“He’ll probably make her miserable forever, but she was delighted. That has to count for something, I suppose.”
“And your brother? What was his opinion?”
“He was a tad nauseous, but he spoke the vows and wrote his name on the license without my having to beat him bloody.”
Blake Ralston was a charming rogue who’d likely seduced women around the globe. He was a sailor, but he happened to have a very wealthy sibling. No doubt Caleb provided him with an allowance to supplement his wages, so Janet would never want for money, but Caroline suspected her cousin would frequently fret over exhausting issues like monogamy and adultery.
“Janet is my sister-in-law,” he said.
“So she is,” Caroline murmured, hating that it bound Caleb to her family when she wasn’t certain he should be bound to it.
“She’s heading to Gibraltar, to live at the British compound there, so she’ll see Blake when he’s in port.”
“I hope it works out for her. She had other goals for herself, but she’s ended up picking the most normal path of all.”
“It won’t kill her to be a wife and mother. There are worse conclusions.” He gestured to the sofa. “Would you please sit down? I have to explain some shocking news, and you should be sitting when you hear it.”
“I’ll try to bear up,” she sarcastically said.
“Yes, well, this might be more astonishing than you’re expecting.”
“Spit it out, Caleb. Stop being so irritating.”
“Fine. Here goes: After Janet’s wedding, she told me about her lawyer and the missing inheritance from her grandmother. It was an odd story, so Barrett and I investigated.”
She frowned. “Investigated what?”
“It turns out, Caroline Grey, that there is only one person in your family who ever had an inheritance.”
“Who is it?”
“It’s you. You are a great heiress.”
She cocked her head, thinking he might have babbled in a foreign language she didn’t understand. “I could swear you said I’m an heiress.”
“I did and you are.” He pointed to a nearby table that was strewn with documents. “I brought the papers that prove it.”
“What are you talking about? You could be speaking Chinese.”
“It seems, dear Caro, that your father once traveled to Africa with famed explorer, Sir Sidney Sinclair.”
“I know that.”
“While he was there, he became the proud owner of a diamond mine.”
Her jaw dropped. “Are you serious?”
“Yes. When he died in the shipwreck, his ownership fell into a trust fund, with the assets belonging to you. Originally, your grandfather was the trustee, and he refused to spend any of it, but when the role passed to your uncle, he had no such reservations.”
“Uncle Samson has been spending my money?”
“Yes, Samson and Gregory. They were incredibly extravagant too.”
“Am I. . . I. . . beggared?”
He chuckled. “They tried their best, but no. You’re not beggared. You’re so rich; the diamonds keep being mined, and the money keeps flowing in.”
“I’m an heiress,” she muttered. “A mining heiress. . .”
“Yes.”
“Uncle Samson constantly joked about how poor I was. He used to tease me about it.”
“He was a lying, greedy fiend.”
Her mind was racing, struggling to process the information. “Is this why Gregory was so eager to marry me?”
“Yes. He needed to be in control of the trust as your husband, so if you ever found out about their mischief, you’d be his wife, and you wouldn’t be able to complain.”
“What about my Uncle Samson? Is that why he was pushing it?”
“Yes—that and the fact that you have another fund vesting on your birthday. You have to be wed by then, or you won’t receive it.”
He’d warned her to sit down before he began, and she’d declined, yet suddenly, her knees were weak. She staggered over to a chair and eased down. She gazed at the floor, her mind whirring at an even faster pace.
“They were. . . were. . . stealing from me!”
“That’s putting it mildly.”
“They planned to continue forever, but to ensure I never learned of it.”
“You’ve just about covered it.”
Fury blazed through her. They’d ceaselessly and relentlessly made her feel beholden, as if she was a vagabond begging for alms. How dare they!
“I want to go to Grey’s Corner,” she fumed. “I want to confront them.”
“They aren’t there anymore. They’re in jail in London.”
She froze, keen to deduce if that was the correct ending. They’d behaved despicably, but they were her only kin besides Janet.
“Who had them arrested?” she asked.
“Lord Barrett and I decided on it, and before you lament over how you pity them or would like them released, you should be aware that it’s thousands and thousands of pounds.”
She simply couldn’t fathom such an amount belonging to her or that her uncle and cousin had frittered it away without her realizing. She’d thought it was family money, that it had been Grandfather Walter’s money. It’s what Uncle Samson had always claimed.
“Thousands and thousands?” she wanly said.
“Yes, and if it will help to stir your rage, Gregory has been supporting Lucretia Starling with it. He wasn’t the least bit ashamed about it either. He’s developed quite an affinity for your fortune, and he’d started to act as if it was his own.”
“What about Mrs. Starling?” Caroline asked. “Please tell me she’s in trouble too.”
“She’s in jail with them. We’ve seized the house they bought, and I’ve confiscated most of her jewels. All that I could find anyway in such a short period. We’re still searching.” He went to the table where the documents were stacked, and he grabbed a satchel off a chair. He brought it back and handed it too her. “Look at this.”
She was almost afraid to peek into it and was trembling so hard she could barely untie the ribbon on the front. When she finally managed to open it, she gasped. The pouch was full of necklaces, rings, and bracelets. There were even two tiaras, one that was studded with emeralds and one with diamonds.
He plucked out the one with diamonds and set it in her hair, fussing with it until it was balanced just right. She was too stunned to swat him away. She dawdled like a statue, too bewildered to protest.
“I never saw
