The Unknown Heir

by Anne Herries

  ‘That was considerate,’ Hester said. ‘I do not think I am hungry, Mama. I shall go up and make sure her room is just as it should be—and arrange a few flowers.’

  ‘You should eat, Hester.’

  ‘Thank you, Mama. I shall have tea with you and Lady Ireland.’

  Hester left the room and went upstairs to check that everything was perfect in the room her godmother was to occupy. It was her habit to check all the guest rooms and perhaps because of that she found it exactly as she would want it to be. After her inspection, she arranged some flowers, took them up and then went to change, ready for her godmother’s arrival.

  When she came down, she found Mr Knighton standing in the hall. He turned to look at her, smiling as she came to join him.

  ‘How delightful you look, Hester. You grow more beautiful every day.’

  ‘I do not think I am beautiful, sir.’

  ‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and you have always been beautiful to me.’

  ‘You are kind to say so, sir.’ Hester was uncomfortable, because she sensed that he was working up to a proposal of marriage.

  ‘Hester, will you walk with me in the garden for a moment? There is something I have been wanting to say to you for a while.’

  ‘Mr Knighton, I…’ Hester was saved at the last moment as she heard a knock at the door. The footman sprang to open it and Lady Ireland walked in. She nodded her thanks to the servant and then walked swiftly to Hester, gathering her into a warm embrace. ‘My dearest girl! You look wonderful. I have been wondering how you would go on now that the heir has arrived, but I can see that it has not overset you. If anything, you thrive on it—or is it the country air?’

  ‘I am sure the country air is very good for me,’ Hester said, laughing as she kissed her cheek. ‘I am so glad to see you, Godmother. It seems an age even though it was but a few days ago.’

  ‘I have missed you, but then I always do when you leave after a visit,’ her godmother said. She glanced at Lady Sheldon as she entered the hall. ‘Judith, my dear, you are blooming. I do not remember seeing you look so well in an age.’

  ‘It is the new viscount’s influence,’ Lady Sheldon replied. ‘He has brought a breath of fresh air to this place, Sarah. He has taken all the worry from our shoulders and I am so grateful. Besides, I like him. He is good company and he makes me laugh.’

  Lady Ireland looked at her for a moment. ‘Do you not think he speaks a little…oddly?’

  ‘Oh, you must not mind his funning,’ Lady Sheldon replied. ‘He is a great tease, is he not, Hester?’

  ‘Yes, Mama, Cousin Jared likes to tease us all,’ Hester said. ‘Let me take you upstairs, ma’am. I am sure you must wish to refresh yourself after the journey.’

  ‘How thoughtful you are, my love,’ her godmother said, her bright gaze intent on the girl’s face. ‘Yes, do come up with me. You can tell me what Viscount Sheldon has done to deserve so much praise from your mama.’

  ‘He has been most generous,’ Hester said, tucking her arm through her godmother’s as they walked slowly up the grand staircase together. ‘He is rebuilding the village cottage by cottage, and he has promised that the fire damage will be restored.’

  Lady Ireland looked astonished. ‘I thought he had lost all his money! Did not Mr Birch say so in his letter? I am sure the viscount gave us to understand that he had hardly anything left.’

  ‘I am afraid he was teasing us, ma’am. I believe he thought we deserved it for imagining that he needed to be taught how to go on in society.’

  ‘Oh…’ Lady Ireland’s gaze narrowed. ‘I see…so that accent…’

  ‘A little charade for my benefit. You see, he had been told that I would teach him how to behave.’

  ‘What idiot put it to him like that? His mother was a lady. I am not surprised that he was offended.’

  ‘He was also angry because he thought the duke had behaved badly to his mother.’

  ‘Well, in a way he did. I have always felt that he was too hard on her—but she was his favourite and he expected so much of her.’

  ‘I think she broke his heart by running off,’ Hester said. ‘He was angry, but he ought to have replied to her letters. He knew that for himself when it was too late.’

  ‘We all know what we ought to have done in hindsight,’ Lady Ireland said. ‘Where is the viscount at the moment?’

  ‘He went to London on business,’ Hester said. ‘He promised to return in time for the ball.’

  Her godmother nodded, then jumped as she heard a loud bang somewhere within the house. ‘Goodness me! What was that?’

  ‘The builders, I imagine. I hope they do not mean to make such a racket all the time.’

  ‘Builders are always noisy,’ Lady Ireland replied. ‘We must hope that they do their work swiftly and well.’

  ‘I shall ask them not to make too much noise for all our sakes,’ Hester said. She opened the door for her godmother, following her into the guest room. ‘It is the room you always have. I hope you will be comfortable here.’

  ‘I always am, my dear,’ Lady Ireland said, glancing at the flowers on a little desk by the window. ‘Your work, Hester? How lovely!’ She smiled at her. ‘You may leave me to settle in now. I am sure you have things to do.’

  ‘I shall go and see what those builders are up to,’ Hester said. ‘Mama will have refreshments waiting when you go down, ma’am.’

  She was thoughtful as she made her way towards the wing that was under refurbishment. What on earth was Jared having done?

  As she entered the first main parlour, which had been damaged by smoke but untouched by flames, she heard sounds coming from the next room and went to investigate. The sight that met her eyes was shocking, for almost the whole of the ceiling had been laid bare to the rafters.

  ‘Oh…’ she said and stared at the mess all around her. ‘What is happening here?’

  ‘Miss, you didn’t ought to be in here.’ A man came hurrying up to her. ‘This ceiling was unsafe after the fire. Viscount Sheldon told us to take it down and re-plaster the whole thing.’

  ‘I didn’t realise,’ Hester said. ‘I thought it was just to be decorated and cleaned.’

  ‘It wouldn’t be safe in here, miss. Too much fire damage.’

  ‘Have you much more to do? The duke’s apartments are overhead…’

  ‘Oh, it’s quite safe, miss, he won’t fall through a hole.’ The man smiled at her. ‘The bearing timbers were not burned, fortunately, but I’m sorry for the noise. We’ve only one last piece to take down and that is just above the door you entered. It would be best if you were to leave by the opposite door, miss—to avoid anything falling on you.’

  ‘Thank you for the warning,’ Hester said. ‘I shall take your advice. Tell me, are any more of the ceilings due to come down?’

  ‘No, miss—but there is some loose stonework at the back of this wing. I noticed it when I was making an inspection. I haven’t told the viscount yet, but as soon as he comes back I shall do so because one or two stones could fall from the overhang and injure someone.’

  ‘I shall be sure to inform everyone of the danger,’ Hester said. ‘Thank you for the warning, sir.’

  ‘I’ve brought in all my men and hired some extra labour from the village for the rough work,’ the builder told her. ‘I promised the viscount I’d have this done as quickly as possible.’

  ‘Then I shall leave you to get on,’ Hester said. ‘Goodbye.’

  ‘Don’t you worry, miss. In a couple of days you won’t know it ever looked like this.’

  Hester nodded and left him by a door at the far end, going up the back stairs to her grandfather’s apartments. He asked her to go in as soon as she knocked, giving her a scowling look as she entered.

  ‘What is that infernal racket downstairs?’

  ‘I came to tell you,’ she said. ‘I am sorry if the noise has disturbed you. The ceiling of the green parlour had to come down, because it was badly damaged by the fire.’


  ‘Damned racket,’ the duke said but in a milder tone. ‘Well, I suppose it cannot be helped. Viscount Sheldon did warn me.’

  ‘It is a terrible mess,’ Hester said, surprised that he had accepted it so easily. ‘They tell me it is almost done, at least the noisy part. I suppose it may take some weeks to finish all the refurbishment.’

  ‘That is what I would have thought, but Sheldon thinks otherwise. He says it will be habitable in a week or so, though we shall need new furniture apparently.’

  ‘Yes, he did say something…’ Hester waited for the outburst, but it did not come. ‘I believe he intends to have his own things brought from America for his apartments.’

  ‘Well, at least you won’t have to see the stuff,’ the duke said. ‘I suggested that he should let you choose the new furniture, but he said he had it all under control. I hope he won’t make a hash of it, but it can’t be helped, I suppose. It’s his money.’

  ‘Yes.’ Hester bit her lip. ‘Try not to resent it, Grandfather. I know it must be hard to accept that we are dependent on his goodwill. We must be grateful he is prepared to do all this for us. He could have taken one look and gone home.’

  ‘I don’t resent it for myself,’ the duke said and gave her a direct look. ‘You know I’ve always loved you, girl—you’re no blood relation and, if I’d been twenty years younger, I’d have married you and got myself another heir, but you don’t think of me that way, and Jared will do. But I don’t want you to feel as if you’re being pushed out.’

  Hester laughed softly. ‘Grandfather! You old rogue! If I hadn’t loved you as my grandfather for years, I would have married you, old as you are,’ she teased. ‘I like Cousin Jared, and I am not in the least put out that he has decided to do all these things without consulting me. I dare say I shall be able to live with whatever he does. After all, I have my own apartments.’

  ‘You’re a good girl, Hester,’ the duke said. ‘If I had my way, he would marry you, keep you here where you belong, but I can’t order him to ask you.’

  ‘If you did, I should go away and never speak to you again!’ Hester was shocked at the suggestion. ‘You must promise me you will never suggest such a thing to him!’

  ‘You like him, girl, I’ve seen it in your eyes when you speak of him—and he likes you. It would be an ideal arrangement for all of us.’

  ‘And am I to be given no say in this little plot of yours?’ Hester eyed him wrathfully. ‘I may like Cousin Jared, but that does not mean that I would marry him just to satisfy your whim.’

  ‘Got a mind of your own, haven’t you, girl?’ The duke laughed deep in his throat. ‘By God, you two would produce some splendid heirs for the family!’

  ‘Now you are seeing me as a brood mare,’ Hester said, torn between annoyance and amusement. ‘You are a wicked old man, Grandfather. I think I shall go away and leave you to your dreams.’

  ‘No, stay and talk to me for a while. I enjoy your company, girl. I promise I won’t tease you any more.’

  ‘Very well,’ Hester said. She smiled, for she loved him too dearly to be angry for long. ‘Shall I read to you for a while?’

  ‘Yes, please. Nothing is more soothing than the sound of your voice when you read poetry to me, Hester. Forget my teasing. I dare say the viscount has ideas of his own.’

  ‘Yes, I am sure he has,’ she replied, looking more serene than she felt inside as she reached for a favourite book and began to flick through the pages. How long would Jared stay away? She hoped it would not be for too long, because he had only been gone a few hours and she was already feeling a sense of loss.

  Jared looked at the agent his lawyers had hired to make inquiries for him, his gaze narrowing in thought as he weighed up the surprising information he had been given.

  ‘You are certain of your facts, Mr Morrison?’

  ‘Quite certain, sir. The family is very respectable, but there is a link…through a bastard.’

  ‘Ah, yes, I see,’ Jared said, nodding his understanding. ‘So it would not be generally known…That clears up one point for me. It seems far fetched, but this could be a reason for him to want me dead.’

  ‘It would not make him the direct heir, sir. As a bastard he could not inherit.’

  ‘No, but I am not sure that is his aim,’ Jared said, looking thoughtful. ‘I believe that my death is incidental to his plan.’

  ‘I am not sure I understand you, sir.’

  ‘I believe the motive might be revenge rather than gain.’

  ‘Revenge?’ The agent lifted his brows. ‘Forgive me if I am being stupid—I still do not see how.’

  ‘I think this mystery mainly concerns another person,’ Jared said. ‘For the moment I prefer to keep my thoughts to myself, but I am grateful for your help. I was finding it difficult to work out why the attack on Mr Knighton took place, but now I see it very clearly.’

  ‘What will you do, sir?’

  ‘I must return to Shelbourne as quickly as possible,’ Jared said. ‘I think there is little danger for anyone until Mr Grant returns for the ball, but I might be wrong. I have left instructions with my lawyers and any further business I had here may be done through them.’

  ‘Do you wish me to continue making inquiries for you, sir?’

  ‘Yes, I shall need an agent now that I am to live in this country,’ Jared said. ‘But the inquiries I wish you to make now are of a different kind.’

  He smiled at the man’s surprised expression as he revealed the nature of the business he wished him to undertake. They talked for some minutes and then Morrison left. Jared followed him out into the street a short time later. He had decided on one last shopping expedition before he left the city to return to Shelbourne. It was as he was standing outside an exclusive establishment in Mayfair that he heard his name called and turned to see two ladies just behind him.

  ‘Jared! Jared Clinton,’ one of them cried, her face lighting up with pleasure. ‘I was sure it was you.’

  ‘Selina,’ Jared said, grinning at her. ‘I thought you never left Paris these days?’

  ‘I came for the wedding of my niece, Annabel,’ Lady Selina Mallard said, giving him a look from beneath her thick, fair lashes. In her youth she had been acclaimed as one of England’s greatest beauties and had married well. Her husband had been several years older and had died leaving her a fortune only three years after their wedding. She had never remarried, choosing to live in Paris, where it was rumoured she took lovers and discarded them as easily as she would an old shoe. ‘This is my sister Lady Raven. Now that all the pleasure of the wedding is over, we thought we would console ourselves by buying something pretty.’ She arched her fine brow. ‘Were you about to buy a love token, Jared? Do you have a new mistress?’

  ‘You are as incorrigible as always,’ Jared said. They had enjoyed a brief fling in Paris some years earlier, parting as friends by mutual agreement. ‘I was considering a gift for a friend.’

  ‘Did I not hear your name somewhere?’ Lady Raven said, staring at him oddly for she had not met him previously. ‘Clinton…Oh, yes, you are Shelbourne’s American heir. Everyone is talking of you, sir.’ Her brown eyes sparkled with mischief as her husband was many years her senior and this man was very attractive. The idea of an affair with an American was intriguing.

  ‘I think you flatter me, ma’am,’ Jared said, smiling at her in his lazy way. ‘I hardly know anyone in London.’

  ‘But the duke is giving a ball to celebrate your arrival,’ Lady Raven said. ‘I was not sure I would bother, though my invitation arrived yesterday—but now that I have met you, I shall certainly come.’

  ‘I think I shall put off my return to Paris…if you will invite me?’ Selina Mallard gave him a provocative look. ‘For old times’ sake, Jared?’

  ‘Why not? Of course you are welcome to accompany Lady Raven,’ Jared said. ‘If you will excuse me, ladies, I have some business to complete before returning to the country.’

  He smiled and went inside the jewel
ler’s emporium, leaving the two ladies to look at each other meaningfully.

  ‘He is exactly what you need to lift your spirits now that Annabel has gone,’ Selina told her sister. ‘You will find him a wonderful lover, Maggie. Believe me, he is worth the bother.’

  ‘You don’t want him yourself?’

  ‘Oh, I wouldn’t have minded a brief encounter, but you know I return to Paris soon—and Pierre is very jealous. No, dear sister, I shall let you have him this time. You need something to divert you…’

  They walked on together, laughing as they plotted how Lady Raven could best entice the new viscount into her bed while staying for the ball at Shelbourne.

  Unaware of their conversation, Jared took the elegantly wrapped packet from the jeweller, placing it in his inside breast pocket. It was a small gift, but one he thought Hester might accept. He had something else he wished to give her, but for the moment he would have to keep that to himself. If his suspicions were correct, too much attention from him might be dangerous for Hester.

  Hester was surprised and pleased at how quickly the work was progressing. She visited the damaged wing every morning to see what was happening, and she knew that the ceiling had been completely re-plastered. All the rooms had received a thorough cleaning and some decoration had begun. At the beginning she had doubted that the work could be finished in time for the ball, but now she was beginning to believe that Jared had somehow managed to achieve the impossible.

  It was because he had told the master builder to bring in extra labour, of course. There were so many men in and out of the house that Hester thought they looked like ants. However, they did not enter the main section of the house and after the first day there were no loud bangs, only some hammering and the buzz of people working.

  ‘How do they go on, dearest?’ Lady Sheldon asked her daughter as they took tea together three days before the ball. ‘Can it possibly be done before our guests start to arrive?’

  ‘The first guests arrive tomorrow,’ Hester replied. ‘I do not think it can be finished by then, but they will be housed in the east wing. By the day of the ball we should be able to throw the whole house open, though we may not have much furniture as most of it was too badly damaged and had to be taken away. I believe a few pieces may be restored, but that will take time, for they cannot be done as swiftly as the decorating, I fear.’