Chapter 35 #2
Margaret made a show of counting then noted the result. I wanted to laugh at her performance, but it was too tragic that my uncle had brought us to this.
“Motion denied. Lady Fitzroy is considered worthy and no further action will be taken.”
My uncle gaped.
It was done.
“Legal authority for the estate is now mine,” I stated, a wave of emotion passing over me.
Beth gripped my hand. “We won? Did we win?” she whispered.
The two trustees nodded.
Why was Richard staying quiet?
“There is much still to be done,” Howard added. “The conclusion of your guardianship order, the matters regarding care of your sister—”
“Ella’s care remains with me,” Richard stated.
A chill trickled down my spine.
“No, it won’t.” My sister entered the room. Her eyes were dark, and she glared at our uncle.
He only smiled.
The room fell silent.
“After today, you have no rights over me.” Ella prowled to the table, her gaze intent.
I stood, backing her up. “After this session, Richard, you will never set foot inside Belvedere or on the estate again,” I said.
“Mr Marks.” My uncle smiled at the trustee. “I will expect weekly reports on Ella’s school performance. And, of course, on the status of her investments. Once she turns eighteen in two weeks, her stipend will naturally increase?”
“That is correct.” Howard shuffled papers, his glasses slipping down his nose.
I sucked in a breath. My sister paled.
“No. I want the guardianship to pass to my brother. Or Beth. Or better still, to me.” She marched to the top of the table and picked up a handful of papers. “You can do that, right? You said you’d start the process when you came to Scotland. When will it be done?”
Howard’s fingers fluttered. “I apologise, but it seems the order is of such a nature—”
My heart sank.
Ella whirled around. “Don’t say it can’t be done! I’ll be an adult. I won’t answer to him!”
“The nature of the order means that you are obliged to maintain Mr Richard Fitzroy as your guardian until the day of your thirtieth birthday. I will look into loopholes—”
“Yes! Find one. I’m only just free. There has to be a way out of this.” Tears sprang up in her eyes.
All became clear. The legal paperwork Richard had worked on was for Ella. His backup plan. His expression solidified into contentment, and his gaze shifted to me.
“What do you want?” I asked him.
“I can sign away my rights to Elinor in a snap of my fingers. If you return my privileges as steward,” he paused, glancing to Beth, “and gift me the honour of guardianship of the next earl.”
Our child? How did he know? Ice slammed into my heart. At my side, Beth gasped. We couldn’t. There was no chance on God’s green earth that Richard was going to ever be allowed near our child, let alone live on the estate. Or set foot near my wife.
Yet that decision hung my sister out to dry.
“No. Never again.” Ella placed both hands on the table and stared at us then Howard, her back to our uncle. “Find a way.”
My heart ached at her plaintive tone.
“I have made every effort,” Howard replied.
“Then try harder.” I kissed Beth’s cheek then left my seat, horrified and outraged at what my uncle had done. His addiction to all things Fitzroy left him blind, uncaring of how we all despised him.
I had won and lost on the same day, because he still held power over my family.
But on one point, I was sure. I stalked over to him.
“My Lord,” my uncle dropped his head back looking up at me, “we’ve worked so hard to get to this moment. Surely—”
“No.” I hauled back his chair. “Not one more word. You’re leaving. My family comes first, and you are no longer a part of it.”
With the greatest satisfaction, though diminished from Ella’s situation, I grasped my uncle’s collar and heaved him up.
He yelled. All things. About my stupidity, my ignorance. His voice soared. But still, he moved.
I gave him no choice.
The doors opened ahead of us, Inspector Cox’s eyes widening when she saw the scene. The woman backed away, not saying a word as I half dragged my squalling uncle to the door. Beth and Ella followed as we clattered down the hall, my sister darting past us to open the front door.
At the threshold, and without ceremony, I shoved him. Really, I wanted to smack a fist into his face like he’d done to me. I wanted to lay punches into his soft gut and hurt him for all he’d hurt me and mine.
Except I was a gentleman.
And he was nothing to me anymore.
I was so over anything to do with Richard Fitzroy.
“If you’re seen anywhere on the estate, you will be forcibly thrown out, then arrested for trespass.” Gordain had advised me on employing security.
Richard stumbled to the ground, catching himself on his arm. “Assault!” he screamed. “Police woman. He assaulted me! Aren’t you going to do something?”
I glanced around. Inspector Cox appeared at my shoulder. She gazed at Richard and sniffed. Then she looked at Ella.
I’d told the inspector everything, when she’d interviewed me at the station. How I’d been raised and how my uncle had been motivated to act against me.
The inspector raised her chin at my sister. “Hey. How about we check over the list of stolen items. See if they are all back.”
My sister hacked out a laugh and gestured back inside. They went, leaving Beth and me with Richard.
He drew himself to his full height, dusted off his clothes, then turned. He opened his mouth like he was about to say something more, but didn’t. In a scene I couldn’t have imagined even a few months ago, the man, my tormentor, cast a final gaze over the house, then climbed into his car. Beaten.
He screeched away, and I held my wife tight in my arms.
“It’s over,” Beth said, monitoring his exit. “For us, at least.”
“While he gets to live off my sister’s money for years.”
“We’ll fix that. If he found a legal path, there will be a way to undo it.”
I loved the tone of her voice. The certainty. That confidence had attracted me to her in the first place, and I let it sink in now. We’d set Ella free. I didn’t doubt it. But for now, he was gone, and if we saw him again, it would be in court.
Tipping up her face, Beth kissed me. “We better get back to it. You’ve got all kinds of things to sign off.”
“There are two things I’ll get started right away.” We turned, and she fitted under my arm as we headed back to the meeting. “One is to get the inheritance changed so our children never have to face anything like this.”
Beth dragged in a breath. “I wanted to ask exactly that. What’s the other thing?”
I hugged her tighter, pausing outside the meeting room door. “To ready the order for you to get your payout when this little bundle is born.”
Her eyes widened, but I carried on with a smile.
“It’s up to you what you do with it, what you want to do with anything we now own, but how about you start your own car collection? Get your degree and run a garage, a museum, or whatever you like. We’ll rebuild, and do it better.”
Instantly, her eyes sparkled, excitement clear. “I can’t wait to start my life with you.”
Our mouths met in agreement on the fact. Beth and I would run our home and our family exactly how we liked. And our life would be perfect.