Free Anne Barbour by Kateand the Soldier Page B

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    “My lord, you are understandably, er, bewildered by this turn of events, but if you will read this ...” He handed the bemused young man a sheet of paper, covered in a thin, precise script and embossed with the seal of the Earl of Falworth. “Itis a letter your father dictated to me the morning of his death, and I believe it will explain matters more fully to you.”
    Blindly, David accepted the letter from Mr. Smollett. He felt as though he stood alone on a teetering precipice, watching the universe rearrange itself around him.
    He must be dreaming! He, David Merritt, a bastard all his life—now the master of Westerly? The fourth Earl of Falworth! The words, reverberating in the suddenly hollow cavern that was his stomach seemed the gibberings of a madman.
    Kate could scarcely comprehend what she had just heard. David—Uncle Thomas’s legitimate son! She watched his hand close over the letter. Observing his dazed expression, she unconsciously put a hand out to him, though he was across the room from her. As if some pull emanated from her fingertips, David turned to look at her, and it seemed to Kate that beyond the shock, past the utter astonishment in his eyes, there shone a spark of something else—something she could not define.
    She jerked her attention back to Mr. Smollett, who had wheeled about to deal with Regina. She clawed at his arm, almost babbling in her rage. Kate caught the words, “ridiculous” and “madness” and “fraud,” but Mr. Smollett remained calm.
    “There is no fraud, my lady, and Lord Falworth was in complete possession of his faculties. He provided me with certificates documenting his marriage to the lady in question, as well as Mr. Mer—that is, the fourth Earl’s birth certificate. Everything is quite in order, madam, and there is nothing more to be said.”
    As it turned out, there was a great deal more to be said, nearly all of it on the part of Lady Falworth and Lawrence. It was a full hour before Regina could be convinced of the legality of David’s claim to the title, and even then, she fumed impotently, threatening to have the will overturned and to insure Mr. Smollett’s disbarment from the legal fraternity.
    Lawrence merely squeaked, “It can’t be!” and “It’s not fair!” over and over in a number of variations until Lady Frederica grasped Kate’s arm and said in a loud whisper, “If I have to listen to this uproar for another second, I shall go round the bend. Come, we’ll have a cup of tea in my room.”
    Kate cast one last glance at David, who had gone to stand at the window, apart from the storm, where he gazed unseeingly at the unkempt landscape spread before him. With a sigh, she allowed the older woman to lead her from the room, and in a few minutes they were seated before the Adam and Eve tapestry, steaming cups in hand.
    “I cannot comprehend this, Aunt Fred,” gasped Kate, as breathless as though she had been running. She loosened the high, restraining collar on her mourning gown.
    “It’s a stunner,” agreed her aunt, removing her veiled bonnet, with which she began to fan herself briskly. “Who would have thought Thomas to have so much spunk in him? To marry his inamorata!”
    “And to keep it such a secret all these years.” Kate paused, then continued with indignation, “One doesn’t wish to speak ill of the dead, of course, but how could Uncle Thomas have kept silent for so long, when it caused David so much unhappiness. If Aunt Regina had known he was the true heir ...”
    “Her enmity would have been none the less virulent,” finished Aunt Fred. “But she might have concealed it a little more adroitly. What I want to know is how he managed to keep the news of the marriage from the family. The wedding of a member of the peerage must always gain attention, even in the Indies!”
    Kate could only shake her head, her thoughts with the solitary figure belowstairs, who stood at a window looking into his future.
    In the library,