Amanda Scott - [Dangerous 04] (2 page)

Letty swallowed the contradicting words that leapt to her tongue, saying instead, “My brother Gideon says my appointment is just a sop. He says someone managed to convince Her Majesty that she must invite at least one Tory representative to court, and I do not doubt that he is right. That ought to cast me into dejection, I expect, but I am not so easily cast down, I promise you, and I daresay I shall find it all very interesting. However, at the moment,” she added with a smile, “I must confess that I am more interested in learning about my house.”

Mr. Clifford made a tent with his fingertips and stared at them thoughtfully before he met her steady gaze again and said, “I must say, my lady, I had expected to discuss this matter with your father. It is most unusual for an unmarried young woman—or a married one, for that matter—to demand explanations from her father’s solicitor regarding matters of property. Now, if you were a widow—”

“Well, I am not, sir. Nor do I believe it would benefit me to become one.”

“Legally it would give you powers that a single lady lacks, however.”

“I do know that,” she said, striving to keep the annoyance she felt out of her tone. “Though you may not realize it, sir, my family does not treat its women like children. We have opinions, and we do not hesitate to express them. Moreover, I have had the benefit of an excellent education, and my mother and father explained a good many other matters generally not taught to young ladies at even the best schools. You and I will get on much better, I believe, if you can manage to speak to me as you would speak to a gentleman.”

“My imagination boggles at such a notion, my lady,” the lawyer replied, “but I will certainly strive to avoid offending you. Your father did warn me to treat you as I would treat any other heir, and I hope you do not think I meant any disrespect. Still, you are not yet one and twenty, and even gentlemen rarely take control of inherited property before achieving that age.”

“I believe that Mr. Benthall attached no such condition to his will, however.”

“That is quite true,” Mr. Clifford admitted. “I daresay it never occurred to him that one might prove necessary.”

“Then there can be no objection to my taking control of the house.”

Apologetically he said, “There are tenants, I’m afraid.”

“Yes, yes, I know. The letter we received last year from Mr. Benthall’s man and my copy of the will both mention a Mrs. Linford and her sister, Miss Frome. I have no intention of turning them out or of interfering with them in any way.”

“You could not do so if you wanted to,” he said, settling back comfortably in his chair. “Benthall’s will specifically ordains that they shall enjoy lifetime tenancy at no more than their present quarterly rent unless someone else begins paying that rent or you provide them with a house of equal elegance at an equivalent rent.”

“Would the latter course be impossible?” Letty asked. “I do not ask because I have any desire to put them out, you understand, but only because I am curious.”

“The Upper Brook Street house is one of the most elegant in Mayfair,” he said, “which is to say, one of the most elegant in all London. Also, unlike most houses in Mayfair, it occupies a freehold property. You may not realize that nearly all the land in Mayfair is still owned by the Duke of Grosvenor, but so it is. Thus the small bits that are freehold have become particularly valuable. According to Benthall’s man of affairs, there have already been two offers to buy the house.”

“Indeed? Who wants to buy it? That gentleman who was here earlier?”

“No, my lady. Viscount Raventhorpe inherited the bulk of Benthall’s considerable estate. Not unnaturally, as one might say, he expected to inherit the house, as well. His mother was Benthall’s cousin, you see. Over the past months, Raventhorpe has corresponded at length with Benthall’s man of affairs about all this, but it occurred to him only recently that I might know why Benthall had chosen to leave the house away from his family. I’m afraid I was unable to help him.”

“I see. Then who does want to buy the house?”

“The first offer came from Sir John Conroy. I don’t know if that name means anything to you, but he is quite a well-known figure about London.”

“He had the honor to be the queen’s primary, unrelated advisor before she took the throne, I believe,” Letty said.

“Indeed, he was,” Clifford said, giving her a quizzical look that told her he wondered if she knew more than that about Conroy. She did, but she could see no good reason to mention her awareness of Sir John’s fall from the queen’s grace the instant Victoria took the throne, or that Jervaulx had warned her that Conroy saw the Tory party as just one more obstacle in the way of regaining the queen’s favor.

After that brief look, Clifford went on to say, “According to Benthall’s man, the only other offer came from a well-known admiral, but he withdrew his when he learned that Benthall had arranged for the two ladies to maintain lifetime tenancy.”

“Let me see if I understand you correctly, sir. You are telling me that I can sell the house if I can find a buyer willing to accept my tenants on Mr. Benthall’s terms, but that I cannot take full possession of the house myself until they die because it is unlikely that I could find an equivalent home for them.”

“That is correct,” Clifford said, nodding. “Not only would it be difficult to find a similar house, but it is unlikely that it would be worth your trouble or expense to do so, since you would have to accept their present rent, which is only forty pounds a year. Therefore, your only hope of taking full possession of the house before both ladies die lies in the second exception, which is if they allow someone else to take over payment of their rent. That condition is rather an odd one, because the ladies are said to be quite wealthy, but I expect Benthall feared that someone might try to take advantage of them in some way to gain control of the house for some purpose or other.” With a ponderous effort at humor, he added, “Of course, legally, you could move in with them if you wish to do so.”

“I see,” Letty said, smiling dutifully. “I doubt that I will ever impose on them to that degree, sir, but I do hope that Mrs. Linford will not object to my calling upon her. My desire to see this excellent property is growing by leaps and bounds.”

“She will welcome you with open arms,” he said. His gaze shifted toward the door, and he added in a heartier tone, “Ah, Fox, just set that tea tray down in front of Lady Letitia’s woman. Then you may take yourself off again. At least,” he said to Letty with a smile, “I presume that you do not desire to pour out, my lady.”

Grinning this time, Letty said, “We shall get on much better, Mr. Clifford, if you will cease to worry about what might offend me. I do not offend easily, I promise you. I like plain speaking and am prone to speaking quite plainly myself.”

“You are a most unusual young woman, if I may make so bold as to say so.”

“So I am told. Am I to understand, then, sir, that you have met Mrs. Linford?”

“Oh, yes, indeed. I took tea with her and her delightful sister, Miss Abigail Frome, shortly after Augustus Benthall’s man of affairs communicated the details of his patron’s will to me—such details, that is, as pertained to your father.”

“To me, in fact,” Letty reminded him.

“Yes, as it happens, my lady, but please understand that it never occurred to me that I would be dealing with anyone but his lordship. It simply is unheard of for young ladies to take an interest in such matters. I am an honest man, of course—”

“I do not doubt that, sir,” Letty said, taking care not to smile. “Neither Grandfather nor Papa would tolerate a solicitor whom they could not trust entirely.”

“I greatly admired your grandfather,” Mr. Clifford said, “and I am grateful to know that I continue to enjoy the present marquess’s confidence. But that does not make it less amazing that your father apparently trusts me to look after you, as well as his business affairs. He would not be wise to trust most men so far, you know, and I do not know that he is wise to entrust even me with something so precious.”

“Do you mean the house, sir?”

“Certainly not. I mean his trusting me with your innocence, my lady. That is an astonishing burden for any father to put in the hands of his solicitor.”

Letty’s lips twitched, but she had little trouble hiding her amusement. “You will learn as you get to know me better, sir, that my father is not shifting any burden to your shoulders. I am quite capable of managing my own affairs.”

“I have no doubt that you think you are, my lady, but—”

“I told him so, and I tell you so,” Letty said firmly. “He believed me, and you will come to believe me, too, I promise.”

“I am quite sure that I shall,” Clifford said with a smile.

“Excellent. What I need from you now is to know exactly how far my responsibility extends. I shall, as I said, want to visit Mrs. Linford and Miss Frome, and see my property. But Mr. Benthall’s will lacks detail, no doubt because he assumed that a landlord’s specific duties are clear in law and that my solicitor would just talk things over with his. But I want the plain facts, sir. What exactly am I responsible for, if you please?”

“Why, nothing at all, my lady. I thought I had made that clear.”

“You did no such thing. I must be responsible for something! One does not expect tenants to maintain the house they lease. Even I know that much.”

“No, no, of course one does not, but it is your father, not you, who is responsible for such details. You are not—and here I hope I may take advantage of your permission to speak plainly …”

“Yes, please do so.”

“Under law, you simply are not a legal entity, my lady. The plain fact is that our English courts regard an unmarried lady exactly the same way they regard a child, as a dependent person. That has nothing to do with individual justices or magistrates, I hasten to point out—only with the law. Under that law, your father bears all responsibility for matters pertaining to any property legally in your name. Nor will you bear responsibility when you marry, as I expect you will do very soon. A married lady is regarded as being one entity with her husband, and that entity—”

“—
is
the husband,” Letty said flatly. Taking the cup of tea that Miss Dibble offered her, she added, “I know all that, sir. English law is chock-full of such foolishness, and despite that, rather astonishingly, it generally does work. Nonetheless, I also know that such matters can be rearranged in a Chancery Court.”

“Indeed, they can,” he agreed. “Still, I know of no case, even in Chancery, where a young woman has assumed full control of her property before the age of twenty-five.”

“You say that you received a letter from my father, Mr. Clifford. Did he lead you to suppose that I should have to wait until I had attained such an age?”

Clifford grimaced but met her look directly. “No, my lady, he did not.”

“I thought not. Did he lead you to suppose that I might be a burden to you?”

“No, he told me to advise you as I thought best, but I must remind you, my lady, that Mr. Benthall left you no money to go with the house.”

“That, too, is true,” Letty said, setting down her teacup and reaching into the cunningly-contrived slot in her muff that made it unnecessary for her to carry a reticule. Withdrawing a letter, she arose and handed it to the solicitor. “I anticipated your reluctance, you see, so that letter remains unsealed for the present. As you will note, it is addressed to the director of Child’s Bank. Will you read it, please?”

He did so at once, and when he looked up, his eyes were wide with astonishment. “I’ve never heard of such a thing,” he exclaimed. “Your father must be—” He broke off, flushing deeply.

“As you clearly were about to say, sir,” Letty said smoothly, “my father must be fully confident of my ability. I promise you—as it was not necessary for me to promise him—that although he grants me full access to his London accounts, I shall not beggar him.”

“No, no, I am quite certain … That is to say, this is all very unusual, and I hope you will not hesitate to send for me if you have questions about anything, my lady. Your father clearly believes you possess an understanding superior to that of most young women, but he cannot realize how easily some unscrupulous person might take advantage of so inexperienced a … a young person of either gender.”

“That is precisely why I want you to describe my exact responsibilities, Mr. Clifford,” Letty said with a patience she did not feel. “I readily admit that I do not know all the laws, or even which ones specifically pertain to my house. I am not inexperienced in other matters, however, and I can assure you that I shall attend competently to anyone for whose welfare I am responsible.”

Angry chattering erupted in the outer office, and at almost the same moment, the door between the two chambers burst open and Mr. Fox said urgently, “I beg your pardon, sir! That is, I regret to say … Please, sir, there is a wild beast let loose and a young person chasing it. I can deal with most things, as you know, but monkeys in law offices is something I don’t, and won’t, hold with, sir.”

Mr. Clifford leapt to his feet. “Monkeys!”

Also rising, albeit with less haste, Letty said calmly, “Only one, sir. I am afraid he belongs to me.” Raising her voice, she said, “Come, Jeremiah. I am here.”

As the little monkey darted into the room and leapt to Letty’s arms, Jenifry Breton appeared in the doorway behind him and said ruefully, “I’m sorry, my lady. I attached his chain to his collar, but he unhooked himself, the little scamp. Then he got away, and when that man opened the front door, he just dashed inside.”

“Never mind now, Jen,” Letty said with a chuckle. “At least he did not get his hands on my pistol.” Noting Mr. Clifford’s scandalized expression, she said, “I was only teasing, sir.”

“It relieves my mind to hear that you don’t carry a pistol, my lady.”

“Oh, but I do carry one,” Letty said. “That is to say, I generally keep it in my coach when we travel. My mother gave it to me,” she added demurely. “Jeremiah would never take it, though. I daresay the traffic frightened him, that’s all.”

“Indeed,” Mr. Clifford said dryly. “Well, I trust that the others for whom you are so quick to take responsibility will prove more manageable than he is.”