Deadly Inheritance Read Online Free

the boy should expect.’ The Dowager sounded implacable.
    ‘Ah, but he is not your boy,’ the Earl said softly.
    ‘He is a Mountstanton.’
    ‘Quite. So I am the one to dictate his punishment.’
    Harry trembled and his tears spilled over. His mother put her arm around him. Neither said anything.
    Belle grabbed the Earl’s hand. ‘Please, don’t be so cruel as to beat him.’
    He detached his hand from her grasp. ‘Harry, stand up straight. Look at me.’
    The boy reluctantly unglued himself from his mother’s side and fixed a fearful gaze on the tall, unyielding figure before him.
    ‘You will go upstairs now and remain in the nursery. You will have no supper and I will be up later to demonstrate exactly how displeased I am with you. Helen, send for Mrs Comfort.’
    Ursula had remained standing after the accident with the bowl, her whole body rigid with distaste. She hoped that the woman’s name reflected her nature.
    The Countess rose without expression and went to pull on the long silk cord that hung beside the fireplace.
    A footman appeared, received his instructions, and left.
    The Earl flicked his gaze round the silent room. It rested for a moment on his mother, then passed on until it fell on Ursula.
    The cold, fish-like eyes studied her for a moment. ‘And you are?’ he said in an indifferent voice.
    ‘Ursula Grandison, companion to Miss Seldon, sir.’ She deliberately did not give him his title nor dip a curtsey.
    He raised an eyebrow.
    She was silent and stood looking straight at him. Then he said, ‘So,’ and turned to his wife. ‘Do I see tea?’
    By now there were several servants in the room, brushing up the broken pieces of china and filling empty cups.
    ‘Come and sit by me, Richard,’ the Dowager Countess said to her son, indicating a chair set next to hers. ‘I have been waiting to hear what you have been up to while I’ve been away.’
    ‘Later, Mama. I wish to learn what Liberty Belle thinks of her first sight of England and Mountstanton.’
    Ignoring the flashes of red that flamed in the Dowager’s cheeks, the Earl settled himself next to Belle. ‘No doubt now you are so grown up, I shall have to call you Miss Seldon,’ he said pleasantly.
    * * *
    By the time it came for Ursula to be shown to her room by Mrs Parsons, she was exhausted. It was not the rigours of the travel; looking back on that morning’s train journey, it seemed positively tranquil compared with what had awaited at Mountstanton.
    The life of Ursula Grandison had been full of ups and downs. Using her wits, she had extricated herself from potentially disastrous situations. Tragedy had visited her and so had extreme happiness. She had learned to survive in situations that would have swamped girls less courageous than herself. Never, though, could she remember having to witness such powerful cross-currents of tension. With no part to play in the scene, Ursula had found the afternoon more challenging than the time she had found herself separating men seemingly determined on beating each other into extinction.
    Relief came when Ursula was handed over to the housekeeper to be shown her accommodation. And Helen’s announcement that dinner would be at seven o’clock, giving a clear indication that Ursula should not expect further contact with the family until then, was received thankfully.
    There was careful politeness in every line of Mrs Parson’s carriage as she led the way back along the corridor towards the great staircase. As she followed in her wake, Ursula realised that the housekeeper could well provide a key to much that happened at Mountstanton. Would she, though, be able to reach through the impregnable reserve displayed by so many of the servants? Maybe even achieve a cosy chat?
    ‘This seems a very ancient house,’ she said, a note of enquiry in her voice.
    ‘Indeed it is, Miss Grandison.’ Mrs Parsons sounded pleased at her interest. ‘The original house was built in the reign of Elizabeth but the