The Late Heiress: The Amberley Chronicles by Burnett May

Author:Burnett, May [Burnett, May]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Mind Games Publications
Published: 2015-03-25T16:00:00+00:00

***

As agreed, two copies of the Society Argus were delivered at the Ellsworthy residence the next morning. It did not take James long to find the result of the previous day’s conference, an article rife with innuendo.

The headline read, A Heartless Uncle?

Considering that he stands to gain over a quarter million pounds in funds and landed property from the mysterious drowning of his ward and niece, brows are being raised that the Earl C. does not wear mourning or even black armbands for the unfortunate young lady whose welfare was entrusted to his care. Care that has proven sadly inadequate.

The most cursory consideration of the tragic story leads to far more questions than answers. Why was a lady of minor years and royal connections staying in a shabby seaside resort without any family members, and only menials in attendance? Why, if she was able to travel, had she lived so secluded that nobody in society had seen her in several years before her sudden, mysterious demise? Why did she not live in the household of her guardian and closest relative?

Has anybody at all seen this orphaned heiress between the spring of 1838 and her sudden arrival in humble Chatterham?

Did Lady M. really die all alone in a leaky boat, wearing a bright purple afternoon dress at six in the morning? Who identified the body, given that she was staying in a boarding house among strangers?

Where huge fortunes are involved, it would be irresponsible not to ask questions.

The editor requests the public’s help to clear a noble house of possibly unfounded doubt and suspicion. A disinterested sponsor has offered the sum of twenty guineas for any relevant information regarding the fate of Lady Marian C. between the dates of April 1838 and the present, and the identity of the body recently interred in the family crypt of C. Hall in Lincolnshire.

Omnia vincit Veritas!

“Truth conquers all,” James murmured. Would it, really?

A separate article lovingly detailed Lady Marian’s pedigree, stressing that her late mother had been third cousin to Prince Albert’s mother, and describing every single link in that tenuous chain.

Charlotte and Violet had finished reading as quickly as James. “The extra paper should be sent to Yorkshire,” he reminded them. “If I know Selbington, he’ll have sent a copy to Prince Albert too, he is cheeky enough for that. Will you take care of it, Violet?”

He really should give his daughter more responsibility than such tiny errands, after the way she had quickly identified the problem of his Chelsea tenants the previous day. A new chemical factory adjoining his property was driving customers away with acrid smells at odd hours.

“Certainly, Father.” Violet grinned. “I wonder what Roger will think when he reads it. If I were Lady Colville I would not be very happy about this article at all. It as good as calls her family heartless, greedy and at the very least criminally negligent.”

“Yet the fact that it is all in phrased as solicitous questions will prevent Colville from suing for slander,” James said.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.