Irish Inheritance by Paula Martin

Author:Paula Martin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romantic suspense, problem solving, 19th century, mysteries, ancestry, galway, connemara
Publisher: Tirgearr Publishing

Chapter 17

Jenna stared at the yellowing envelope in Guy’s hand. On the front, in black ink and slightly wavering handwriting, were the words: For William Lewis, on the occasion of his 21st birthday, February 14, 1919.

Guy held it out to her. ‘Do you want to open it? She was your great-great-grandmother.’

She shook her head. ‘My hands are shaking too much.’

After he unfolded two sheets of vellum notepaper from the envelope, the first thing she saw was the date at the top. ‘Guy, look. March 31, 1901, the day of the census, when she was staying at the hotel in Dublin with William.’

She leaned against him as they read the letter together.

My darling William

You will already know Michael and Bridget are not your real parents. I have asked them to be truthful and to tell you of the circumstances which obliged me to give you into their safekeeping. Bridget has been with me for several years, first as my personal maid and then as a mother’s help, and I would trust her with my life, and therefore with you, too. I am sure she and Michael will bring you up as one of their own, and I do not doubt you will enjoy a happy childhood with them.

I want to reassure you of the great love your father and I had for each other, a love that has transcended his untimely death. It broke my heart when my beloved Edwin died before you were born; indeed, he never knew I was carrying his child. He returned to Boston in the summer of 1897 when he learnt his unbalanced and sometimes violent wife had been institutionalised. He intended to bring his son Samuel here to Ireland to live with us, but the tragedy of his death prevented that from happening. You were less than a month old when I learnt he had died. I wanted to die, too, but you gave me the reason to live through such an unhappy time, and I thank you. I love you so much, and your father, if he had lived, would have given you the same love, since you were created from the deep devotion between us.

My dearest wish was to remain forever at Mist Na Mara where I spent two supremely happy years with Edwin, and the last three years with you, my darling son. Instead, I will marry Mr. Robert Oliver in a few weeks’ time, in order to avert a scandal that would destroy my brother’s career and bring untold grief and embarrassment to my mother and father.

Tomorrow you will return to Clifden, and I will go to England without you. If there was any other way, I would gladly take it, but the fact you are reading this letter now, on the threshold of your adult life, indicates that circumstances have made it impossible for me to come back to Ireland, or to acknowledge you as my son.

The deeds of Mist Na Mara will be transferred into your name, either on my death or on the occasion of you reaching your majority, whichever event happens first.

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