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“I say,” said Lord Ortham. “Isn’t that Caroline Klein’s personal stationery?” He turned to his wife as if for confirmation. “I remember it, you see. She showed it to me over tea after the Troop’s Cup in August. Made with a very rare weft that you can’t find anywhere but from the one man in India, she said. Rupert used the same papers. Must have given her the connection. Fascinating.”
I frowned. I had no idea Lord Ortham had such an eye.
“Oh, Bernard,” Lady Ortham mumbled under her breath in the exact same tone Lea used whenever Mike, her husband, went off for too long about his fantasy football picks.
At that, I had to hide a smile. Maybe it, was a husband thing. Lord Ortham’s love of stationery was akin to things like fake sports teams or flyfishing.
I was making a mental note to ask Xavier what esoteric hobbies he planned to cultivate when something else Lord Ortham said stuck out.
“Klein?” I asked. “As in…AdamKlein?”
“Why yes, that’s his mother,” Lord Ortham said. “And Georgina’s sister, didn’t you know?”
“Mother, you didn’t,” Frederick put in with a shake of his head.
I turned to her. “Was this from your sister? Was it from…you?”
For once, Georgina’s sleek feathers were ruffled beyond repair. Her expression ricocheted around the room, bouncing between people like a pinball.
“Fine!” she sputtered. “But only because Carrie was so very clumsy, wasn’t she? No doubt this time her hands are all over it.”
“Do you think this is some kind of joke?” Xavier demanded, brandishing the letter like a sword. “Sending my wife terrifying notes? Making her feel like someone’s following her? Stalking her?”
“Ididn’t think it was funny at all!” Georgina insisted in a voice that rang a bit too loudly. “It’s only that Adam was so very attached to you, my dear, for God knows what reasons. And my sister simply can’t stand to see her darling boy unhappy. So when you had gone back to New York and your mother was still giving those horrid interviews, Caroline was convinced this might be the nail in the coffin, so to speak, that might finally send you his way. After all, it wasn’t that difficult to make you run the first time. Why not keep you going?”
My jaw dropped. “That is demented. This was all some kind of prank to free me up for your nephew?” I felt like I’d been physically shoved backward. “Did Adam know about this?”
“God, no,” Georgina said. “Bloody boy scout, that one. He’s been determined to rehabilitate his family’s reputation since birth. Seemed to think being a do-good teacher would help. Horrible.”
“It’s not the worst idea, Mother,” Frederick put it. “Especially if one is caught pulling such pranks on new family.”
“Indeed,” Imogene agreed with him. “Although it’s not much worse than getting involved withherto begin with.”
“That’s enough!” Xavier’s voice cut through the chatter, and suddenly the room was quieter than a tomb. Slowly, he rotated, turning degree by degree so that he was able to get a good look at every person sitting before us.
“Let me make one thing clear,” he said. “Whatever your designs on my title, your plans to take what has never been yours, there is one thing I will not tolerate, and that is harassment of my family. Do you see this woman?”
He pointed to me, then pulled me to his side while everyone turned their cold, fishy eyes on me.
“Sheis the most important to me. Not this house or any of the others. Not the title you’ve been chasing or the accounts you’ve been using like they actually belong to you. Certainly not some stodgy position in Lords that I’ve got no fucking clue what to do with. Her. Our family. That’s all I care about. And so any form of harassment of themwill stop.”
By the time he finished, I was practically glowing inside.
I didn’t realize how much I had needed him to say this to these people until now. Right this moment.
“Now, Georgina,” he continued. “Let’s not pretend that tomorrow morning, you aren’t doing your very best to take away the acknowledgment I waited nineteen years to receive from my father. This was more than a joke. It has always been about humiliation with you. Different means of casting me aside to elevate you and Frederick into positions you’ve always wanted, never earned.” He shook his head. “Even Frederick knows the likelihood of the title reverting to him, much less Adam, is next to none. For the connection to Kendal going that far back, there would be too many potential heirs to count.”
Lord Ortham chuckled to his wife. “Golly, maybe that meansIshould be the next Duke of Kendal, eh? I think our families intermarried back there at some point. Plenty of kissing cousins, you know?”
“Oh, Bernard,” Lady Ortham moaned again.
“Exactly,” Xavier said.
“You havenoidea what you’re talking about,” Georgina spat at him. “And even if you did, it wouldn’t matter. I would honestly rather see the title die with Rupert than continue with the barbaric likes of you, you little bastard. You’ve been a stain on this family since your birth.Thatwill never change!”
“Oh, no you didnot,” I started toward her, but to my surprise, Xavier pulled me back.
“Don’t,” he said in a stony voice that was surprisingly calm. “She’s not worth it.” Then he stood taller than maybe I’d ever seen him. “Since threats don’t have an effect on you, it’s time for action. I’ll give you this last night at Parkvale, Georgina. Time enough to get your things together.” He glanced at Frederick. “You can keep the residence in Bath, Fred. If you want your mum there, that’s up to you. But Georgie, after tonight, you are no longer welcome atanyof the Kendal houses, nor will you have access to any funds beyond the trust my father left you.”
