Page 55 of The Beach Hut on Plum Island
Her eyes narrowed angrily as she glared at him again. “You mean your plan to use me to pay for an Olive grove?”
“What?” Titus looked at Harriet, confused for a few seconds before realizing what she meant. “Harriet, we need those olive groves to help keep Joyce being productive. Do you know why your grandfather has been so obsessed with that particular land?”
“Because he couldn’t have it?” Harriet guessed. “I love Grandfather, but his one bad flaw was always having to get what he wanted.”
“That’s not true, Harriet,” Titus told her. “That land and the vineyard he managed to get back belonged to Joyce’s family through marriage generations ago. Where do you think the Gladstones got their dukedom from?”
“I don’t know,” Harriet admitted. “And I’ve never really cared because I didn’t really like the old duke or his daughter. They always treated Gray and me with cold disdain when you or grandfather weren’t around.”
“The Gladstones have always been schemers, Harriet,” Titus told her. “The first Gladstone was a soldier in the Joyce Army who saved my great-great-great-great-grandfather’s life. The man was promoted to chief military officer and, after proving his loyalty to the crown, became a lord. Lord Gladstone was assigned land that the King’s wife’s family owned.”
“So the land that the Gladstones say they own actually belongs to the Joyce family anyway?” Harriet looked at her uncle in disbelief.
“No.” King Titus sighed. “The first Duke Gladstone’s devious son got the ailing king to sign the land over to him. Their laws back then weren’t like ours are today, and fraud was very hard to prove.”
“So they stole the land.” Harriet’s eyes narrowed. “I have to say I’m not surprised.”
“The first Duke Gladstone was a hero, Harriet,” Titus pointed out. “An honorable man. It’s not his fault he married a woman from a failing kingdom who would do anything to save her kingdom.”
“Even get her son to steal from us!” Harriet retorted, “I know this happened a million years ago, but that still makes me angry and…” Her eyes widened. “The grapes and olives from that area.” Her eyes sought her uncles. “They are Joyce olives and grapes!”
“They are,” Titus confirmed. “Joyce Isles got hit with storm after storm, which ruined crops, and the island was suffering until the Queen at the time suggested they try to grow our olives and grapes on her family’s land in Greece.”
“So my grandfather five times back,” Harriet stated, “gave Duke Gladstone an already lucrative plot of land tolookafter, and they went and stole it.”
“Correct,” Titus said. “Not only that, they started charging Joyce Isles for the produce.”
“Why didn’t the king just cut them off and go elsewhere?” Harriet asked.
“They were our olives that the king at the time’s father had developed, the same as the grapes on the bordering farm,” Titus explained. “Going elsewhere would mean that our produce wasn’t authentic.”
“It’s a small price to pay, isn’t it?” Harriet’s brow furrowed.
“Harriet, you know how we Joyce islanders pride ourselves on our unique olives and grapes,” Titus raised his eyebrows.
“Okay, so why the push to get me to marry Leon again?” Harriet looked at him accusingly. “Without even discussing it with me first?”
“Because, Harriet, I know you,” Titus pointed out. “If I had come here and told you I’d like the two of you to get married, you’d have refused and probably gone as far as giving up your title and cutting all ties with Joyce Isles just to prove your point.” He sighed again. “Or lead another mass protest in Joy’s town square.”
She cocked her head to one side and nodded. “Yes, you’re right. That sounds like something I’d do. But you didn’t even bother to find out if I’d met someone or was engaged. You just went straight to Leon and then my parents.”
“I agree that was an oversight on my part,” Titus surprised her by saying. “I thought at first you’d fabricated this whole engagement. That’s why I invited Dawn around.”
“I really have to work on Dawn’s resilience,” Harriet hissed. “She cracks like an egg under pressure.”
“Dawn’s just the only one out of your group of friends who finds it hard to lie,” Titus told her. “When she does, she has a huge tell. I hope she doesn’t play poker.” He smiled. “But she assured me that you and Finn were real. I only had to see the two of you together to know it was.”
The guilt hit her once again, but she managed to grab hold of it and push it away this time as she faced her uncle.
“Why the sudden bee in your bonnet to connect the Gladstones and Joyce’s again?” Harriet asked.
“Because they’re in terrible financial difficulty and have mortgaged the land so heavily, they are about to lose it to the bank,” Titus told her. “As you know, the old duke stipulated that unless our families were joined, the land would never be sold back to us.”
“Why don’t you just buy their debt?” Harriet asked.
“I tried that, but the bank wouldn’t accept my offer,” Titus told her. “That’s when Gloria arrived on my doorstep with an offer that if you and Leon marry, she’d sell me the land.”
“Land that was stolen from the Joyce family in the first place,” Harriet pointed out. “What happens to the plant patents and rights for the olives that are held by Joyce Isles?”
