Page 43 of The Good Fortune of Miss Robbins

An uncle? I blinked, trying to comprehend his words. Fifty thousand pounds was an enormous sum.

“Sir, my parents died when I was almost five years old. I barely remember them, and I was told that I have no other relatives.”

“Yes, well, your father was estranged from his elder brother, John Robert Robbins, who was my client until his death.” He stared pastme, as if the wall behind me drew his interest. “It was his dying wish that you receive the whole of his fortune, which amounts to just over fifty thousand pounds.”

An uncle! I longed to know more about him. How sad that he died and I could never meet him or speak to him. And now he’d left me his fortune. I could hardly take it in. Could such a thing be true?

“He was a solitary man, only engaging in business, rarely involving himself in society. He did not even belong to a gentleman’s club, and he never traveled to London, which is why he had no home there.”

“What of his home?”

“He instructed me to sell it and all his possessions upon his death and settle all his debts. The remainder is the fifty thousand pounds he left to you.”

I’d inherited a fortune—a truly enormous fortune—from an uncle I never knew I had.

I should feel elated, but my breath had gone out of me. I couldn’t seem to think with all this swirling in my head.

Mr. Sullivan was still talking, but his words seemed to float past me without catching hold.

“Miss Robbins? I said you can either return to London with me, where I will transfer the funds to you, or I will bring them personally to you in a few days and you can deposit the funds in the nearest bank. Which do you prefer?”

“I ... I don’t know.”

“Would you like me to wait while you speak to someone, to ask for advice?” He gave me a smile that looked like a grimace.

“Lady Derringer is here from London,” Lord Brookhaven said. “She arrived last evening. Would you like to speak to her?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Lord Brookhaven said he would take me to her, and we excused ourselves from Mr. Sullivan.

I stood and half stumbled through the door.

We found Lady Derringer in the drawing room, almost as if shewas waiting for us. Lord Brookhaven left us, and I began to tell her everything Mr. Sullivan had told me, pausing only while a servant brought us our tea.

“This is such a wonderful opportunity for you,” Lady Derringer said. “You are a wealthy woman now.”

“It seems so strange.”

“You may do whatever you wish. What do you wish for? To go to London? You could let a house in town, go to all the shops, visit famous places.”

“It’s a bit overwhelming, isn’t it?”

Lady Derringer looked amused, but then she changed her expression to one of compassion. “Forget everything I said and just think of what you would like to do if you had all the time and money in the world. Would you go to London?”

“Perhaps. I’ve always wished to see London.”

“Very well, then, go to London. Do whatever your heart desires.”

“It just feels so ... unreal.” And the question I’d actually been wondering was—now that I had a fortune, could Lord Brookhaven marry me without dire consequences? Would he want to?

Instead, I said, “Mrs. Southey told me I didn’t have any family. Why did my uncle not contact me?”

“I suppose he didn’t want to be known to you while your father was alive, and perhaps he didn’t know your father had died. These things happen sometimes.”

“Fifty thousand pounds is an enormous sum.” I’d never dreamed of half so much. My stomach felt a bit sick, and I pressed my hand to my middle. “I have no idea how to proceed.”

“You said you wished to go to London, did you not?”