Free The Kilternan Legacy by Anne McCaffrey Page A

so she told us time and again. God rest Queen Irene! God save Queen Irene!” And he raised the mug in a toast. “Not to worry, I said. You’ve loyal subjects here.” He inclined the upper part of his body in a bow. “Given half the chance, we’ll defend you to the death.”
    “Good God, it won’t come to that?” I was half teasing, and yet I could hear the warning, the resolution to defend, in his tone.
    “Finish your drink, pet. Get the good of it,” he said in a sort of paternal tone, and lifted my hand off the table. “It’s chilly, and you should be abed.”
    I could feel the cold even with the warm, laced milk in my tummy. And I could see the lightening of the sky through the kitchen window. “Good Lord, what time is it?”
    “Half three. We’ve short nights in the summers here.” He downed his drink and rose, pocketing the bottle of liquor. “Sleep sound, and God bless!”
    He was out the door, softly humming a tune that was vaguely familiar.
    I did sleep soundly. Very soundly. Until the thudding on the front door penetrated my sleep, and I felt Simon shaking my shoulder urgently.
    “Mom, it’s that Kelley guy.”
    The presumptuous manner of knocking added to my fury at his unheralded arrival. Perhaps it was close to ten in the morning, but I don’t fancy being awakened by people I’m avoiding. I tried to open the window, but it was too tight.
    “I’ll tell him to go away,” Simon said, starting down the stairs.
    “No, I’ll handle him!” I grabbed up my coat, more concealing than my flimsy dressing gown, and nearly tripped down the steep, short stairs. “What do you mean by pounding on my door in that fashion?” I demanded as I threw it open.
    Brian Kelley, hand poised for another whack on the panels, stared at me, popeyed, his face gone white. Only for a moment, though, for he rapidly recovered his poise, his ruddy complexion, and his accumulated frustration.
    “Are
you
Irene Teasey?”
    “And whom else were you expecting in this house? And why have you been pursuing me? I left specific instructions that I would contact you.” Then I belatedly realized that I shouldn’t know what Brian Kelley looked like. “I assume, that is, that you are the persistent Brian Kelley.”
    “I am.” He made a movement as if to enter the house, and I closed the door just slightly to emphasize unwelcome. Simon and Snow had ranged themselves on the stairs, and I was glad of their moral support.
    “Well?” I said, tapping my foot.
    “I have been trying to get in touch with you, Miss Teasey, to present a very fair offer.”
    “For what?”
    “Why, for this,” and he spread his chunky-fingered hand to indicate the house and grounds. “A very good offer, considering there are sitting tenants, and your circumstances.”
    “Which circumstances?”
    “Why, that you have to sell.”
    “Who told you that I have to sell?”
    “Well, you’ve the death duties to be paid. I happen to know that they’ll be pretty stiff on a property like this.”
    “Will they?”
    He wasn’t liking my attitude at all. “I’ve a firm offer of twenty-five thousand pounds. That would be sixty-five thousand dollars!” He seemed impressed, and I refused to be. “You’d still get home with money in your pocket.”
    “Mr. Kelley, you seem to know a lot more about my affairs and my plans than I do. Among other points, you’ve neglected to take into consideration that my great-aunt’s will has not yet been probated. Until it is, nothing can be done about buying or selling.”
    “If you accept this offer, Miss Teasey, you might find that probate is only a question of time.” He was unctuously implying aid.
    “I’m given to understand that it’s only a question of time anyhow.”
    “You’re in Ireland now, Miss Teasey.” The threat was stated now.
    “So I am, come to take up my inheritance, and comply with the terms of my great aunt’s will…” The piggy eyes informed me that Mr. Kelley knew the terms of that