Dash it all.That certificate was just meant to reassure her. “It was unnecessary, Maddie. I could tear it up now and we will still be married. No court in the land will rule otherwise.”
“But would he try to get the law to overturn it?”
“He’s hardly likely to. Not with his man in jail who could start spilling all, as a heavy sentence in Newgate awaits him.”
She fiddled with a gilt button on his coat. “So, I am safe from him?”
Hart watched her pretty face, her dark lashes fluttering over her teary brown eyes. He swallowed, overcome with emotion. “You are, darling. No one would dare attack a marchioness. My footmen guard this house better than any jail. Should you wish to go out, I’ll instruct my footman to be armed. Should he try, Wakeham will find you’ve become as unapproachable as a star.”
She nodded silently and rested her head against his shoulder.
He felt her heart beating hard and his arms tightened around her. “Now kiss me, sweetheart, and tell me you feel more reassured. Or I shan’t like to leave you tomorrow.”
“My uncle has always had a disturbing effect on me. I’d feared he’d become my jailer, and I’d never escape him.
“My brave darling,” Hart said. And she might have been right, had she not been courageous enough to escape him.
Maddie kissed him, then escaped his lap. She straightened her shoulders. “I hate how I become a marshmallow when my uncle is near.”
“Not difficult to understand, is it?” He was sorry she’d left his lap so promptly. “The man is unpredictable and cruel.”
“I’ll go up and open my packages. There are so many! I confess to getting a little carried away! Such a wonderful display of goods. Bath shops are excellent but do not compare to London. And I approve of my new dressmaker. Her gowns are magnifique! I can’t wait for you to see them,” she said over her shoulder and laughingly crossed the room.
He stared after her until she shut the door behind her. Maddie rarely let him see how troubled she was. He was pleased she’d allowed him even a glimpse so that he might assuage her concerns. But had he convinced her? None of this would matter, because he planned to go after Wakeham and bring him down with whatever means were available to him. Armed with what they may learn from Maddie’s solicitor tomorrow.
The solicitor, Mr. Cosgrove, a round-faced, balding man in his fifties, welcomed them effusively into his office. He shook hands with Hart and offered his felicitations. “A wonderful surprise,” he said, gesturing to two chairs placed facing the desk. After removing a folder from the drawer, he tossed up his coattails and sat down. “May I offer you a libation? No? Then we shall proceed.” He placed both hands atop the folder. “Perhaps we could begin by you telling me what you wished to know.”
“They did not permit me to attend my parents’ funeral, nor was I present at the reading of the will, Mr. Cosgrove,” Maddie began. “So I know very little. Only that my uncle was the sole guardian. He handled everything for me. I have a dowry of twenty-five thousand pounds, is that not right? And the bulk of my father’s fortune he left to my Aunt Elizabeth? My uncle said he received a modest amount.”
Cosgrove frowned. “No, that’s quite incorrect, Lady Montford. I am upset to think you have had this misconception.” He took papers from the folder, searched for the one he wished to view, and cleared his throat. “We wrote to you to explain the contents of your father’s will. And sent two further letters. These are your replies.” He slid them across the desk to her.
Maddie picked them up and read them. She turned to Hart, confused. “I did not write these.”
Hart took them from her and scanned them. “Could they be written in Wakeham’s hand?” he asked the solicitor.
Cosgrove raised his graying eyebrows, his eyes wide behind his spectacles. “I never imagined for a moment…” He took the letters from Hart and compared them with other documents he drew from the folder. It was clear by his expression that he thought it was Wakeham’s hand. “It is possible,” he said carefully. “But then, I imagine as he was handling matters for you…” His voice died away.
“I’d like you to explain the will to us in its entirety,” Hart said sternly, sitting back with his arms crossed.
“Certainly,” Cosgrove said. He cleared his throat. “I will summarize the main provisions for you. My lady, your father, the earl, left your Aunt Elizabeth a hundred pounds a month annuity for the rest of her life, plus a small gift to her daughter Catherine. A sum of five thousand pounds went to your uncle, along with smaller sums to your father’s servants. The estate consists of the proceeds of the sale of the earl’s home, Green Oaks, including the livestock, together with a valuable art collection which is currently in storage. Your father also held shares in a number of prominent companies and owned three other properties in London, which are leased. We have obtained a valuation of your father’s estate of some eight hundred thousand pounds. The entire estate has been bequeathed to you, apart from the matters I have mentioned.”
Maddie gasped and turned to Hart. “I knew none of this.”
“The scoundrel,” Hart said.
“My uncle told me he sold the paintings,” Maddie said. “Even my parents’ portraits by Gainsborough.” Her voice hitched. “And the painting of me as a young child with my mother.”
Cosgrove shook his head. “Rest assured, my lady. No paintings have been sold, nor the statues, china collection, furniture, or rugs. A further provision in the will states that in the event of your death, Mr. Arthur Wakeham becomes the beneficiary. But now that you are married, this particular provision no longer applies.” He closed the folder. “If you have questions, I would be pleased to answer them.”
An hour later, they left the office, Maddie holding Hart’s arm. “I can’t believe it,” she said again.
“I can believe it of Wakeham,” Hart said curtly.
“To think I am the recipient of my father’s fortune.” She gazed at Hart. “On my death, he inherits everything!”
“I suspected as much,” Hart said through his teeth.
She turned to look at him in horror. “That is why he wanted to see me dead.” She shivered. “I only wonder why he waited so long.”