me as there seems nothing I can do about it, Jerome,” she said, and looked up at him. “I owe you so much already that I can never repay, but is there any way you can help me to prevent him having his way here?”
“That is why I am here. I met an old colleague of mine, a man who was at the Inns when I was there,” Jerome said.
Thena looked at him and repeated, “The inns, what inns? Did he see us?” Her mind reeled at the thought that someone in the village knew that she had spent a night with Jerome.
“Not that kind of inn. The Inns of Court in London – The Middle Temple…”
“Oh,” she said, “I see.” But she really did not.
“Come, walk and talk with me further. We must not arouse his suspicion.” They walked along with a foot or so between them so that they did not touch even by accident.
“Mr Stanton trained where I did, at the same law school. He is your family’s legal representative and speaks well of your father and the village. He has a gift for you from your father – a key and I believe a letter for your twenty-first birthday, to be given you with the grandfather clock he also left you. Stanton did not tell Bertram of this, as it was for you only, not even when you disappeared. Bertram would have had him believe you had run away, Thena.”
“I knew he must have left his affairs in order!” she said and was filled with a rush of emotion. Then she said, “I did no such thing. I would never run away!” Thena was appalled at how low her cousin would stoop to rid himself of her. What must Jerome be thinking of her and her small but seemingly corrupt cousin? She hoped beyond hope that he did not believe that it ran in her bloodline, and that was why she stole from him.
She could not help but smile slightly, though.
“What amuses you?” he asked.
“My dear father has left me time.” She looked up at the sun. “I loved him dearly, but that clock represents words of wisdom he shared with me and reminds me of how precious our time with loved ones is.” Then she saddened. “If only I had loved ones left to care…”
“Oh, Thena, he has left you precious little time. The will clearly leaves the estate to your cousin. The legacy of the land applies to it being kept as it is, if inherited by the direct line. The wording is not specific enough, and although it stipulates what happens if it is passed from father to son, or son-in-law, then it states separately what happens next if it should then have to go to the nearest male relative. However, because it was poorly prepared, the codicil of the land being kept as is, does not transfer once the original line is side-stepped to another, removed to – well, uncles, cousins, second cousins and so on.”
Jerome was trying to make this simple for her to understand, she knew that, but the unfairness of it all galled her. “I meant what he has left me is the grandfather clock. It stopped some time ago, but Father always said that time was the most precious gift anyone can have. Yet, his sadly ran out too soon. If what you say is true, though, Bertram has won. I cannot stop this sale.”
They had stopped walking by the banks of the river. Jerome glared down at the water as if trying to see the fish.
“There is a way, Thena, but it requires a great sacrifice on your part, along with a willingness to trust me again.”
Thena looked at him as his face betrayed how serious he was about what he was about to propose. She could tell by the way his features moved that he was trying to find the words he wanted, to explain to her as simply and effectively as possible. How difficult could it be for a man of law to express his thoughts, she wondered, but then his words came back to her… “Or son-in-law,” then she swallowed. Was he really thinking of stepping in to rescue her again? Surely a man like Jerome already had a wife? But then he had been at war, and war is a destroyer of the normal order of life.
They walked along the river path a
“That is why I am here. I met an old colleague of mine, a man who was at the Inns when I was there,” Jerome said.
Thena looked at him and repeated, “The inns, what inns? Did he see us?” Her mind reeled at the thought that someone in the village knew that she had spent a night with Jerome.
“Not that kind of inn. The Inns of Court in London – The Middle Temple…”
“Oh,” she said, “I see.” But she really did not.
“Come, walk and talk with me further. We must not arouse his suspicion.” They walked along with a foot or so between them so that they did not touch even by accident.
“Mr Stanton trained where I did, at the same law school. He is your family’s legal representative and speaks well of your father and the village. He has a gift for you from your father – a key and I believe a letter for your twenty-first birthday, to be given you with the grandfather clock he also left you. Stanton did not tell Bertram of this, as it was for you only, not even when you disappeared. Bertram would have had him believe you had run away, Thena.”
“I knew he must have left his affairs in order!” she said and was filled with a rush of emotion. Then she said, “I did no such thing. I would never run away!” Thena was appalled at how low her cousin would stoop to rid himself of her. What must Jerome be thinking of her and her small but seemingly corrupt cousin? She hoped beyond hope that he did not believe that it ran in her bloodline, and that was why she stole from him.
She could not help but smile slightly, though.
“What amuses you?” he asked.
“My dear father has left me time.” She looked up at the sun. “I loved him dearly, but that clock represents words of wisdom he shared with me and reminds me of how precious our time with loved ones is.” Then she saddened. “If only I had loved ones left to care…”
“Oh, Thena, he has left you precious little time. The will clearly leaves the estate to your cousin. The legacy of the land applies to it being kept as it is, if inherited by the direct line. The wording is not specific enough, and although it stipulates what happens if it is passed from father to son, or son-in-law, then it states separately what happens next if it should then have to go to the nearest male relative. However, because it was poorly prepared, the codicil of the land being kept as is, does not transfer once the original line is side-stepped to another, removed to – well, uncles, cousins, second cousins and so on.”
Jerome was trying to make this simple for her to understand, she knew that, but the unfairness of it all galled her. “I meant what he has left me is the grandfather clock. It stopped some time ago, but Father always said that time was the most precious gift anyone can have. Yet, his sadly ran out too soon. If what you say is true, though, Bertram has won. I cannot stop this sale.”
They had stopped walking by the banks of the river. Jerome glared down at the water as if trying to see the fish.
“There is a way, Thena, but it requires a great sacrifice on your part, along with a willingness to trust me again.”
Thena looked at him as his face betrayed how serious he was about what he was about to propose. She could tell by the way his features moved that he was trying to find the words he wanted, to explain to her as simply and effectively as possible. How difficult could it be for a man of law to express his thoughts, she wondered, but then his words came back to her… “Or son-in-law,” then she swallowed. Was he really thinking of stepping in to rescue her again? Surely a man like Jerome already had a wife? But then he had been at war, and war is a destroyer of the normal order of life.
They walked along the river path a
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