Page 64 of Hunted By the Guardian
“And…you have?” A chill ran through Jonathan. What a time for things to be resolved.
He was, he suddenly realized, unsure of what outcome he hoped for. If only Violet had taken his suggestion that she stay here if he got the house well, then he could hope for it to be his. But now it seemed as though she would be angry if things went that way.
“Is Lady Violet here as well?” Tomlin asked.
Jonathan swallowed. “She is.”
“Or I could just give the news to you,” Tomlin said with a conspiratorial smile.
Jonathan knew the answer right then and there.
His heart sank.
He had always assumed that it would make him happy to realize that this house was going to be his. He had wanted it so badly. It was the thing his mother had dreamed of, and he’d been so determined to get it for her. To repay her, if only in a small way, for having been the person in his life who had always cared for him. The only person who had ever loved him for who he was instead of for what he might be.
She deserves this house. Even though she’ll never live in it, she would like to know that I’m here now, and that I’m thinking of her.
He gritted his teeth. No matter how difficult it was to see Violet upset, he knew he couldn’t do anything other than follow through here. He’d come too far and wanted this for too long. Now it was happening, and he wasn’t going to refuse it.
But Violet had the right to hear from the solicitor herself. “You should speak to us both together,” he told Tomlin. “She’s in the library, I believe.”
He led the way. Sure enough, Violet was sitting in the library. She had a book in her hands, but it was unopened, and she was staring out the window. When Jonathan came in, she looked at him sharply, and it seemed as if she was about to start lecturing him again.
And then she realized the solicitor was there. Her body went rigid. She looked from Tomlin to Jonathan.
“He just came by,” Jonathan said. It felt important to make this clear, to be sure she understood that he hadn’t summoned Tomlin after the way breakfast had gone. But as soon as he’d said it, he felt foolish. She gave him a withering look.
“What is this about?” she asked. Asked Tomlin, not him. She wasn’t even looking at Jonathan anymore.
Tomlin walked into the room and took a seat without waiting to be invited.
“The legal matter has been settled,” he announced.
Jonathan looked at him. “What if we wish to resolve the matter for ourselves?”
“Then you ought to have said as much before asking me to resolve it,” Tomlin said.
Jonathan felt a flash of anger. “You would do well, Mr. Tomlin, to remember who you’re speaking to.”
Tomlin did have the sense to look a little abashed. “Apologies, Your Grace,” he murmured. “If you wish to resolve affairs yourselves, you have the option to do so. But there is a legal answer to your dilemma.”
Jonathan, who knew from their interaction in the foyer what the answer would be, did not ask.
It was Violet who did. “You’ve figured out who the house belongs to,” she surmised.
“Yes, Lady Violet.”
“Tell us, then.” Her voice was brittle.
Tomlin hesitated only for a moment. “The answer is what I imagined it would be,” he said. “It’s not a standard event for an unmarried lady to come into possession of property. Not something there are arrangements for.”
“My aunt’s will…”
“I know what it says. And she did her best to make her wishes a reality. This doesn’t reflect a lack of effort on her part. But when the law was brought to bear on the situation, the resolution was fairly straightforward. There’s just no way that, when you and a gentleman both have a valid claim on this place, it would ever be decided in your favor.”
There was a long, drawn-out silence.
“So you’re telling me the house belongs to the duke,” Violet said quietly.
