Page 4 of Once Upon a Midnight Dreary
“Good news, dear?”she asked, her tone hopeful.
Was it good news?She said nothing as she extended the letter.Aunt Eloise took it and read it, her face an explosion of expressions.From surprise to doubt to sorrow to something akin to envy.
“Well, thisisa surprise.I thought my sister and her husband sold off that crumbling old manor years ago.”She handed back the letter.
“I suppose they didn’t.”
“Naturally, you’ll refuse to move there.”She said it flippantly, as if this were already true.
“Why would I do that?”Victoria rose, her ire suddenly raised.
“Well, my dear, you are a single lady.Alone.You can’t possibly think of running that estate all by yourself.”She chuckled, as though the thought was merely a jest.
She lifted a brow.“Why shouldn’t I?”
Aunt Eloise wrung her hands, looking confused.“You are a single lady,” she said again.
“Yes, I am.With an inheritance at my disposal.I’m sure I can hire anyone I need to help me run and take care of the estate.”
Flabbergasted, she said, “You’re considering it?”
Annoyance hit her hard and fast at her aunt’s disbelief.She understood very well that she was a young, single lady.With no prospects looming and no purpose to keep her here in Crown Hollow, Victoria saw no reason not to consider it.
“Yes,” she said, the word an icy breath.
Her aunt didn’t understand her need to find independence.Now, she had a chance—a real chance—at a life all her own.If she stayed in the city with Aunt Eloise, she’d suffocate.
Aunt Eloise remained still as a statue, rooted in the middle of the room, her chest heaving with labored breaths.
“I simply can’t allow it,” she said then, her tone stern.As though she would entertain no other thoughts on the matter.
Victoria stiffened.“The letter says I’m to take possession immediately.”
“Who’s to say this letter is valid?”Eloise snapped.“Why, I’ve never heard of this solicitor, and as far as I know, Abner and Eleanor made no mention of this in their wills.”
This was not going well.Victoria resisted the urge to crumple the letter in her fist.
“What’s all this?”Uncle Hubert’s voice trickled in from the doorway.
He stepped around Aunt Eloise, holding his hat and gazing at her with curiosity and question in his eyes.He must have been on his way out the door to his job when he heard the voices in the parlor.Victoria blew out a breath of relief while Aunt Eloise spun to face him, her cheeks red from her indignation.
“It seems our little Victoria is an heiress,” she said with a snort, as though it were nothing more than a fiction.
Anger pounded through her veins.How dare she.
Uncle Hubert’s gaze flickered to her, one brow raised.In all the years they’d been married, Hubert was the silent, tolerant type.He never argued with his wife.He mostly ignored her.And sometimes when he was exasperated, he’d mutter annoyances under his breath.
But he had never been unkind to Victoria.When her parents died unexpectedly and she had nowhere else to go, it was Hubert who offered his home to her.Victoria often wondered if he had to persuade his wife to allow her to move here, or if he had merely expected her acquiescence in his quiet, authoritative way.
He was tall, thin, wiry.With a head full of salt and pepper hair belying his actual age.Kindness and compassion filled his brown eyes as he brushed by his wife and entered the room.He perched on the chair next to her, an encouraging smile on his lips.
“You received this news?”he asked.
“Just today.”She handed him the letter.
He read it over, his face impassive.His eyes slipped down the page, then returned to the top and read it again.When he finished his second read-through, he handed it back to her.
“Well, then, I’ll make an appointment with Mr.Williams straightaway.We’ll go see him together.Today, if possible.”He winked as he got to his feet.
