But since that house was not part of the entail, having come to his father as part of his mother’s dowry, he had no idea who would inherit the home. “Please, Mr. Veritas, join us. I am assuming you are familiar with the dowager duchess?”
Jacob gave a quick nod. “I am. And I’m glad you’re both here.”
His stomach dropped again, but he dismissed the feeling this time. Of course the barrister would have business with his father’s wife. “It’s good to see you,” he grunted in some acknowledgment of their past friendship. A friendship that had ended when Ben had decided relationships only made him weaker.
“And you as well. I’m sorry for the circumstances.” Jacob said, his tone professionally detached despite the situation and their past.
Now that Ben thought on it, it was damned odd that his former friend had been in his father’s employ. Jacob had seen his father’s tyranny firsthand on more than one occasion. “Let’s have this business done, shall we?”
Jacob took a seat, clearing his throat. “I’m afraid done isn’t really an option.”
What in the bloody hell did that mean? Ben grabbed his glass from the desk and took another long swallow. His head pounded from the lack of sleep and his nerves were frayed at the edges. “Explain.”
Jacob cleared his throat. “Your father left specific instructions on when and how his final will and testament would be shared.”
Ben scrubbed his face. “My father is dead. I’m the duke now and—”
Jacob held up his hand. “You could be king, it wouldn’t change the fact that legally I am bound to deliver his last wishes as he saw fit.”
Ben grunted. He’d always liked Jacob’s strength of character. Right now, of course, it was a bloody pain in the ass.
Esme cleared her throat. “And my dowry?”
Jacob winced. It was subtle but unmistakable and Ben sat a bit straighter. “You’re not aware of the details?”
“I’m afraid not,” Esme folded her hands in her lap.
Jacob scrubbed his face of emotion but not before Ben caught a muscle ticking in man’s jaw. “Your father retained much of it.”
Esme was silent for several moments, looking down at her hands before she lifted her head. “And my husband. Did he add to what he received?”
Jacob gave a small shake to his head.
Ben let out a growl deep in his throat. Had he been mourning his father? This was exactly the reminder he’d needed that while his father preached about how they should uphold moral standards, the man himself had been a selfish bastard. How was Esme supposed to remarry without any funds? “And did my father leave anything for the boy?”
“Caleb,” Esme said with a nod, her eyes filled with pain. “Your brother’s name is Caleb, Your Grace.”
A different regret lanced through him. Another little boy had been subject to his father and Ben hadn’t done a thing. He’d known about it, was man enough to fight it, but he’d stayed away, left Esme and Caleb to face his father on their own.
He shook his head. He didn’t need these feelings. He was a man who stayed apart.
“He did leave instructions for the boy,” Jacob added, shifting in his seat. “And there is an inheritance for each of you, but your father was clear: the details will only be read when all seven of you are assembled together.”
“All seven of us?” Ben rumbled, standing from his chair, his stance wide and his face surely showing his displeasure.
“That’s correct.” Jacob didn’t budge, didn’t show even a modicum of fear as Ben stood over him. No wonder his father had hired him. He had fortitude even against the White fits of temper. “You and Lady Whitehaven, who are obviously already here. Your brothers Lord White, Lord Destrian, and Lord Sayden. And of course, your sister, Lady Millicent, along with Lord Caleb.”
“Impossible,” he ground out through clenched teeth. “We’ve not been all together in more than a decade.”
Jacob shrugged. “The instructions are clear. In addition, your father told me to tell you that you should find the motivation to see the family gathered together as he had gifted something to you that was very near and dear to your heart.”
Cliffside. How had the man known it’s what he wished for more than anything? He dropped his fist onto the surface of the desk, a loud thump filling the room. The old man was controlling, manipulating even from the grave. Ben could only imagine that some moral lesson was also wrapped up in this peculiar meeting. Some value he wanted his children to learn. And while that sounded like good parenting, his father’s lessons always had a cruel twist. “I don’t have the first clue where my brothers are. They could be anywhere in the world.”
Esme cleared her throat. “I don’t have any idea where Lord Sayden or Lord Justice have taken themselves t,o but Lord White, when not on his ship, resides near where your sister attends school.”
Destrian lived near Millicent? Why did that information make him feel both better and worse? He was glad to know his brother had been watching out for her all these years, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d been neglectful on that front too. “So, I can collect them both in one trip?”
“That’s right,” Esme nodded.
He let out a long breath. “And which village would that be?”
Esme blinked several times. “You don’t know?”
His mouth thinned again. Did the woman not understand that she now lived by his pleasure? “I don’t need a dose of guilt with my information.”
She gave him a hard stare. “Westcliff. It’s a village near Dover.”
Ben’s eyes widened in surprise. He could just send for them, of course. They’d most likely come. Then again, perhaps they wouldn’t. They hadn’t attended the funeral and Destrian was
