The Unknown Heir

‘We manage,’ the duke said and thumped the bed. ‘If I had my legs again, I would sort things out, but as it is I am helpless. If you ever decide to get married, this place will go to the devil.’

‘Well, I have no intention of it,’ Hester reassured him. ‘I shall not leave you, dearest Grandfather. If the heir comes…’ She left the sentence unfinished, because as yet they could not know whether or not the heir would wish to leave his home. ‘We must wait and see what happens.’

‘You—the heir to an English duke?’ Red Clinton threw back his head and laughed deep in his throat. ‘Don’t make me laugh, Jared. You are kidding me, aren’t you?’

Jared looked at his cousin, a lazy smile playing over his sensuous mouth. ‘It sounds crazy, I know, but my mother ran off with my father when her family rejected the marriage. Pa didn’t have much going for him then…’

He glanced round the richly furnished room above the gambling club he owned in New Orleans. It had been his father’s legacy to him when he died, all that remained of the fortune Jack Clinton had amassed when he was younger. Jared’s father had built a home fitting for the daughter of an English duke after making his fortune gambling on the riverboats that plied the Mississippi River, but it had been sold when she died, most of the money lost the way it had come. Jack Clinton’s heart had been buried with his wife, and he had become reckless, neglecting his son, drinking and gambling carelessly until all he had left was a gambling saloon. After his death of a heart attack, Jared had taken what he’d inherited, swearing that he would never end the way his father had, and had since increased his wealth many times over. He was now much richer than his father had ever been, respected and admired by the highest in New Orleans society; he had recently been approached to enter politics by some of the elders of the city.

‘I thought the family refused to have anything to do with her after she ran away with your father,’ Red said. ‘Why have they decided they want you now—after all these years? Isn’t there anyone else?’

‘It seems not. There were three sons and about four grandsons as I recall. A heck of a lot of people must have died for the title to come down to me.’

‘Hell!’ Red swore half a dozen times and pulled a wry face. ‘What are you gonna do? You live like a king here—why would you want to go and live in some draughty old mansion that’s probably about ready to fall down over your head?’ He tipped his head to one side, the left eyebrow raised in inquiry. ‘Or is the family dripping in gold?’

‘I very much doubt it,’ Jared said. He grinned, looking much like his more handsome cousin for a moment. They were both tall, strong men with broad shoulders, slim hips and the athletic look of men who had passed out of West Point with first-class honours. Both were rich men, both attractive in their own way, though of the two Red was the most striking, his hair a flaming torch as a ray of sunshine touched it. Jared’s hair was a darker shade of auburn, his features harsher and less attractive when in repose. Only when he smiled was it noticeable that the two were cousins. ‘The lawyer’s letter was all about the honour of the family name. Apparently, it is my duty to go over there and set things to rights.’

‘You mean they’ve got wind that you’re as rich as Croesus and they want some of it,’ Red drawled, his top lip curling in disgust. ‘You’re a fool if you do it, Jared.’

Jared nodded because his cousin was echoing the thoughts that had been running through his head for the past week since the latest letter arrived.

‘What’s more, they seem to imagine I need a lesson in manners,’ he said. ‘They are sending someone to talk to me and take me back on the ship to England. I have been advised that I should leave the purchase of any new clothes I might need until I get there. Apparently, a female cousin is going to teach me what to wear and how to behave in society.’

‘Well, dang my hide!’ Red exclaimed, a huge grin spreading over his face. ‘Think you’re an ignorant hillbilly, do they?’

‘Well, the lawyer didn’t quite say that, but that’s about the size of it,’ Jared agreed, amused by his cousin’s unaccustomed language. ‘He is coming today. I was wondering where to receive him.’

‘What do you mean?’ Red asked, puzzled. He glanced around the large room, which was furnished with the finest French furniture from the Empire period and contained treasures that a lot of Jared’s neighbours would give their eye-teeth to own. ‘You’ve plenty of property you could choose to receive him in. Why not this place? One look should disabuse their agent of any erroneous ideas they happen to have formed of your education and standing in American society.’

‘Yes, I dare say it would,’ Jared said, a wicked glint in his eyes. They were somewhere between green and blue in colour and at that moment the expression in them was both deep and mysterious. ‘But it makes me angry when I think of the way the old man treated my mother. He was a martinet by all accounts and he could afford to ignore her, because he had all those sons and grandsons. It must have given him some grief to realise that I was the only one left to him.’

‘Yes, I suppose so,’ Red drawled. Knowing his cousin well from the time they spent at military academy together, he knew that some devilish plan was lurking behind that look. ‘Going to tell me any time this week? Only I’ve got a pretty girl waiting for me to show this afternoon.’

‘You know that shack down by the river?’

‘The warehouse you bought last week?’ Red’s eyes narrowed. ‘You were going to pull it down and build new, as I recall.’

‘Fortunately, I haven’t got around to it,’ Jared said. ‘Do you think your lady love would mind if you were a little late for your important meeting, Red? Only you can do me a favour if you will.’

‘No problem,’ his cousin said. ‘Sue Ellen looks beautiful when she’s angry. She may shoot me on sight, but I guess I’ll take the chance.’ He raised his brows. ‘So what is the plan?’

‘I’m going to meet Mr Birch there in the river shack,’ Jared said. ‘I’ll dig out some of Pa’s old working clothes and give him a fright. Since he’s expecting me to be ignorant and disgusting, I may as well give him what he wants.’

‘Good,’ Red said and grinned broadly, loving the plan. ‘Where do I come in?’

‘Well, I think they may have done their research,’ Jared said. ‘But they made a big mistake. You see, I’m a no-good gambler, like my father, and last month I lost everything to you.’ He smiled at his cousin. ‘Think you can do that for me?’

‘Yes,’ Red said and laughed. ‘I reckon that will teach those aristocratic relatives of yours a lesson—but what then? You won’t actually go over there, will you?’

‘Well, that depends,’ Jared said. ‘I’m curious to see what happened to all those sons and grandsons, but I’m still thinking about it.’

‘Well, take your time making up your mind,’ Red told him. ‘If they have sent someone all this way, they want something—and they need it desperately.’

‘Yes,’ Jared agreed, his eyes narrowed, angry. ‘I am certain they do.’

‘Thank you for coming to me before you see Grandfather, Mr Birch,’ Hester said when she greeted him in the parlour at Shelbourne. It was spring, some months since her grandfather had first told her of his intention to send for the heir, and Mr Birch’s recent letter had shocked them. ‘Your letter upset him and I have wondered if the heir can possibly be as terrible as you suggested. Grandfather’s reports all indicated that he was wealthy and reasonably well educated. Didn’t he go to an exclusive military academy?’

‘It appears that he was thrown out halfway through his training, because of his drinking and gambling,’ Mr Birch said and sighed. He had worked for the Duke of Shelbourne since he first became a lawyer and his loyalty was unswerving. ‘It is the cousin—Mr Roderick Clinton—who has all the money, and he is really quite a gentleman, even if he does use some odd words occasionally. Now that would have been easy enough for you to correct, Miss Sheldon—but I fear Mr Jared Clinton is beyond your help. He lives in the most appalling shack and his clothes…’ He shuddered at the memory and the appalling smell that had clung to the heir apparent when they first met. Only his duty had kept him from turning tail in the first instance. ‘I managed to get him looking fairly decent for the journey to London, but he refuses to buy anything further, even though I assured him the duke has opened an account for him at Coutts Bank. It seems that he did have money until recently and lost it at the tables when drunk. He told me that he has to learn to control his bad habits before he can take anything from the duke.’

‘Well, at least he seems to be aware of his duty to Grandfather,’ Hester said, her sigh even deeper and more heartfelt than her lawyer’s if that were possible. Her glossy dark hair was drawn back in a severe knot at the back of her head, which did nothing for her features. She was, however, elegantly dressed, though the colours she chose were usually of a subdued hue. There had been so many tragedies over the past few years, including the death of her stepfather and half-brother John, and she had grown resigned to remaining at Shelbourne House to comfort her mother and Grandfather, neither of whom cared to go into society these days. ‘I suppose that is something. And since most of my step-uncles and cousins were gamblers, I suppose we cannot look for our American heir to be an exception. I was afraid it was too good to be true when the report came saying that he was industrious, honourable and clever.’

‘If only you had been born a man,’ Mr Birch said. ‘You are everything that this family needs, Miss Sheldon. I have always thought the female line had all the common sense in this family.’

‘You forget that I am no blood relation to the duke,’ Hester told him. ‘I love Shelbourne as if he were my true grandfather, and he loves me, but that is as far as it goes.’

‘Yes, I had forgotten for the moment, but I am sure that no one could have a more loving granddaughter, Miss Sheldon.’

‘I wish that there was some way in which I could protect Grandfather,’ Hester said. ‘The male line of this family are cursed, Mr Birch. For years I believed that the old story was a myth, just a foolish tale, as my step-uncles were profligate gamblers and drinkers—but since Papa died and then there was John…’ Her voice broke as the grief welled inside her.

‘It is just a tale,’ her lawyer assured her. ‘It is true that the family has been unfortunate for the past few years. Your stepfather’s brothers all carried the illness passed down through their mother, Miss Sheldon—an inflammation of the lungs, which often proves fatal.’

‘Yes, perhaps you are right.’ Hester sighed. ‘Grandfather had such hopes for the new heir. It seems he is doomed to disappointment.’

‘Well, he seems healthy enough. He is a gambler and he told me himself that he drinks more than he ought, but he seems disposed towards his duty because he did not drink more than a glass of wine at dinner on the voyage, and he refrained from gambling. His speech is a little…’ Mr Birch hesitated, wondering how best to prepare her. ‘American, I think is the best way to describe it…but I dare say you might be able to do something about that, and you could direct him to the right tailors, Miss Sheldon. You have always had perfect taste and he could do no better than to listen to you.’

‘If he will listen,’ Hester said doubtfully. ‘I have not found gentlemen normally accommodating in that respect. Papa certainly never listened to Mama on any subject—and if he had, he might never have lost so much money at the card tables. And then you know he might not have started drinking so much, taken that fever and died as he did, but when John died it broke his heart. He was never the same again after that because he knew he could not have another son. Mama’s health would not have permitted it, you see.’

‘Most unfortunate,’ Mr Birch agreed, nodding in sympathy. ‘You can only try, Miss Sheldon. What little there is left of the estate depends on the heir at least making an effort to bring the family fortunes about. If we can make him respectable, we can marry him to an heiress.’

‘And then what?’ Hester asked. ‘Mama was an heiress, but Papa gambled all her money away as well as his own. She has only the settlement her father insisted on when she married him and that is scarcely enough to clothe us both decently. But, as you say, a rich marriage is the only solution. Grandfather is determined on a ball to introduce him into society.’

‘Not yet, Miss Sheldon,’ her lawyer begged with a little shudder. ‘If he were seen in good society as he is…all chance of his finding an heiress would be gone.’

‘Is he really so awful?’ Hester said, wrinkling her brow. ‘I was not born when my aunt ran away with her American gambler, but I have heard that she was an intelligent, beautiful lady.’ How could her son be the ignorant, coarse man the lawyer had described? Surely there was some mystery here? ‘I think I should see him before Grandfather does, Mr Birch. I shall come back to London with you and stay with my godmother. Perhaps I can at least make him look presentable before he comes here.’

‘I think that is a good idea,’ Mr Birch said. ‘I was hesitant to suggest it—but since you have done so, I can only applaud your devotion to duty.’

‘Duty?’ Hester shook her head. ‘In truth, I care little for what becomes of the heir, sir. I wish only to make Grandfather’s last few months as easy as possible. I know he blames himself for what has happened to the family, and I would find a way of giving him peace of mind if it is possible.’

‘Your generosity of spirit is everything that one could wish for in a daughter,’ the lawyer said. ‘Your mother and grandfather must rely on you for so much, Miss Sheldon. It is a little unfair on you that they entertain so little these days.’

‘I have been given so much love,’ Hester replied with a serene smile. ‘I did have my Season before Papa died, you know. I did not take and I fear it is too late to think of marriage now. I am content with my life as it is, sir.’

Mr Birch sighed inwardly, for he knew that an intelligent woman such as Miss Sheldon undoubtedly must be wasted in that mausoleum of a house. However, he knew her too well to imagine she would ever think of disobliging her mother or the duke, and was therefore doomed to remain a spinster.

‘So, the prodigal son is not everything you had hoped,’ Lady Sarah Ireland said, casting a critical eye over her goddaughter. She thought it a great pity that Hester had not married when she was younger, because she was a charming, sensible girl and deserved a home of her own. She was at the beck and call of the duke, who had grown selfish in his old age, Lady Ireland believed. In truth, she had never liked Shelbourne, but she did like Hester, who was related to her through Hester’s real father, and she had tried to persuade Hester to come and live with her in London more than once. ‘Well, I dare say you can teach him some society manners, Hester, but it is a pity about the money. It would hardly have mattered how he speaks if he still had a fortune.’

Hester shook her head at the elderly lady, of whom she was very fond. ‘That remark was a little cynical, dearest Godmother, but I know you meant it well. In society, most things are forgiven one if there is a large enough fortune.’ She sighed and glanced at herself in the great oval mirror that hung on the wall of Lady Ireland’s elegant salon. ‘As you are aware, Grandfather still has the house and the land, possibly because his sons died before they could force him to sell, but there is very little money. Had the heir not gambled his money away, he might have helped restore the house. The west wing needs a large amount of money spent on it if it is to be restored to its former glory.’