Page 4 of Lady Audacious
Odile chuckled, convinced that the legacy in question couldn’t amount to a great deal and that he was making far too much out of it. ‘No wonder Miss Mackenzie looked shocked when I received your letter. She knew that the truth would come out and I would realise that she had profited from having me on her teaching staff.’ She shook her head. ‘She certainly extracted her pound of flesh, I’ll say that much for her.’
‘Well, my dear, you can leave all that behind you now should you so wish.’ He picked up the bundle of papers that had been sitting on the table in front of them, surrounded by the tea things, and perched a pair of glasses on the end of his nose. Odile suspected that he didn’t require them to read the papers since he was already well acquainted with their contents. Nonetheless, she sat forward expectantly, waiting to hear what windfall she could expect.
‘Have you ever been to Sussex?’
‘As far as I am aware, I have never left London. Why? What is there for me in Sussex?’
‘A house.’
Odile blinked up at him. ‘Excuse me, I think I must have misheard you. I could have sworn that you said a house.’
‘I did indeed. A large manor house called Fox’s Reach. It lies just outside of Arundel.’ He leaned forward and patted her hand. ‘I can see that I have shocked you, for which I apologise. I ought to have found a way to break the news to you a little more graciously.’
‘Who would want to leave a house to me?’ she asked in a dazed tone.
‘Well, that’s the question. It’s quite a puzzle, I’ll grant you. One assumes that it was the same person who made provision for your school fees to be paid.’
‘Did…Did Fox’s Reach belong to my parents?’ Her insides felt as hollow as her missing memories. ‘I don’t recognise the name, and one assumes I would do so had I spent the first ten years of my life residing there.’
‘That I cannot say, since I am unaware of the history of the house. I will confess that curiosity got the better of me and I went to take a peep at it when I was in that area of the country on business. It is uninhabited and everyone I spoke to says it has been so for a very long time. I pay the property taxes from the funds made available by the trust, which also covers the wages of a caretaker. I have not delved any further into the history of the property.’
Odile shook her head. ‘Who would want to leave me a house? I simply don’t understand it. And how will I afford to maintain it? You say it’s large.’
‘So is the accumulation of the funds in the trust, which now pass to you.’
Odile almost lost consciousness when Mr Sandwell told her the amount of her legacy. ‘Is this some sort of hoax?’ she asked in a bewildered tone. ‘Am I about to wake up and realise that I have dreamt all this?’
‘It is no hoax, Miss Aspen,’ he assured her. ‘It’s all here in black and white. See for yourself.’
Odile took the papers from Mr Sandwell with a trembling hand. She read the flowery language of the bequest twice but there didn’t appear to be any mistake. She was named specifically, her date of birth clearly stated. That, she supposed, was why Mr Sandwell had asked her to bring her birth certificate, even though he knew who she was and had been watching over her from a distance these past eleven years. He was taking no chances, it seemed. The previous day’s debate about King Lear’s daughters now seemed especially relevant. No doubt some man somewhere would question Odile’s right to assume such a large inheritance and Mr Sandwell was arming himself with the means to defend her.
‘I don’t know what to say,’ she muttered, passing the papers back to Mr Sandwell.
‘You are now a very wealthy young woman,’ he told her. ‘Congratulations.’
‘Thank you.’ Odile swallowed. ‘I think.’
‘It will take some getting used to. I would suggest that you go down to the property and take a look at your inheritance at the earliest opportunity. I will supply you with sufficient funds to get you by until we can arrange for you to assume control of your fortune. Anyway, there is a man called Harris who looks after the place. He has his own rooms above the stables.’
‘Stables?’
‘Take a look and then come back to me with your questions. If you decide that you would like to take occupation of the property then I can help you, and offer you investment advice in respect of the balance of your fortune. If you would prefer to sell, then I can guide you in that regard as well. But my advice for now is that you take your time to come to terms with the change in your circumstances before you make any rash decisions.’
Odile stood up on legs that were not entirely steady and shook Mr Sandwell’s hand. ‘Thank you,’ she said, turning to leave. ‘I will indeed look at the property, and we will speak again.’
Mr Sandwell rang the bell and the clerk was a very different person when he responded to it—deferential to the point of obsequiousness. Odile left the premises, wondering how King Lear could have withstood so much flummery.
Chapter Two
Odile set out for Chichester on the public coach two days later, all of her meagre possessions packed into one small valise. Miss Mackenzie, far from congratulating Odile upon her windfall and sharing in her excitement, was most reluctant to let her go.
‘You have a good position here and cannot just walk away from it,’ she huffed indignantly. ‘I turned several better qualified applicants down in order to give you an opportunity.’
Odile knew why she had favoured her. Her decision had nothing to do with qualifications or the lack thereof, and everything to do with the payments that Mr Sandwell had continued to send for her keep. She decided against pointing that fact out and leaving on bad terms with a woman who, her frugality notwithstanding, had been good to Odile in many ways. They had never been friends, but for many years the older lady had represented the only stability in Odile’s life. That had to count for something.
‘I hope that I have always shown my gratitude by giving good service,’ Odile replied.
‘I am sure this is all a terrible mistake and you will return disappointed. Best not take all your things only to have to bring them back again.’
