Page 84 of The Scarred Duke's Bride
“Shall we go?" he asked quietly.
“Yes,” Freya replied equally quietly. She looked subdued and demure in her black bombazine gown and lacy veil, nothing like the wild cat she had been in bed last night. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed it.
He conjectured that she had decided to bury her grief in passion.
They all trooped down towards the carriage, Silver opening the door for them. The old butler looked just about as shattered as Isabella. Eric found that he felt rather sorry for him.
Once they were all seated, the carriage took off. Nobody tried to speak, the only sound being Isabella’s occasional sniffs, her head on William’s shoulder. Freya sat by his side, and he reached out to cover her gloved hands with his own. To his surprise, she turned her hand around so that she could hold his.
Eric said nothing, just stared out the window and dreaded what was to come.
* * *
“I bequeath Stark Manor to my grandson whenever he might be born. In the meantime, the property will be run from a trust, overseen by my faithful servant, Silver, and my solicitor, JB Abrams.”
Freya gasped, mostly in relief. She had been expecting her father to give the Manor away, now that he did not get his way. She held her belly, quite sure that she was carrying the grandson her father had been talking about.
“At such a time as my daughter is with child, the trust will be transferred into her care.”
Freya beamed, but then a thought occurred to her, “But what if it’s a girl?" she asked.
The solicitor seemed nonplussed. “There was no provision made for such an occurrence,” he replied.
“Typical,” Freya murmured under her breath, crossing her arms in annoyance. Eric patted her hand.
“Let him finish,” he whispered.
Easy for you to say; you’ve already received the Duchy and all the lands entailed to it.
She gave him a dark look and settled back to listen to the solicitor. He droned on about several small endowments before announcing that Isabella was to be given the house in Bath as her dowry in addition to ten thousand pounds a year.
Her younger sister just sniffed, seeming unimpressed by her inheritance. William squeezed her shoulder and smiled at her encouragingly.
The solicitor looked up at them all. “And that is all. That is the end of Victor Stark, the Duke of Riverhead’s last will and testament.”
Eric got to his feet and held his hand out to Freya. She took it, allowing him to help her up. She smiled at him, wondering if she should tell him the news right now. She had been trying to tell him, but what with his distance, and her father dying, it had just never seemed to be the right time.
The solicitor came and took him away wanting him to sign some papers, and Freya let out a disappointed breath.
Not yet, I suppose.
Mrs. Campbell came up to her looking concerned. “Are you well? You look a little peaked.”
Freya gave her a wry look. “And how else should one look during the reading of one’s father’s will?”
Eric’s mother inclined her head to the side, conceding the point. She offered Freya her arm. “Would you like some help back to the carriage?”
Freya obligingly slipped her hand through Mama Campbell’s, and they left the office together. “Would you like to come over and stay at St. John’s Wood tonight?” Mama Campbell asked. “Your townhouse must seem overly large and quiet at the moment.”
Freya took a deep fortifying breath. “It does. Thank you, I would be grateful to get away from there for a while. It seems as if somebody always wants something of me in that house. I need a little peace and quiet.”
Mama Campbell squeezed her hand. “Then I shall make sure you have it.”
They got in the carriage, William and Isabella following behind. They waited for Eric, but his discussions with the solicitor seemed to be going on for some time.
“Shall I go and tell him that we’ve left, and we’ll send the carriage for him later?”
“Yes, do that William,” Mama Campbell said, and the boy immediately took off. She turned to Freya with a smile. “We will go to your house, so you can pack and then send the carriage back for your husband. Afterward, we can all go to Saint John’s Wood together.”
