Page 26 of Scandal’s Daughter

Any speculation on the matter had to wait until late in the afternoon when her uncle returned and ushered her into his study.

“Well, child, I hope you are not too low in spirits after such a dreadful day as you suffered yesterday.”

“No, sir,” she said, offering him a smile to reassure him as she settled in the chair opposite his desk. “But I confess I am in desperation to know what it is you have been discussing with Lord Falmouth.”

“Ah,” her uncle said with satisfaction, rubbing his hands together. “As to that, I believe we have a plan.”

“We do?”

She watched as her uncle rang the bell to summon one of the maids and waited in anticipation as Mary opened the door and her uncle ordered tea be brought forthwith.

Once Mary had gone to fulfil his command, he returned his attention to his niece.

“Now, Georgiana. I know that everything that has happened must have been the most appalling shock to you and I feel I ought to offer you our apologies for not having given you any idea of your circumstances before this.”

“Whatever for?” Georgiana exclaimed. “Of course, you didn’t wish to discuss such a dreadful scandal, and how could you? It is hardly the kind of thing you can easily discuss with your niece.”

Her uncle smiled at her and gave a sigh. “Georgiana, I hope you know this already, but your aunt and I, we always have and always will love you as our own daughter. It was a terrible sadness to us we never had a child of our own, and when you came into our lives, despite the circumstances, we were so grateful and happy to have you. You have been nothing but a joy and a delight and to see you forced into such ... such ...” His voice broke and Georgiana reached across the desk and clasped his hand in hers. She could not speak any further than he could manage as her throat was tight with emotion and her vision blurred with tears.

“Well, now,” her uncle began again, offering her a rueful smile as Mary brought them in a tea tray and then hurried away. “To the facts, lest we become prey to our emotions again. First of all, Georgiana, I utterly forbid you to marry Swithin Rufford, is that perfectly clear?”

Georgiana choked on her tea and had to put her cup down on the desk before she spilt it down her dress as laughter shook her. “Oh, Uncle, yes indeed, it is quite clear, and I’ve never been so happy to have a suitor rejected.”

“Oh? Have you rejected many?” he asked with a twinkle glittering behind his spectacles.

For a moment Georgiana blushed, though it was nonsensical as Beau had never proposed. Obviously imagining it was just her maidenly modesty that caused her cheeks to glow, her uncle continued.

“So, as for the rest of it. Your father, as you now know, was the Baron Dalton, and whilst his title went to your uncle when he died, he was in fact a very wealthy man and the majority of all of his estates and monies ... belong to you.”

Georgiana gaped at him. “B-but ...”

He held out a hand to her. “Perhaps we should have told you sooner, my dear. But we could only feel that if you’d known about the vast sum settled upon you that it ... well, it might be a burden to you or ...”

“Or it might turn me into the most shockingly spoilt creature imaginable,” she offered and let out a breath as she tried to absorb the information. She was an heiress! Her heart gave a leap in her throat and unconsciously her hand covered that sorely bruised organ as she thought of Beau. “Uncle, I thank you with my whole heart,” she replied, her voice shaking as she was torn between crying and laughing. All her wildest dreams seemed to be coming true on the heels of the worst nightmare. “Indeed, it seems incredible. Surely you know I could never reproach you for anything and in this I think you were undoubtedly quite correct. I would have been beyond bearing, I’m certain. But surely there is some mistake? Are you perfectly sure that such wealth is mine?”

Uncle Joseph sipped his tea and nodded.

“Your father had a steward. A very fine man indeed and it is to him we owe a great debt. It was he who brought you to us. He always felt your aunt had been harshly treated when she chose to marry me, but your father was a cold man, much in the style of your uncle Dalton I’m afraid. However, it was he who acted so swiftly in putting all the papers that left everything to you into our hands. For your father and your uncle despised each other, that much I will say, and your father wouldn’t have settled so much as a groat on him if he didn’t have to. So, everything was tied up in trust, and while your uncle is officially your guardian until you come of age, there was and still is no way for him to touch anything that belonged to you in any way other than as a caretaker.”

She frowned at him as her uncle’s plan fell into place. “So, you believe he wants me to marry this Rufford so he can control me and my inheritance through him?”

Her uncle grimaced. “Quite so,” he said, shaking his head. “Indeed, whilst he had no power to touch your money, your uncle Dalton took no time in installing himself in your father’s house and taking charge of the estates. To be fair, I believe he has managed them well enough, but now of course he faces the prospect of being evicted when you come of age.”

“Good God!” Try as she might to take it all in, Georgiana would have easier believed she was trapped in some bizarre dream than accept everything she’d just heard. “But if he was so determined to control me through my inheritance, why did my uncle not make greater efforts to be conciliatory?” she asked, more perplexed than ever.

“Because your uncle is a bully just as, I’m sad to say, was your father. And I promise you this, Georgiana, I have every sympathy with your poor mother for I cannot imagine what she must have endured as his wife.” He took a breath and set down his tea cup, pushing it away. “I am sorry to speak of your father so, my child. I cannot imagine that it is anything but distressing.”

Georgiana shrugged. “They seem like minor characters I have read about in a book,” she admitted, smiling at him. “They have never been a part of my life and I knew so little of them that now they just don’t seem real. There is not enough of them left to hurt me I think.” She looked up and reached over, patting his hand. “And how could I possibly miss them when I have you and Aunt Jane? I am more than blessed in that, I assure you.”

Her uncle returned her smile with just as much affection. “It’s an ill wind, I suppose, and your uncle didn’t know you any more than your father understood your mother. He thought he could come here and force you to bend to his will, but he didn’t reckon with your spirit, Georgiana. The man didn’t realise that you would not be so easily manipulated or cowed by such ruthless behaviour.” He grew serious then and his face was grave as he spoke again. “And you are going to need that spirit, child and all the courage you possess to face what comes next.”