“Simon, it’s very good to see you again, sir.”
“I hope you’re feeling some closure, now that you are back at home.” Simon was obviously referring to how moody Jack had been since Clara’s death.
Jack was still not comfortable speaking of his grief, so he simply nodded.
“It’s been a many years since Addie and I lost her mother, but sometimes it feels like yesterday,” Simon said, getting a faraway look in his eyes as he remembered his own wife’s passing. “Maggie had only one wish, that Adeline would marry nobility. She also made me promise that if I did remarry and have a son, I would make sure that our daughter’s future would be secure with an ample inheritance.”
“But you never remarried,” Jack said, remembering that he and Mr. James had more in common than just being self-made successful businessmen.
“It’s the only thing I really regret,” Simon confessed. “There was a woman I fell in love with, and she would have married me in an instant, but I was afraid that I was somehow not honoring Margaret’s memory by taking a new wife, so I let her slip through my fingers.”
“She gave up on you and married another?” Jack asked. He thought maybe Simon James had narrowly escaped a gold-digger if this woman had been so fickle.
“That would have been easy to put behind me if that were the case.” Simon frowned, thinking about the past. “No, she waited for me and waited for me and then, one day, when she finally gave up hope that I would actually let my dear Maggie rest in peace, she took her own life. And for that, Mr. Bradley, I’ve never truly forgiven myself. Thank God I have Adeline, or I would have locked up my heart forever after that.”
“I’m so sorry, Mr. James,” Jackson said, reeling from the man’s confession.
“I see myself in you, Jack. I hope you can learn from my mistakes. Don’t waste the rest of your life in regret and remorse. I don’t think your wife would have wanted it. I’m sure my Margaret was furious with me for allowing my grief for her to get in the way of any future happiness with another woman. I’m actually dreading this entertainment that Lord Suffolk has planned for us this weekend.”
“I don’t believe I’m acquainted with Lord Suffolk. He must be a friend of my brother’s, maybe from his club in town.” Jackson tried to recall what Winston had said about the man. “What sort of amusement is the earl planning for us?”
“I heard that he is sending for a spiritualist from London to hold a séance for us,” Simon said looking a bit worried. “I just hope that Margaret isn’t planning on visiting with me. I don’t think I could take her telling her me what a fool I’ve been over the years, pining for her and not giving Adeline a new mother.”
“A spiritualist? That’s an odd entertainment for a peer to be arranging, isn’t it?” Jackson had been gone from London society for so long that he couldn’t really be sure what was on-dit these days. He was quite aware that New Yorkers loved these mediums and psychics—his deceased wife having been one of their staunchest supporters—but he’d had no idea that the upper ten thousand were patronizing these spiritualists.
“It’s all the rage, and seems to have taken over polite society on both sides of the Pond.” Simon glanced at Jackson with some concern. “You might not want to attend, what with your wife’s passing being so recent. I can’t imagine it would be a fitting circumstance if for some reason this Madame Lou were to bring forth Clara’s spirit while you are still in mourning.”
Jack nodded, wondering if this was the same medium that Clara had begged him to find once he reached England. It would be a very strange coincidence if that were indeed the case.
“Is Adeline not joining you for dinner this evening?” Jackson asked, changing the subject. He didn’t want to think any more about the departed.
“I fear the journey was taxing on Addie and she won’t be joining the party until tomorrow.” Simon glanced around the room and, spotting a group of titled gentlemen near the liquor cart, made his excuses to Jackson. “Sorry to abandon you, Jack, but I need to see about finding a suitable husband for my daughter.”
Jack watched Mr. James join the other group of men and, deciding that he had done his duty for the evening as youngest brother of the host, retired. If Adeline would not be joining her father for dinner, then he had a reprieve from facing her and finding a way to explain his behavior the last time they had met. He wandered downstairs to the kitchen and knocked on the doorframe to announce his intrusion into the realm of the servants.
He noticed a familiar-looking young woman leaving the kitchen with a supper tray and realized it was Adeline’s lady’s maid. He recognized her from the ship. When she saw him standing there, she almost dropped her tray in surprise.
“Stone.” Jackson acknowledged the maid and bowed slightly as he moved aside to allow her to pass.
“Mr.—Mr. Bradley; so good to see you again.” Emily Stone stammered. She curtsied quickly and then hurried on her way to deliver the meal to her mistress.
Smiling at the maid’s reaction to his presence without really knowing why, Jack proceeded into the cook’s domain. He knew he wasn’t going to be welcomed, especially on this exceptionally busy evening.
“Why, Master Jack, what are you doing pestering the maids while we are all too busy this week for the likes of you?” Cook had always had a soft spot for Jackson when he was a boy and, since returning home, he’d noticed that she’d been serving up many of his favorite dishes from childhood.
“I’m not feeling up to anymore socializing for today, Mrs. Smithson.” He gave the woman the pleading look he’d perfected as a lad that he knew would melt her instantly. “And since it’s not a formal sit-down dinner tonight, I don’t think my presence will be overly missed.”
“So you thought you’d come a begging for a bite to eat hidden away from the guests,” she said with a knowing look. “Well, I can’t have you in my kitchen underfoot with all the extra help I have here, so you’ll have to make due with whatever I decide to send up to your room.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Jack knew when he’d been put in his place.
“Now, off with you, boy.” Mrs. Smithson shooed Jackson out of her kitchen, while calling for one of the kitchen maids to prepare anther supper tray.
Jack hustled out of the kitchen and back upstairs. He paused at the door to the drawing room, and glanced at his brothers to make sure all was well before he escaped to his room. He stopped in the study to grab several of the estate account books to look over again. Maybe in the quiet of his bedroom he might be able to finally make heads or tails of his father’s cryptic entries.
A few minutes later, Griffin knocked on the door and entered with Jack’s dinner. The man set the tray on a small side table and quietly left the room. Jack looked the food over, then decided he wasn’t quite hungry yet and poured himself a brandy from the silver salver with several decanters arranged on it. The tray had been placed in his room by one of the servants, who had noticed that there was glass of the liquor by his bed the first few nights he was at home. The sign of a good servant, of course, was one who could anticipate their employer’s wants and needs. Jack had to give Winston’s staff credit for being more than adequate. He sincerely hoped it would not become necessary to let them all go in the near future. Jack picked at his meal as he thumbed through the books again. He’d been over and over the accounts, looking for a pattern or something that stood out as a clue. Eventually, the pages began to blur before his eyes and he had to stop.
Concentrating on the rest of his dinner, he thought about the conversation he’d just had with Simon James. Jack hadn’t been expecting the man to share such intimate recollections with him, but it must have been obvious to him that Jack was still thinking about his wife and having been unable to do anything to save her. He knew what the older man was trying to communicate—don’t waste your life wishing for something that will never be. It was good advice, and Jack hoped he could use it someday, but right now he was just grateful for something else to occupy his time.
Pouring another glass of brandy, Jack settled back to examining the estate records. Maybe with a full stomach he would be able to concentrate on them with a new perspective. Maybe he just needed to think about the entries differently. Jackson thought about it for a few minutes, trying to get inside his father’s head. “If I was old Earl Abingdon and I had something I wanted to hide, how would I go about it?” Jack went over the possibilities in his head. Expenses that were just slightly lower than the numbers recorded in the accounts? No, too easy to verify with the actual bills. Purchases that appeared normal but didn’t have a corresponding bill, but only occasionally so it wouldn’t seem odd if only a few were missing? No, that wouldn’t add up to the amounts Winston felt were missing. What about…Jack suddenly had a flashback of one of the treasure hunts that their father had arranged for them when they were boys.
“If you want to hide something, Jackie boy, you hide it in plain sight.” He remembered the old earl saying.
That must be it Jackson thought, getting excited now as he started scanning the columns of numbers again. There it was again and again, the same entry with figures large enough to hide a fortune.
“You old rascal.” Jackson thought, leaning back and smiling. “You may have driven me away by being the worst sort of social snob, but you sure could come up with some interesting puzzles for me to solve.” Jack wanted to go tell his brothers what he had found immediately, but then thought better of it. Not with the house full and a potential threat still on the loose. He didn’t want to risk being overheard or observed until he was certain they knew who was targeting the family. But it was possible that whoever had decided that there were too many Bradley men had also discovered Father’s secret and they were setting the stage to take everything, from the title to the fortune.
* * *
There was a soft knock at the door and Emily went to answer it for her mistress.
“Good evening, Mr. James. Let me see if Miss James is feeling any better.” The lady’s maid was just giving Addie a moment to prepare for her father’s entrance, but there was no doubt she wouldn’t admit him to her room.
“Addie, dear, you were missed at supper. The earl was asking after you and I assured him that the journey, although short, had just worn you out.” Simon sat in a chair by the fireplace. Even though it was August, the servants had kindled a small fire to keep the evening chill at bay. The old stone mansion had a tendency to cool off quickly at night. “Why, I do believe you have the nicest guest room that the Bradleys could offer. Do you suppose the earl is really going to seek your hand? Or is he just being generous because we are old friends of his brother?”
“I’m sure this isn’t the nicest of the guest rooms, Father. After all, there is a duke here, along with many other noblemen.” Addie said, but still wondering the same thing as her father.
“Maybe, but it is quite elegant; and equipped with your own water closet, as well,” Mr. James noted, walking around the rooms. “I’ve noticed the place has been mostly modernized; electric lights throughout and water closets in about half the suites. I even think I saw a lift somewhere. Must have cost a fortune, so I don’t know what they would need with yours. Unless the old earl updated the place and put his heirs into debt in the process.”
“Father, you shouldn’t say such things.” Addie tried not to laugh. Simon James could be incorrigible at times.
“I ran into Jackson this evening.” Simon stated. “He’s still in mourning for that sweet wife of his, so I had a little talk with him about your mother. I think I managed to lift his spirits a bit.”
Adeline doubted that Jack would ever stop mourning Clara. He had been so devastated that day that she couldn’t imagine he would ever be able to recover. But she was glad that he had allowed her father to give him a perspective learned from time and distance, although even Simon still reminisced about her mother with great and enduring fondness.
All Addie could hope for was that Jack had been able to forgive her for tempting him that night on deck. She still couldn’t forget that moment when they had kissed. It affected her opinion of every other gentleman she had encountered since and not one of them held a candle to Jackson Bradley. He had completely ruined her for anyone else.
Sighing, she turned her thoughts away from that dim prospect. She had promised her father that she would pick her husband this weekend. Mr. James had insisted that she’d received multiple offers from some decent fellows and all of the gentlemen in question were attending the party. She just needed to pick one and then they could move on. Simon James was anxious to draw up the necessary documents so he could get back to New York and manage his businesses again. They had already been in England too long without any progress, and he was ready to have the matter of Adeline’s marriage, dowry, and inheritance settled once and for all.
“I’m glad you were able to lift his spirits, Papa.” Addie said out loud, and to herself she thought, maybe he has forgiven me as well.
“So, my dear,” Simon cleared his throat the way he did when he was about to deliver unpleasant news. “I expect your decision by next week. I would like to know who you have chosen to wed before we arrive back in London. Is that understood? Or I will decide for you.”
“Yes, Papa,” Adeline sighed, resigned to the fact that her choices were sorely limited. It really just came down to the least objectionable of the bunch. “I promised and I mean to honor that oath.” Even if means never finding love, she said to herself.
That night, after her father had left, finally satisfied that his mission was almost at a conclusion, and Emily had brushed her hair and turned down her bed, Adeline found herself pacing the luxurious room. Mulling over the decision of selecting one of the men from her possible choices of husband would allow her to find no rest, so she decided to weigh their qualities, one against the other.
First to consider would be the duke, Lord Grafton, of course. He certainly had the best pedigree and Addie was sure Father would be beside himself if she chose someone who was nearly royalty, not to mention he would have been the man that Mama would have preferred. She could almost hear her mother’s voice saying what a feather in her cap it would be to go home and tell her friends that her daughter was a duchess. The Astors and Vanderbilts would have to elevate the James’s position at their dinner parties if she could lay claim to such a conquest.
Adeline’s mind wandered momentarily from the task at hand to remember her mother, Margaret James, fondly. Her parents had been very much in love and married when Simon James had yet to make his fortune. But once her father had set his mind to the task, he’d quickly turned an investment in a silver mine into a prosperous business and from there it was as if he had the Midas touch. Everything the man touched or invested in became a wild success, and before Adeline’s third birthday they had moved to Fifth Avenue and were rubbing shoulders with some of the most affluent families in New York.
Mother had gone from a shopkeeper’s daughter to a woman to be reckoned with and she embraced the role with gusto. Her only goal was to pave the way for her daughter to enter society at the very highest levels. But Mama had fallen ill when Adeline was only ten and her health continued to worsen, until a few years later when she finally gave up the fight. Addie would never forget that day, sitting by her mother’s side and listening to her final wishes. Margaret James made her husband promise to make sure Adeline would have a title, even if Simon had to buy it. At the time, Addie had thought her mother truly meant for her father to go to England and walk into a shop and pick a title from a display case. It wasn’t until she’d turned sixteen that she realized her mother had meant that she should marry a nobleman from Europe.
At first Addie had been excited to think she might fall in love with a prince or a duke, but after she had met the Bradleys and seen how happy their marriage was without any titles or social pretension, she’d wondered what her chances for happiness would be with such a narrow focus.
Sighing with resignation for the path she had
chosen in order to honor her parents, Adeline got back to the matter at hand. The duke was not especially handsome and he was just a tiny bit pudgy, probably a result of fine French chef at home. He wasn’t a bad sort, if not slightly dull. And although he didn’t seem like the type to be overly controlling, which would allow Addie to continue with her personal endeavors, she sensed that his familial obligations might become a hindrance for her good works; unfortunately, having to conduct herself at that highest level as the Duchess of Grafton would not allow Adeline the freedom that she would require in order to join rallies without raising eyebrows.
No, a duke would probably not do.
Next on her list was Lord Craven, the baron. Father had indicated that, although a baron would do in a pinch, that lower level of peerage would not be his first choice for his daughter. Adeline considered him anyway as he was a very nice man and seemed to have a kind heart. She wouldn’t mind being married to him as she felt she could manage him quite easily and possibly turn his mind to her way of thinking. And, of course, he was quite nice to look at with his thick, wavy, caramel-colored hair and smiling clear gray eyes. The baron had a good sense of humor and an infectious laugh as well, all of which had him currently at the top of her list.
The last gentleman in the running was Lord Townsend, who was a marquis; nearly as good as a duke, as far as titles went. Unfortunately, the marquis had quite a few flaws to overcome. First he was more than twice Adeline’s age. He was also a widow and, although he had no children, one could tell after just one casual conversation with the man that he rather enjoyed his new independent status; not that Addie wasn’t certain he did want to marry her in order to obtain her fortune, but it was obvious he wasn’t really interested in all that the institution entailed. But the more she thought about it the more she wasn’t completely opposed to the idea of a husband who would not want to involve himself with her on a day to day basis. Adeline had the feeling that once she was carrying a possible heir for the marquis, he would not be overly concerned with her activities, and that would suit her perfectly fine.
Heaven Bound (A Blakemore Family Book: Madame Lou Series Book 2) Page 14
