’d invited the Hinchcliffes.
Otherwise, everyone else we cared about was already here.
The intimate affair that would make me a husband was far from the lavish do my uncle had planned, where every distant relative, every noble and influential person he could think of would have been invited.
An arranged marriage, people there who didn’t care—what I had now was everything compared to the wasteland of my previous fate.
The only fly in the ointment was that my head trustee had been delayed in our appointment and wasn’t able to tell me why.
“You wanted to see us?” Callum landed heavily on one battered green sofa, Gordain on the other. “If it’s about the stag do, you’ll get nothing out of me.”
I shook my head but logged the idea to question the twins later. If the brothers had plans for me, there was no way Ally could keep quiet.
“There’s a problem with the legal firm that represents my trust. Howard Marks, my head trustee, is meant to have come days ago to work through the legal papers with me and Beth.
Someone from his office emailed a cancellation and rebooked it for today.
Then I just had the same email again. Cancelled for a second time. ”
The men took on the same expression—instant, keen interest. Wolves catching on to a scent.
Callum rubbed his chin. “You think your uncle is behind this.”
A statement, not a question.
“I do.” In brief sentences, I outlined how my uncle had authority to act on my behalf by nature of the guardianship order, and how I believed he was using that influence to delay the other trustees.
“Why is he bothering?” Callum asked. “You’re the legal heir. He gets nothing, however this ends.”
Which led me to my next thought. A darker one, but undeniable. For years, Belvedere estate paid a stipend to my uncle to care for me, as well as directly paying any bills I had. That had ended when I’d moved in with the McRaes. Right around the time he’d changed Ella’s order.
I blew out a breath. “In the papers from the safe at Belvedere, there are a set on Ella’s inheritance.”
Gordain lifted his head at my sister’s name and leant in to examine the papers.
“Richard extended the terms for the length of time he had responsibility for her. Adding almost another decade. An addendum had been included by our father, in case she had need of prolonged support.”
“What exactly does that give him?” Gordain kept his gaze on the pages, his finger touching the bold type.
“The right to live off her money and to keep doing so. And by interfering with my trustees, he could be attempting to delay my inheritance.”
“If he’s got her money, why bother with you?” Callum, this time.
Gordain glowered.
“So he can remain at Belvedere. The home he believes should have been his. If I don’t inherit, it would take years to settle on the next claimant in line. This way, he’s got money and the house,” I summarised.
Beth and I had talked endlessly about my uncle over the hours lying together in bed when we couldn’t do…
other things. Through describing to her the lifestyle we’d lived, I’d come to realise how, unless Richard had a secret income I knew nothing about, his lavish spending must have come from Fitzroy accounts.
He’d been gifted a significant sum in my grandfather’s will, I knew that, but I remembered my mother telling us how he’d spent it all.
Hence why he’d moved back in with us. The fact that he’d visited Belvedere alone, leaving me with tutors, the way he’d refused to discuss plans with me, the rightful heir, all pointed to this being his motivation.
He wanted it for himself. Even with his hopes lost, he couldn’t let go.
As I spoke, Gordain put down the papers.
His gaze turned calculating, and he interlaced his fingers, the muscles of his forearms sharpening.
“Two things need to happen. We will bring that trustee man here. Away from your uncle and working for you. Second, your sister’s situation has to be fixed.
If your uncle is leeching off her, she’ll have nothing left. That is unacceptable.”
“Which can be achieved by the same action,” I cut in.
“By bringing Howard Marks here, I can get him to prepare the papers I need on my birthday, and talk to him about transferring Ella’s guardianship order to me.
Or better, cancel it altogether. She’ll be eighteen in a month and an adult. I hate to treat her like a child.”
“I took on Castle McRae at that age,” Callum agreed with a shrug.
Gordain choked and swung a startled look between us.
“Are ye mad? She’s a wee lass and she needs to be taken care of.
Don’t hang her out to dry because she walks and talks like someone five years older.
Ask her what she wants, but be sure to put yourself forward.
She needs ye. Better still, both you and Beth.
Offer her a family’s support, and I’d bet any money that she’ll bite your arm off to take it. ”
He had a point, and I cringed at my thoughtlessness. Ella’s maturity made me see her as already independent, but her boarding school was no training ground for real life.
“Thank you. She can choose.”
Gordain sat back in his seat, grumbling to himself. He had stayed at the castle to help with the planning, having taken an extended period of leave from the RAF. I worried about it being so soon after his promotion, but he’d changed the subject when I’d asked if it would be a problem.
Ella needed friends. He had free time.
Beth had already made plans to get to know my sister better, including broaching the subject of her best friend’s betrayal, but every minute seemed to be taken up with wedding matters.
I tipped my chin at Gordain. “If she wants to, spend some time with Ella, will you? She’s going through a hard time and needs more than just this wedding to think about. ”
Gordain’s eyes widened, and I second-guessed myself for a moment.
His mouth worked before he managed to form words. “She said something about learning to drive.” His voice came out strained, and he cleared his throat. “I could offer her lessons. I taught the twins.”
“Perfect.” Relief welled in me.
“And the trustee,” Callum said. “Ye want us to round up the man and bring him back here?”
“That’s what I had in mind. He is supposed to travel up this afternoon and stay until the work is done.” I handed over a card containing Howard Marks’s details.
The laird gave a short nod and stood. Gordain with him. “Consider it done. We’ll bring you your man. You’ll wait here. No reason for you to go anywhere near your uncle.”
“Agreed, though I hate staying behind.” Any confrontation carried risk. Between us, we’d stolen a car, paperwork, and antiques, and knowing my uncle, he wouldn’t let it lie.
“But ye will. And I’ll tell you something.” Callum loomed large, his attention on the bruise that still marked my forehead. “If we see that bastard uncle of yours, he’ll be on the floor before he knows what hit him.”
Not for a second would I try to stop them.
“One last thing.” I stood.
The brothers paused half-turned towards the door.
“You’ll be my best men, aye?”
The hardness bled from Callum’s face, and he was back across the room and enclosing me in a bear hug before I could blink. Another collision told me Gordain was part of this embrace, too. Heavy thumps landed on my shoulders.
“We won’t let you down,” Callum mumbled, his voice ever so slightly broken.
“Never,” Gordain concurred.
I never doubted them and I knew, once they set off on their manhunt, they wouldn’t fail in that, either. Which meant I could finally move on with the next part of my plan. To give Beth a role at Belvedere. All I needed was to finalise my wedding gift.
True to form, by early evening, the brothers arrived back at the castle with a rather stunned-looking Howard Marks in tow.
They’d arrived at his Manchester office just before closing time and informed him of his special transport arrangements.
I now owed Gordain for two helicopter journeys.
I owed Howard Marks, too, but first, he needed to give me an explanation.
I’d met the middle-aged man a number of times throughout recent years, the last time when I’d requested the training provision with the McRaes. He’d been happy for me, and encouraged the move, and I knew he wasn’t my uncle’s biggest fan. He didn’t look so pleased to see me now, but that was tough.
Ella waited one side of me, and Beth held my hand on the other.
We all had questions for the man, and nobody wanted to wait.
My sister was furious with the change in her provision, and Beth was convinced my actions were going to disinherit me.
I needed her to be reassured, and I myself needed to know the papers were in order.
“My Lord.” The lawyer advanced from the great hall’s entrance then stopped when he saw Ella. “My Lady Elinor,” he uttered.
My sister made a noise of disgust. At his use of her title, I knew.
“Mr Marks. Do I have questions for you,” she said. “And you two,” she pointed at the twins who’d gone wide-eyed at hearing ‘Lady’, “forget you heard that.”
“I’m glad you finally made it.” I addressed the lawyer who gazed around the hall with interest. “I assume my uncle has been keeping you busy.”
The lawyer held aloft two large leather bags.
His arms strained under the effort. “One of these contains the papers regarding your matters. The other is papers that have been filed this week, hourly, in fact, by Richard Fitzroy. I cannot discuss them with you, though I am required to continue to work on them during my stay here. I represent him, as well as you.”
At his side, Callum stepped closer, breathing down the man’s neck. My sister growled.
“However,” Howard continued, peering over his round glasses, “should I happen to leave them, say, here, in the middle of this clearly secure hall while we talk in private, I could not be to blamed if the contents were read.”
He placed one of the bags down and took a step to the right.
He’s on our side.
I glanced at Ella, and she lifted her head in silent agreement. I’d go first, and she could do the spying.
“Let’s take this…” Beth pointed finger guns at the dining room then led the way.
At the table, my wife-to-be didn’t sit, but stood poised behind a chair, resting her wrists on the wood. Howard and I stood, too.
“I just have one question,” she said, her face pale. “I’m so nervous and I don’t want to wait.”
Earlier this afternoon, I’d told Beth that the trustee was coming and I had barely seen her since. I held out a hand to her, but she didn’t budge.
“Miss Elizabeth Grace?” Howard enquired.
Beth nodded.
“My fiancée,” I added.
He gave a small smile. “We have much to work through, but if there is anything I can tell you in advance that will set your mind at rest, then please ask.”
Beth glanced at me, her brown eyes anxious.
“Just one thing. If James, I mean His Lordship here, marries me, does he lose everything? I’ve got no money.
I don’t have a title or anything. No…what do you call it?
A dowry? If it was just him and me, this wouldn’t be a problem, but he has that great house.
All his history and all those paintings of ancestors watching everything he does. ”
Howard raised an eyebrow. “Lord Fitzroy needs a wife, that is for certain. A dowry? No. And anything else,” he changed his attention to me, “like love and a happy marriage, is a bonus.”
Beth’s mouth dropped open. Nothing further came out.
“Told you.” I grinned at her.
She didn’t smile back.
Instead, to my horror, Beth’s eyes rolled and, in a tidy slide, she fell to the floor.