“The dowager countess was expecting something from her own son?”
“She was. But Jackson wasn’t one to be pushed around by his mother. When Joyce came along, the dowager countess inserted herself into their marriage and tried to undermine how Emily was coping with her daughter. There have been times when my wife and I have witnessed the woman actually pull her granddaughter out of Emily’s arms.” Newsome’s jaw tightened. “Emily finally snapped when she tried it once too often and slapped her. The dowager countess was furious and demanded that her son divorced her. However, Jackson sided with his wife and amended his will so his mother didn’t get a penny.”
That sounded reasonable although Notts was sure it had been petty at the time. His friend had shown he was devoted to Emily. Anyone who crossed him regarding her suddenly found themselves out in the cold. Jackson had been very protective of his wife.
“Did the dowager countess know about it?”
“Not that I know of. But Jackson did admit he was worried she would find out. Two weeks later, he fell ill.”
Chapter 7
The Amended Will
T here had been a bout of pneumonia going around at that time. Notts remembered because he had only recently recovered. But Jackson’s had been faster than anyone expected.
“And when he died, his amended will had been replaced by a will nobody had seen before, not even the solicitor.”
“And this new will made the dowager countess wealthier than before. Her younger son inherited the title and both of them threw Emily and Joyce off the estate. They barely let them have time to gather their belongings. The only saving grace is they let her keep her title but, even then, it feels like they did that so they could rub into her face that she will never be a countess again.”
Notts knew his anger was building. He could feel it bubbling to the surface. He clenched his hands on his thighs.
“People shouldn’t act like that.” He growled. “That’s disgusting.”
“If I’m honest with you, Notts, I don’t think the dowager countess cares about how she acts towards Emily, as long as she looks like she’s the one smelling of roses.” Newsome scowled. “Emily’s been left practically destitute when she should be enjoying life. This was not how we expected our eldest daughter to end up.”
Notts could imagine. If he had had a daughter who had been treated like that, Notts wouldn’t have sat down until he had got what was rightly deserved of his child.
Emily had been wronged. There wasn’t a rule that you should leave something to your wife, but with Jackson’s words of love and affection conflicting the will the dowager countess had declared on the day of the funeral, there was something wrong going on.
Newsome stood and began to pace.
“Emily doesn’t care if she gets the inheritance back for herself. She just wants her daughter to be comfortable. But the dowager countess is more interested in making sure Emily can’t set foot in Society again without looking like she’s a black widow.”
Notts had heard it over the years. Despite Emily having retreated due to mourning, the rumors had already started. He had heard rumors from she had been having an affair and her husband found out, to Emily had killed him. They had made his blood boil but Notts had kept quiet, not wanting to have his words twisted. Gossip was changed and embellished with each person who said it.
No woman would act atrociously towards a relative in this way.
Except, maybe, the Dowager Countess of Lincoln.
***
“Emily?”
Emily jerked awake when she felt someone touch her arm. She hadn’t realized that she had fallen asleep. She was slumped in a chair by the fire facing Joyce, who hadn’t stirred. Glancing at the clock, Emily saw that she had a few minutes before she needed to wake her daughter. The doctor had said it was important that they didn’t let her sleep for long just in case something happened. Emily didn’t want to contemplate what could happen.
Joyce was going to be all right, but things still could happen.
Blinking away the bleariness, Emily looked up and saw Simone standing over her. Just seeing her mother there almost had her bursting into tears.
“Mama.”
The baroness fell to her knees and hugged her daughter, Emily clutching onto her tightly as she fought back the tears. Simone Newsome had been a comfort since they arrived back with Joyce unconscious, refusing to be out of reach in case Emily needed her.
Right now, Emily needed her mother.
Simone eased back and nodded at Joyce’s sleeping form.
“How’s Joyce?”
“She hasn’t stirred.” Emily glanced at the clock again. “I need to wake her shortly.”
“Let me know when you need a break and I’ll take over. Or one of the servants will.”
Emily was touched. It was rare that her mother would offer her help like this. She was the sort of woman who would shrug her shoulders and tell her to deal with it herself.
“You don’t need to do that, Mama.”
“Yes, I do.” Simone squeezed her hands. “Joyce is my granddaughter and you are my child. You need your rest. You won’t be any good if you’re not at your best.”
“Mama…” Emily began but Simone held up a hand.
“No, I won’t hear of it.” She sighed and lowered her hand. “I know my actions lately have not been the best and I apologize deeply for that. I just want what’s best for you. But I’m not going to take a step back when you need the help. I will do whatever I can to help you.”
Emily felt like she was going to burst into tears again. She had been doing a lot of crying lately. She managed a smile.
“Thank you, Mama. But I don’t know what you can do beyond letting me try to sleep.”
“Trust me, I can do a lot.” Simone shifted into the chair opposite her daughter. “Joyce is going to be fine.”
“But what about my reputation?” Emily demanded. “People were calling me names or ignoring me in the park. They saw what happened, and that I wasn’t paying attention. Joyce is all I have left of my husband and I…” She swallowed hard. “I don’t know what I’d do.”
“You do know what you can do,” Simone urged gently. “You can keep yourself strong. You’re stronger than I ever was. You will come out of this with your head held high.”
“I hope so.” Emily whispered.
She didn’t know if she even wanted to go back into Society after this. If she lost Joyce, there wouldn’t be anything to be smiling about.
“I know so.” Simone smiled, “And with the Duke of Nottinghamshire on your side, you will be fine.”
That was something. Emily sat back and thought of the dark-haired man with the smile that made her heart miss a few beats. He had been there as a constant friend throughout her marriage and then throughout her mourning. The man had never wavered. Emily had expected him to drift away when she married but Notts had always been there. Emily had felt very guilty that he could make her heart jump and her hands sweaty whenever he was close, something Jackson had never done. She loved her husband dearly and wouldn’t change their time together but there had been something missing. Something Notts had in spades.
Was it wrong she had found herself attracted to a man who wasn’t her husband while she was married? Emily didn’t know. But she wasn’t married now, and she was out of mourning. Surely it wouldn’t be seen as wrong now.
She sighed and rubbed at her eyes. They were starting to sting.
“I don’t understand why he would do all this for me when I’m merely an acquaintance, his friend’s widow.”
Simone stared at her. And then she threw her head back and laughed, stopping it quickly with a hand over her mouth. But her shoulders were shaking. Emily sat up.
“What? Mama, what are you laughing about?”
“Oh, Emily.” Simone lowered her hand, shaking her head. “You really are naïve.”
“Naïve.”
“Even I can see it. The man’s in love with you.”
/>
Emily stared at her mother. Had she heard her correctly?
“What?”
“I think he’s been in love with you since before you came out of mourning. The Duke is willing to do anything for you, even put his own reputation on the line.”
Emily was reeling. She had wondered before if there was anything there, let herself wonder if anything could be there. Never had she heard it out loud that Notts might even be in love with her.
“No man would ever put his reputation on the line for me,” was all she could murmur.
“Your husband did,” Simone pointed out. “The duke is cut from the same honorable cloth.” She reached over and squeezed Emily’s hand. “You are a very lucky woman to have two men like that in your life.”
Emily didn’t have anything to say to that.
***
“Are you sure we should be doing this?” Frank asked.
Notts wasn’t sure. But they needed to be dealt with. After everything he had found out in London from Jackson’s solicitor and some very surprising people, he wasn’t about to sit back and let the dowager countess get away with her plan.
The past two weeks had been a surprise, to say the least. All Notts had planned on doing was speaking to the solicitor in question, the one who had supposedly amended Jackson’s will before he died. What he had found out was even more startling. And it had solidified Notts’ opinion that what had happened should never have happened in the first place.
To say he was angry was an understatement. Emily had lived two years in mourning with her parents and not in what was rightfully her home. She had been ostracized because she couldn’t be controlled.
Notts was going to make that right tonight.
He adjusted his coat and tapped his cane on the cobblestones. He and Frank were at Lady Lucerne’s ball at her country estate, pacing around the courtyard while Notts got his temper under control. He didn’t want to lose it in the middle of the ballroom and only Frank’s presence right now was stopping him from exploding.
How dare they do this to Emily? The woman he loved had been forced out. But not anymore.
Chapter 8
The Confrontation
“T he dowager countess needs to be confronted to her behavior.” He growled. “She is dragging Lady Lincoln through the mud and it has to stop.”
“But confronting her here?” Frank indicated the house before them. “At a ball where everyone will be listening in? She’ll deny everything and you’ll look a fool. Your reputation will come out in tatters, not hers.
“No, it won’t.” Notts patted his brother’s shoulder. “It won’t be in public, don’t worry. I won’t embarrass us.”
“I’m not bothered about my reputation being sullied.” Frank grunted. “Besides, I’m not the one going to accuse the dowager countess of faking a will.” He sighed. “Do you want me to act as a buffer?”
“I just need you there to calm me down once I’m done.” Notts spun his cane a few times between his fingers, trying to calm his shaking hands. “I’m going to lose it once I walk away from them.”
Frank snorted.
“And I was the one who was known as a hot-head as a child.”
Notts grunted. He lowered his cane and squared his shoulders. Then he walked over to the front doors. The footmen bid them to enter, and they went into the foyer. Notts could see Lady Lucerne in the center of the foyer, looking resplendent in her finery. She really was a magnificent-looking woman for sixty.
Lady Lucerne gasped in surprise and delight when she saw Notts approaching her.
“Lord Nottingham! My goodness, what a surprise!”
“Lady Lucerne.” Notts bowed and kissed her hand. “You’re looking lovely today.”
“Oh, stop it, you.” Lady Lucerne tapped him on the shoulder with her fan. “I was not expecting you to be here tonight. My sources said you were in London.”
“News travels fast.” Notts beckoned Frank over. “And I couldn’t let my brother come here on his own.”
Lady Lucerne beamed at Frank.
“Captain Davenport!” She held out her hands to him, which Frank took. “It’s a pleasure to see you again. You look really dashing in your uniform.”
“Thank you, Lady Lucerne.”
“Lord Nottingham.”
Notts turned. He stiffened. Lady Lincoln was approaching him, looking very elegant in a green dress and her hair up away from her neck. Even approaching the ripe age of fifty, she still looked as young and fresh-looking as the younger women around her.
It was going to happen a lot quicker than Notts anticipated. He plastered a pleasant smile on his face and bowed.
“Lady Lincoln.” Then Notts nodded at the tall man appearing at the dowager countess’ shoulder. “My lord.”
“Notts.” Gerald Jackson, Earl of Lincoln, approached him and shook his head firmly. “It’s good to see you.”
“I wish the feeling was mutual.”
Lady Lincoln raised her eyebrows. Lincoln also looked confused.
“Dare I ask what that means?” he asked.
Did he look thinner than the last time Notts had seen him? Notts couldn’t be sure. He braced himself.
“I have something important to discuss with both of you. It’s…” he looked pointedly at Lady Lucerne, who was talking to Frank but clearly listening in, “Personal. May we three speak privately?”
Lady Lincoln frowned but nodded.
“Of course.”
***
Lady Lucerne had been widowed since her youngest son was three. The study in the house was his. But he was currently abroad on holiday with his wife and children in Ireland. Lady Lucerne had no need to use the study, choosing to use her boudoir.
They would be alone and no one would disturb them.
Notts shut the door after them and locked it. Lincoln spun around, his eyes narrowing at the other man.
“Why did you lock the door? What’s going on?”
Notts moved away from the door and took his place in front of the fire. Neither Lincoln nor his mother moved, eyeing him warily. Notts braced himself for the attack and faced Lady Lincoln.
“I have something important to discuss with you. Such as Emily Jackson, your daughter-in-law.”
“Former daughter-in-law,” the dowager countess pointed out. “My son is no longer married to her.”
“And you made sure of that, didn’t you?”
The smug look on the woman’s face disappeared at that. She narrowed her eyes at him, her mouth twisting into a snarl.
“What are you saying, my lord?” she hissed. “Are you saying I killed my son?”
“Emily killed my brother,” Lincoln declared fiercely. “We had nothing to do with it.”
“Except keep her away from her husband as he was dying,” Notts shot back. “Your brother had pneumonia and all he wanted was to have his wife at his side. But neither of you even let him have that.”
Lady Lincoln straightened up, squaring her shoulders.
“I know what’s best for my children,” she said stiffly.
“No, you don’t. You just want to make sure they do as you say.” Notts turned to Lincoln, seeing that the other man was seething. “I’m sure your younger son does exactly what you want. Emily didn’t, which was why you hated her.”
The dowager countess sniffed.
“I had someone lined up for Thomas. That was not Emily Newsome. She was not suited to him at all.”
“I disagree,” Notts shot back. “I noticed him change for the better when he was married to her.”
“No, he didn’t,” Lady Lincoln almost snarled. “He changed, and she stole him from me. From the family.”
Notts glanced at Lincoln, wondering if he had heard the same thing. Lincoln was also looking in confusion at his mother’s declaration. Notts couldn’t stop himself from barking out a laugh.
“Have you heard yourself, my lady? He was your son, not your husband. Emily was not stealing him away. Your son died and Emily was no
t allowed to be there. She gave him the best years of their lives and what did you do? You show up with a will that completely cuts her out and throw her and your granddaughter out.”
At the mention of the will he saw a slight change in Lady Lincoln’s demeanor. Notts wasn’t sure what to make of it but he thought it was worry. Did she think he was going to unearth something?
Unfortunately, for her, Notts had already found out.
Lady Lincoln sniffed.
“Thomas didn’t really love her if she gained nothing.” She looked very smug about that. Notts smirked.
“I wonder what the witnesses of the original will would say to that.”
“What are you talking about?” Lincoln was looking between Notts and his mother, still looking confused. “What witnesses?”
Notts rolled his eyes.
“Lincoln, you’re not stupid. Wills are signed by the person in question, their solicitor and two witnesses. Lady Lincoln, were there witnesses at your son’s will?”
“Of course there were.”
“What were their names? What rank in the nobility?”
Lady Lincoln’s mouth opened and closed. She looked like she was floundering. Then she huffed and waved the questions away.
“I can’t remember. It was some years ago now.”
“I’m sure.” Notts sneered. He turned back to Lincoln, who looked to be the weaker link, and approached the other man. “I’ve spoken to the witnesses of your brother’s will, and also to his solicitor. He was surprised that a will was brought out that he knew nothing about from another lawyer and that it post-dated his. He wasn’t able to contest it at all and wasn’t even allowed to see the document. But, rest assured, he’s going through the proper channels to make sure he can now.”
Once the lawyer had discovered that the will that had been read out was possibly a fake, he had immediately set about writing a letter to Lady Lincoln’s lawyer demanding the will or he would be reporting him for false representation. He had been more than happy to hand over the actual will and letting Notts have a look.
Regency Romances for the Ages Page 90