confirmation of Durham’s care for his children.
But Gerard’s faith in his father took a dreadful blow when the duke died. With his dying breath Durham begged forgiveness, but only when they were preparing to lay him in the mausoleum beside the long-dead duchess and infant daughter did Gerard and his brothers discover what sin Durham had committed. A clandestine, scandalous marriage, years before he inherited the dukedom . . . or married Gerard’s mother. A Fleet marriage that was never annulled or terminated in divorce. A marriage that could cost Gerard and his older brothers everything they’d grown up believing was theirs because it could invalidate Durham’s marriage to their mother and render them all illegitimate. And all because Durham, in his boundless arrogance and faith in his own judgment, concealed it from his sons even when threatened with exposure and ruined by a blackmailer.
Gerard was furious with his father for that. The dukedom of Durham was enormous, one of the wealthiest in England, and all their expectations were tied to it. This sin, bursting like grapeshot among them, stripped everything away. Durham had left some specific bequests in his will, of the unentailed property he had bought as duke and of their mother’s dowry funds; but compared to what they would have had, it was laughable.
Charlie, who had been raised to become a duke, was left a country house in Lincolnshire that nobody had much used or cared for during Durham’s lifetime, and barely enough funds to maintain it. Edward, who had devoted most of his life to running the Durham properties efficiently and prosperously, would see all his work go to benefit another, most likely that preening boor Augustus, their father’s distant cousin. And Gerard, the youngest, who had always known he would have to find some other way to distinguish himself, would be forced to give up the army career he had chosen, bled for, and come to value very highly, to be left with nothing. They would all be bastards, cast out of most good society, with only a thousand pounds a year to live on and no property at all.
And his mother . . . Gerard stayed behind after Edward and the rector and the few servants invited had left, when his father’s body had been laid to rest in the crypt. Edward gave him a curious glance, but Gerard shook his head. He knew they had much to attend to, and no time to stand around in some pose of mourning. He and Edward agreed they must go to London at once, to tell Charlie about their misfortune since Charlie hadn’t managed to make it back to Sussex even for Durham’s funeral. They had to decide what must be done to protect their inheritance because none of them was giving it up without a fight. Gerard just needed a moment before rushing off.
So he stood in the family mausoleum, alone with the ghosts of generations, and laid his hand against the cold stone plaque on his mother’s bier. ANNE, DUCHESS OF DURHAM, it read, with the dates of her life. Below was a small note about the infant buried with her. She didn’t even have a name. Of course, she could be as illegitimate as the rest of them, thanks to their father’s carelessness. If everything fell apart, would the next duke—Augustus, curse him—remove Anne and her nameless daughter?
He closed his eyes and said a silent promise to her. He wouldn’t let that happen to her—for her sake, for his own sake, for his brothers’, even for his father’s. One way or another, Gerard intended to save his family from the ruin that loomed before them.
Chapter 2
Gerard and Edward accomplished their first goal quickly since their brother Charlie turned out to be confined to his bed in London with a broken leg. As suspected, Charlie showed little sorrow for their father’s death, but shockingly, he evinced little care for the possibility that they might lose everything. Edward was sure Charlie did care, but that didn’t even truly matter to Gerard. Of greater interest to him was what they should do to solve the problem, and there was little agreement on that.
Edward favored calling in the best solicitors in London and staking a strong legal claim to Durham before anyone else could. Once the title was awarded to Charlie, it couldn’t be taken away, no matter what evidence turned up. Gerard thought this was fine, as a starting point. He hadn’t Edward’s patience and discipline.