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

candles were blown out and the two of them headed for the parlour with the book, the papers and the letter.

The room was empty, which saved Royce the embarrassment of trying to explain why he was carrying a small fuzzy creature who was perfectly capable of walking on his own four legs. He put Darcy down on his favourite spot by the hearth and stoked up the fire.

It was going to be a long evening.

*~~*~~*

“All right then. Are we ready to dig into this letter from Giles?”

Gwyneth nodded at Royce’s question. “I believe so. It sounds serious?”

“It could be,” he answered. “It also poses more questions than it gives answers, but let me give you the gist of it and we’ll start there.”

He picked up the letter. “To deal with one matter first, Jeremy you’ll be glad to know that Orloff the banker, has fled the country after been accused of cheating at cards.”

Jeremy caught his breath. “So it’s unlikely that he was involved in Susanna’s death?’

“That seems to be the case,” nodded Royce. “Otherwise Giles would have said so, and the man’s departure happened in late spring, according to him.”

“That’s a relief,” murmured Evan. “One less villain to concern ourselves with.”

Royce agreed. “So to continue to the meat of the letter, Giles has done an extraordinary amount of research for us, since I told him of the information we’d discovered in the Bible. Having names and dates so clearly identified gave him the opportunity to delve thoroughly into the history of Wolfbridge and its residents.” He glanced at the Bible they’d found, now resting on the mantelpiece above the fire. “Let me give you the basics of what he lays out for us. A lot of it seems to be very similar to what we already know, and our assumptions. So it certainly is satisfying to have them verified. Here it is, then.” He took a breath and began to read.

“In 1560, Lord Nicholas Pinebridge, Bishop, is recorded as the owner of note of a parcel of land to be called Pinebridge Mere.

In 1562, there is a confirmed mention of Wilhelmina Crane being involved with Lord Nicholas, and although married in 1565, the child she bore, Jonathan, bears a marked resemblance to the Bishop, instead of his papa, Colin Markeley.”

Gwyneth took a breath. “As we guessed?”

“We were right,” muttered Gabriel. “Nice to have that confirmed. Gossip has its uses.”

“Well, not formally confirmed, but yes, I agree.” Royce nodded.

He continued.

“Jonathan Markeley weds and has a male child in 1590, named Alfred Markeley. And in 1601, when the Bishop passes on, Pineridge Mere is bequeathed to the Mortmain management of Jonathan Markeley and his heirs.”

“It’s all there, then? Everything we assumed?” Jeremy glanced at Royce.

“It seems so, yes.” He frowned. “And this is truly the crux of the matter. That Mortmain was assigned in 1601 to the Markeley name and heirs.”

“So the family bible has that essentially correct, then.” Gwyneth rose and went to the mantel, picking up the old book with care. She returned to her seat and opened it to the first few pages, running her finger down until she found what she was looking for. “Here. So does Giles verify that Alfred Markeley married Henrietta Trowbridge and has a son named Douglas?”

“Yes,” answered Royce.

“And Douglas’s wife has twins? Michael and Montgomery? Er…in 1663?”

“Yes again.”

“All right.” She smiled. “This is lovely, having all these facts verified. It’s starting to feel as if we know the family, doesn’t it?”

“Possibly,” said Gabriel. “But I’ll reserve judgement on how lovely it is until we know everything.”

“Wise,” said Harry, crossing his leg over his knee. “One never knows if there’s rot lurking in the wood of the family tree.”

“Be that as it may,” Royce cleared his throat, shooting a look around the room.

“Sorry. Carry on.” Gabriel grinned.

“What we didn’t know is that Michael, who did indeed marry Letitia Parr, was a gambler. And a pretty bad one by the sound of it.”

“Ah.” Jeremy looked up. “He’s the one surviving twin. I do remember that.”

“Correct.” Royce nodded again. “And it would appear that instinct was passed to his son Nicholas, who had a gambling habit that was notorious throughout Society at that time. This was barely a hundred years ago, so Giles says there are plenty of documents ascertaining to his wins and losses. The latter were, according to him, considerable,”

“Interesting” said Evan. “Some things never change, do they?”

“There will always be those eager to lose their money on a bet, no matter the nature of the wager,” said Gwyneth. “That is to be expected. But he must have lost quite a lot…?” She looked at Royce.

“Enough to need to sell off part of his property, yes. That’s how Jerald Wolfbridge ended up with the land we’re living on. And Fivetrees became Fivetrees.”

“Which brings us up to date.” Harry frowned. “You’ve confirmed much of what we already know, Royce…what information is there in that letter that is new?”

“This.” Royce picked up a page of the letter. “Giles has established that the Mortmain is still in effect.”

Silence fell while everyone digested this piece of information.

“Um…” Gwyneth blinked.

“But…” Gabriel frowned.

“What does that mean, exactly?” Harry managed to find the words to ask the question trembling on everyone’s lips.

“It means,” said Royce slowly, “that Fivetrees and Wolfbridge are still essentially the same piece of land.”

“So…” Gwyneth struggled. “Do we own it? Do the Withersbys own it?” She sighed. “This does not make sense…”

“I agree,” sighed Jeremy. “My head is going to ache before we’re done with this, isn’t it?”

“Probably,” agreed Gabriel. “But before you start taking powders for it, let’s get to the end. I sense there’s some more?” He shot Royce an inquiring look.

“And you’d be correct,” Royce approved. “This