CHAPTER 15
Josephinereturnedfromherbrother's burial and sank onto a chair in the nursery with a heavy sigh. Little Edward ran to her with a big smile and a squeal of delight. “Anjo!”
She leaned in to kiss his rounded cheeks. “How is my little lamb doing today?”
The child spoke some gibberish that she was surprisingly beginning to understand. Something about his toy horse and a bunny. She smiled, nodding encouragingly, and nuzzled his soft curls. Inhaling his sweet baby scent, the knots of tension caused by the unpleasant task she had just discharged began to unravel.
It had just been her, the family retainers, and cousin Titus and his wife. But the latter had been enough to exhaust her social tolerance for a month.
She had spoken little to them, and they seemed equally disinclined to engage her. Their side eyes and disdainful smirksand whispers had bothered her a lot less than they probably thought, but it was still exhausting dealing with them.
Not even a month after her arrival, her brother had already departed the mortal realm. She got the impression he was simply hanging on until he felt confident he could entrust her with his son. When he saw how she loved the child, he simply… let go. The doctor said it had been the disease, and it might have been. He certainly never got better. But she couldn’t shake the suspicion that her brother had taken a bigger than usual dose of the opium he used to manage the pain and had simply…not awakened.
It did not matter, in any case. The result was the same. He was dead, and she couldn’t say she was truly saddened by his demise. Maybe she had turned into a horrible person, but she couldn’t mourn the death of her brother, just as she had been unable to muster up any emotion when she learned about the death of her parents.
Had all the tender feelings been extinguished in her, then? She had only to look at the child playing at her feet to know it was not so. She ruffled his curls and got a squeal, and a toy plunked down on her lap. It was amazing how much she had come to love this little cherub.
From the moment she met him, the day after her arrival, the little one had grabbed her pinky and tugged at her with all the ferocity of an angelic two-year-old. And it was as if instead of grabbing her finger, he had grabbed her heart, and now he held it in his pudgy little hands to do with as he wished.
All the apprehension she had felt prior to meeting her nephew, her doubts as to whether she could love the child or the resentment she felt toward her brother would overshadow her feelings, had evaporated upon meeting him. One look at his blond curls, ruby lips, and rosy cheeks, and she was in love. She did not see her brother in the little one. She saw the childshe could have had if fate had been kinder. The child she would never have.
Her brother had seen her reaction. Much to her chagrin, she had been unable to conceal her emotions. Thank goodness he had signed the documents before her meeting little Edward, because, after that, he certainly would have had more bargaining power over her.
As if summoned by thoughts of bargaining, a knock sounded on the door and a maid came to announce that her brother’s solicitor wished to see her. She groaned internally, foreseeing a long and tedious conversation about estate matters and inheritance. Couldn’t this wait a few days? They had just buried her brother, for God’s sake.
Leaving the nursery and her nephew in the care of his nursemaid, she trudged down the stairs to the study, where the solicitor was waiting for her.
“Milady,” the old man said, standing at her entrance. “Thank you for agreeing to see me in this time of bereavement. This matter is of the utmost importance, or I wouldn’t have bothered you.”
“Good afternoon, Mr. Cheswick. Have a seat.” She sat behind the desk and folded her hands in front of her. “Please tell me what matter brings you here.”
“As you know, your brother wished for you to have full guardianship of his child and expressed it in his will.”
“Correct. That is why I’m here.”
“Yes, yes. Of course. But you see… Mr. Everleigh is contesting the validity of such provision.”
“How can he do so?” She could feel her brow furrowing with tension. “You yourself wrote my brother’s last will and testament, didn’t you? Isn’t it legal and binding?”
“Indeed it is, milady. But anyone can contest a will. They have lodged a caveat in the Chancery Court.”
She felt a lead ball lodge in her chest. “On what grounds?”
The solicitor looked decidedly uncomfortable. His fleshy cheeks turned a bright pink, and he tugged at the knot of his necktie. “I beg your pardon, milady, but they are claiming unsuitability due to immoral character. They are also citing financial incompetence.”
Despite her effort to control her emotions, indignation got the better of her and she shot up from the chair.
“That is absolute balderdash!” But deep down, she knew it wasn’t. Her past would definitely play against her, as would being a single woman. “What are their chances of winning?”
“Not great, milady. But reasonable. The court may also decide to place the child under someone else’s temporary guardianship while the case is decided.”
“This is an outrage! How is this possible? My own brother, his father, expressed in his last will and testament that he wished for me to be the child’s guardian. Are the child’s father’s wishes not valid?”
“They are, milady. But the court will take into account, first and foremost, the child’s best interest. If they can convince the court of their claims…”
The solicitor trailed off, leaving the rest implied. Cold dread settled in the pit of her stomach. She knew her position was vulnerable. She was an unmarried woman with a scandalous past. Her own brother had smeared her reputation when he claimed she had eloped with the pasha. And now she returned after all these years, alone, unmarried. An unknown enigma these narrow minds could not comprehend. She had no friends that could vouch for her character other than John and Alice. Unless…
“I could go to the queen. My brother asked for her help when he decided to ransom me, so she knows my case. She’s the one who assigned John and Alice to negotiate my release.”
