Lady Guinevere and the Rogue with a Brogue - Julie Johnstone Page 0,10
to dismiss the part she had played. Pierce needed to realize that whatever he’d made of his life thus far, or hadn’t, was his own doing, not their father’s.
“Your Grace,” Mr. Benedict said, politely clearing his throat and yanking Asher from his musings. “Would you like me to simply proceed to the will, as Lord Pierce has suggested?”
“Aye,” Asher replied.
“It’s about sodding time,” Pierce grumbled. “I tire of waiting to see how Father likely cut me out.”
Asher motioned to Mr. Benedict to proceed.
“Do either of you gentlemen have a weapon on you?” Mr. Benedict asked.
Asher and Pierce frowned, first at each other and then at the solicitor. “Nay,” and “No,” they answered in unison.
“Excellent.” Mr. Benedict tapped the papers he now held in his hands against the gleaming mahogany of Asher’s desk, then looked from Asher to Pierce and back again. “Please, do try to remember that your father was, as I mentioned earlier, a complicated man.”
The laugh Pierce let loose was full of bitterness. “What has the old devil done?”
“Let the man speak,” Asher said.
Pierce pressed his lips together.
With a nod, Mr. Benedict continued. “All the property, entailed and unentailed, except Knotting House in London, and the entirety of the family fortune, except for an allowance Carrington deems fit, shall be bequeathed to Carrington. Knotting House will belong to Lord Pierce.”
“How gracious of Father,” Pierce quipped. “He’s managed to unman me from his grave by leaving me the smallest home we own and an allowance to be given by you.” Pierce’s gaze met Asher’s, and the ire was unmistakable.
“Possessions do not make the man,” Asher said.
“Says the man who sits with the bulk of the possessions,” Pierce snapped.
“I’ve worked all my life for everything I have, Pierce.”
“Except this,” Pierce shot back. “You did not work for what you are now given, simply by being born first.”
That was true, and there was no arguing it. Pierce needed to learn to work for things himself. Could it be their father had recognized that? Who the devil knew…
“We can discuss the arrangements later, Pierce. I’ve no desire to be yer keeper.” Though until Pierce got himself under control, Asher may well need to be.
“How nice to hear,” Pierce grumbled.
Mr. Benedict cleared his throat as before, but this time, it was a nervous sound and not as polite. “There is a caveat to what I have just told you.”
“Of course, there is,” Asher replied. “Get on with it.”
“In order for you to inherit all the unentailed property and fortune, you must wed one of the ladies on your father’s list”—Benedict held up a piece of foolscap—“in the next three months.”
The slight tic in Asher’s right eye sped up and intensified, his jaw tightening. On the other side of the desk, Pierce began to laugh like a lunatic but paused to say, “It’s nice to discover he’s trying to unman you as well.”
Asher clenched his teeth. He had vowed to never let his father affect him again, but damn the man for trying to control him from the grave!
“There is no amount of money that can force me to wed a woman I do not wish to wed.” Again. But immediately, Asher’s mind was filled with the faces of all the good men and lasses who worked for him and would be detrimentally affected if he did not somehow keep his company intact.
As Mr. Benedict nodded, Pierce slapped the desk with a grin. “Excellent! I’m so glad you have such principles, Carrington. I’m not afflicted with such bothersome things.” His brother chuckled while scooting forward on his chair. “Do I need to sign some papers to inherit the money and unentailed property?”
“Your Grace.” Mr. Benedict’s steady gaze bore into Asher. “Your father suspected you might respond as you have. He wrote you a letter. Would you like to read it privately?”
Asher had to unclench his teeth to force words out. “Nay. I don’t give a damn what’s in his letter.” That was a lie. He did not have the luxury to be so flippant. He slid his teeth back and forth, fury now pumping through his veins.
Mr. Benedict nodded. “He also said you would not wish to read it privately.”
“Read the letter,” Asher bit out.
“Son—” Asher tensed and Pierce scoffed at the unexpected personal opening, but Mr. Benedict continued, seemingly unperturbed. “Before you relinquish much of your inheritance, think upon this: this money could greatly aid Loch Glen Distilleries.”
Asher inhaled deeply.
The sodding devil… His father had known Asher’s company was in trouble.