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CHAPTER13
Edward,assisted by Mr. and Mrs. Wooding and Mr. Wooding’s new apprentice, Mr. Gardiner, had been searching Galleon Chase for the key which would unlock the chest, which had been left to Edward by his grandfather, for days with no success yet.
Edward flopped onto a couch in the sitting room with a frustrated sigh, glaring up at the portrait of one of his ancestors which hung over the fireplace. Suddenly, an idea struck him, and he wondered why on earth he hadn’t thought of it before.
“We should check the backs of all the paintings in the house.”
Mr. Wooding looked genuinely bemused at the suggestion.
“Whatever for, my Lord?”
Mrs. Wooding and Mr. Gardiner looked equally confused by the suggestion, as well.
Edward waved a hand at the portrait and proceeded to explain.
“I found the deed to Galleon Chase tacked to the back of a portrait of my grandfather’s grandfather in my townhouse back in London, Billington House. I am just hoping that the back of paintings was a favourite hiding place for my grandfather.”
“That makes sense.” The caretaker nodded, straightening up and rubbing at the aching small of his back. “We will scour the entire house from top to bottom if we must. There are… rather a lot of paintings….”
Edward smiled at Mr. Wooding’s spirit and determination.
“I just hope that we manage to find the key to the chest rather quickly. I promised my wife, Lady Billington, and my sister, Lady Eugenia, that I would return to London in time for Lady Mowbray’s St. Valentine’s Day Ball, and Eugenia will be quite disappointed if I do not return with the riddle which is intended for her, which I am quite sure will be hidden inside that chest along with my share of the treasure.”
The four of them fanned out, first checking the backs of all of the paintings which could easily be reached without requiring a ladder. More than an hour later, Edward was just about ready to die of frustration when he checked the back of a portrait which he could reach with the tall rolling ladder in Galleon Chase’s library.
The portrait was of his Great-Aunt Virtue Turner, Duchess of Hartsthorne. As Edward felt around the portrait’s frame, his fingers brushed something which felt like oilskin, and his heart beat faster. Was this it? He gently gripped the foreign-feeling object tacked to the frame of Great-Aunt Virtue’s painting and tugged it free, nearly toppling from the ladder as it finally came loose.
He let out a rather undignified, exhilarated whoop when he saw that it was, indeed, an oilskin pouch similar to the one he’d found the deed to Galleon Chase in.
His fingers shook as he opened the pouch, revealing a sturdy iron key which looked like it would fit the lock on the chest they’d found in the cellar’s secret alcove. Mr. Gardiner hurried into the library at Edward’s shout.
“What is it, my Lord?”
Edward waved the key so that Gardiner could see it, then scrambled down the ladder as Mr. and Mrs. Wooding hobbled in on Gardiner’s heels.
“I found the key!” With a gleeful grin, Edward held it up for the caretakers of his estate to see. “Let’s go and open that chest, shall we?”
The four of them rushed back down to Galleon Chase’s cellar, though Mr. and Mrs. Wooding’s hurry was a tad slower than Edward’s or Mr. Gardiner’s. Edward’s hand was trembling so badly when they arrived at the previously secret alcove which housed the chest that it took him a couple of tries before he actually managed to get the key into the chest’s heavy, iron lock. He held his breath as he turned the key in the lock and heard it give a satisfying click. Finally, the chest would yield both his intended inheritance, aside from the Galleon Chase property itself, of course, and Eugenia’s letter.
Practically vibrating from head to foot like a tuning fork which had been struck, Edward gripped the massive chest’s now-unlocked lid and heaved it open. He gaped at the contents thus exposed, at an utter and complete loss for words.
Mrs. Wooding let out an awed gasp behind him.
“Good heavens, Lord Billington!”
The woman’s words trailed off into an incoherent mumble and she swooned, instantly caught on either side by her husband, and her husband’s new apprentice, Mr. Gardiner. Everyone in the room had gone positively pale and dumbstruck at the sight of the chest’s contents. Mr. Wooding and Mr. Gardiner eased Mrs. Wooding down to the floor and fanned her face in an attempt to revive her from her swoon.
With shaking fingers, Edward plucked a letter addressed to Eugenia off the top of the chest’s contents and pocketed it. Eugenia would be thrilled to get her hands on it, he was sure, and he wondered what kind of treasure awaited his siblings. He stared into the open chest, which was filled to the brim with gold coins and jewels that surely added up to enough wealth to build several palaces which would put a king to shame. Even without the title and entailed properties which he would one day inherit from his father, the Duke of Thistlewayte, Edward was now obscenely wealthy in his own right, enough so that his wealth might rival his father’s wealth.
His mind reeled.
“I must get back to London to share the news of what I’ve discovered with my wife and my family, and to get the contents of this chest into secure storage with my bank, but I trust that Galleon Chase will continue to be in good hands until I am able to return.”
Edward reached into the chest and grabbed a fistful of the gold coins, pressing that fistful into Mr. Wooding’s hand. Then he grabbed another handful, tucked it into Mrs. Wooding’s apron pocket, and took up another handful of the gold coins, pressing the third handful into young Mr. Gardiner’s hands.
Mr. Wooding shook his head, his complexion ashen.
“We cannot accept such generosity, Lord Billington. It is too much.”
“Nonsense!” Edward tucked his hands behind his back, refusing to take the coins back. “Consider it your bonus for aiding me in finding the inheritance which Grandfather left for me. And for your family’s unfailing loyalty, for the last two generations. It will make you more than comfortable as you continue to care for this estate for me, whether I am here or not.”
Edward closed and locked the chest then, and pocketed the key.
“I think that we should summon my coachman and groom from the stables to help us load the chest into my carriage for the trip back to London.”
Mrs. Wooding roused from her stupor and gave a woozy groan as her husband and Mr. Gardiner helped her to her feet.
“I do hope we shall see you again soon, Lord Billington? It was rather lonely here without you in residence.”
“I assure you, Mrs. Wooding, that I fully intend to visit Galleon Chase often. I am sure that my family will, as well. I will be certain to send letters ahead to make you aware, should any of the family desire to visit while I am otherwise occupied.”
Mrs. Wooding nodded, and the four of them shuffled up the stairs to retrieve the coachman and groom so that Edward could return to London as quickly as possible with his treasure, and Eugenia’s letter.
Perhaps he would even manage to return in time to attend Lady Mowbray’s St. Valentine’s Day Ball, after all?
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