A Debt of Dishonor by Marek Lillian

Author:Marek, Lillian
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Historical
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2021-02-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Somerset

Dressed soberly in a sturdy but respectable coat of black worsted, breeches and with a simple stock at his neck, Howard Hall looked like a moderately successful attorney. He looked so much the part that Sir Richard Langley assumed that was what he was when he was ushered into Sir Richard’s study.

Hall looked hesitant. “I do apologize for intruding on you this way, Sir Richard. I had asked for Sir Bertrand Langley, and was told that he was deceased?”

Sir Richard, a paunchy but pleasant fellow no more fashionably dressed than his visitor, nodded cheerfully. “Three years ago. Out hunting. The horse balked at a fence, but my father went over it anyway.”

“My sympathy. It must have been a shock for you.”

Sir Richard shrugged. “More of a shock for my father, but at least it was quick and clean. He wouldn’t have cared to linger.” When Hall seemed unable to think of an appropriate response, Sir Richard continued. “Why would you be looking for him? Can’t believe he would have gotten himself mixed up in any lawsuits. He always said only fools go to law, and I won’t say he was wrong.”

Hall smiled slightly to show the proper appreciation of the jest. “Actually, it was not Sir Bertrand I was seeking but his daughter, Miss Frances Langley.”

“Franny? Good God, haven’t thought about her in years.”

“Dear me, is she also deceased?”

“Not so far as I know. Though I might not know, come to think of it. Haven’t heard a word from her since the old man disowned her.”

“Dear me.”

Sir Richard threw a sharp glace at the visitor. “Why might you be looking for my sister?”

“I am afraid I cannot tell you precisely.” Hall gave an apologetic smile. “I can, however, assure you that my finding her will be in no way to her detriment. Quite the contrary.”

“Money, eh?”

Hall lowered his eyes. His expression was that of a man maintaining a discreet silence.

“Franny.” Sir Richard sat back, eyes unfocused as if looking into the past, until he began to smile. “She always was a stubborn one, you know, and the bravest of us. The only one who would really stand up to our father. Hope she ended up better than poor Mary did, for all she married a viscount. Never heard from either of them after they married, but every now and then someone would bring us word of Newell and another would know something of Mary. Well, they’re both dead now.”

“Both? Both sisters?” Hall asked sharply.

“Hmm? Oh, no, no. I meant Newell and Mary.”

“I see. Did they, by any chance, did they have children?”

Sir Richard shrugged. “Someone once mentioned a son who was living with Newell, but that is all I know. Poor Mary. She wasn’t even allowed to keep her child.”

Hall coughed diffidently. “Of course, it was your other sister, Frances Langley, I was seeking.”

“Ah, yes, of course. Well, we never heard from her either after she married Andrew Darling.”

“Andrew Darling?”

Sir Richard grinned. “Good-looking fellow, he was. And crazy about Franny.

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