Page 72 of Romancing Daphne

Investments Ben would soon not have the income to undertake. James had decided the night before that he ought to have been up front with hisbrother from the beginning. Ben’s income had been on the line, and hehad deserved to know so he could prepare himself for the possibility of failure on James’s part. Yet another well-meaning mistake he had made.

“I am afraid I have some bad news,” James said, his stomach twisting.How did one tell one’s brother that he had gambled away his inheritance?

“How bad?” Ben did not seem terribly concerned, his focus still on his packing.

“It involves Father.”

Ben looked up at him.“Thatisbad. What did he do this time?”

No words came. Ben was going to lose everything. He couldn’t thinkof any way to ease the impact of that revelation. All the effort Ben had gone to, the sacrifices he’d made over the past couple of years, his newfound correspondent would be for naught.

“James?”

James sat on the edge of the bed, reminding himself that Ben needed to know his situation before he committed to anything he could no longer afford.“My courtship with Miss Lancaster fell through.”

“I noticed.” Ben watched him in obvious curiosity, though not a great deal of worry.

“Father forced the courtship with threats I could not ignore.” James took a deep breath.“One of those threats involved you.”

Ben sat beside him, looking concerned for the first time.“What did he threaten to do?”

“With the match no longer a possibility, Father is going to cut off your income.” There. It was out.“I’ll do what I can to help you, but he’s cutting me off as well. It—”

“James.”

“—won’t be much, but I’ll come up with something.”

“James.”

“You won’t—”

“Blast it, James. Stop talking and listen to me.”

James nodded. Ben would be angry, and rightly so. But he deserved that. He would take whatever tongue-lashing his brother chose to inflict.

“You agreed to Father’s scheme because he threatened to cut off my income from the estate?” Ben asked.

James nodded.“And Mother’s pin money.”

“And when he made these threats, did you check to make certain he had the ability to follow through with them?” Ben’s tone was very nearly condescending.

“He controls all facets of the estate, Ben. He—”

“Cannot violate the terms of his and Mother’s marriage settlement.” Ben shifted enough to look James in the eye.“When I inherited my ‘little bit of land,’ as Father calls it, I had a solicitor look into my financial situation, including my quarterly allowance from the Techney estate. I wanted to know how much reliable income I had to work with.” His gaze intensified, and he leaned a touch closer.“Father and Mother’s marriage settlement set forth and guaranteed the amount anyyoungersons would receive from the estate.”

“Then”—James’s mind reeled as he pieced together what Ben was saying—“Father cannot cut you off?”

“No.”

“It was an empty threat.” The thought had never occurred to him.

“Incidentally,” Ben said,“the marriage settlement also guarantees—”

“Mother’s pin money.” James knew the truth of it even as he spoke the words.

“I am afraid you have been duped, James.”

James clenched his fists. Father had tricked him into compromising everything he stood for. It had all been a lie.

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