The Rightful Lord (The Saga Of Wolfbridge Manor Book 3), Sahara Kelly [english novels for students .TXT] 📗

to his lips and she licked her own, sending a thunderbolt of lust right down to his breeches.

“In the meantime,” he pulled away, “perhaps you might know where we could find another desk or two? I would imagine there to be more than a few in a house this size.”

“We need Gabriel,” she answered firmly. “He is much better at remembering details like this than I am.”

“Good idea. Jeremy as well. He must have been in every room here at Wolfbridge at one time or another.”

“Since there will be tea shortly, why do we not ask them both?”

“An excellent notion.” He held out his arm. “My Lady?”

She tipped her head in acknowledgement and rested her hand on his sleeve, allowing him to lead her from the study and down the corridor toward the parlour.

Fortunately everyone was there but Harry, who—Royce knew—was at the new school, overseeing the delivery of some wood they’d ordered.

In short order, Evan poured tea, Jeremy seated Gwyneth and Gabriel offered scones.

When Gwyneth told them of their dilemma, Jeremy and Gabriel looked at each other in unison.

“The second bedroom on the third floor,” said Jeremy with a nod.

“That’s the one, yes.” Gabriel endorsed the announcement. “It has the same decorative moulding as the bookshelves, but it’s smaller than yours, Royce. One would assume that at some point either Giles or his predecessors moved the small one out and the larger one in.”

“Well then.” Royce finished off a scone and downed his tea. “I’m off to find it.”

“Wait.” Gwyneth nearly choked on her scone. “Not without me, you’re not.”

“That settles it,” said Jeremy. “We’ll all go.”

Evan threw up his hands. “All right. The tea can wait.”

Thus all of them hurried from the room, following Royce upstairs to the third floor. Originally guests would have occupied the bedrooms, but now Gabriel had one, and Evan’s was at the end. The others were empty. Jeremy and Harry, along with Royce, had selected rooms on the floor below. All were comfortably sized and private.

Royce couldn’t actually recall being here before and said so. “It’s always a surprise to me how many rooms Wolfbridge actually has.”

“It does look quite snug from the outside, doesn’t it?” Jeremy spoke idly as he marched down the corridor to their destination. He flung open the door with a dramatic gesture. “Lady and gentlemen? The desk.”

And there it was, just as Gabriel had described it, a little dusty, but a lovely piece of furniture all the same. The moulding matched exactly, noted Royce, but it was quite a bit smaller than the spreading desk he used on a daily basis.

“Perhaps this was Lady Aphrodite’s,” mused Gwyneth, touching the lovely brass pulls. “It certainly suits a lady. So let’s see…”

She began opening drawers and within seconds gave a little gasp of surprise. “Look. Oh, look…” she pointed inside one of the larger bottom drawers. “Royce, would this be the sort of box you’re looking for?”

He came to her side and sighed in relief. “That’s it. Let’s take a look.” Reaching in, he lifted out a faded green box, the top of which flopped to one side, exposing many papers inside. He didn’t need to remove anything more than the first one.

“And we have it.” His words rang out. “Here it is. A cover letter detailing the contents and addressed to Lady Aphrodite.”

“Excellent,” grinned Gabriel. “We’ve found what we came for. That has to be a good omen.”

“And a first,” muttered Evan, sotto voce. “I probably won’t even have to make a fresh pot of tea.”

*~~*~~*

The box was filled with exactly what they’d anticipated; documents pertaining to the purchase and sequential entail of Wolfbridge Manor.

Lady Aphrodite had kept accurate records, and everything that Gwyneth looked at seemed to be signed and sealed in the appropriate places.

“Interesting reading,” commented Harry. He’d returned to find them all poring over the contents of the box, so he and Darcy had joined them. The pup was clearly tired, taking a moment to sniff his mistress’s shoes, then ignoring everyone and going to his favourite spot for a nap. Royce had passed over the documents, since Harry’s knowledge of such matters was greater than anyone else’s at the table.

“I don’t quite know how she did it,” continued Harry, “but this entail looks tight as a drum. She sets out the requirements clearly…a female family member in a situation of need. There’s a lineage document as well, more thorough than Debrett’s, and yes, there are plenty of women in the line of succession.”

She glanced at Harry. “Anyone familiar?”

“Not really. Although it details those who came after Lady Aphrodite, up to about forty years or so ago. That would be when the desk was moved I suppose, and I expect Giles has the more recent information.” He folded the papers. “I don’t see exactly how one might legally break this arrangement or render it inoperative.”

“Hmm. This could be something…”

Everyone’s head turned as Royce spoke slowly, his gaze fixed on two sheets of paper he had spread out before him on the table.

“What do you have there, Royce?” Gwyneth leaned forward.

“It is a bill of sale. For Wolfbridge, signed by Lord Jerald Wolfbridge, Aphrodite’s husband.”

“Goodness, that must be quite old.” Jeremy blinked.

“Yes,” Royce answered. “It is for the land. There is no mention of the manor itself, so I would guess that it wasn’t even built at that time.”

“Date?” Gabriel shot the question at Royce.

He squinted. “It’s faded. Wait.” He held it up to the light. “Looks like…yes, here it is. The nineteenth of March 1712.”

“Goodness.” Gwyneth blinked. “That’s over a century ago.” She left her seat to look over Royce’s shoulder. “It was purchased from…” She frowned. “Can you read that name?”

“Looks like Markeley.” Royce picked the paper up again. “Yes. Nicholas Markeley to