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Bridie into the dining room, but with Mr Kelly present he could make no
comment.
Theirs was a small gathering at the long table, which could easily have
seated twenty, its surface gleaming with Noelle's continued attentions. For
want of better occupation, she had turned her energies to the housework
and, perhaps encouraged by her example, the small household staff had set
to work with a will so that although still undeniably shabby, Claddagh Hall
had taken on some of the gleam of its palmier days.
'Fergus, lad, what delayed you at all?' and without waiting for an answer,
'It's glad I am to see you still here, Miss Madox-Browne,' Mr Kelly declared
as he spread his papers before him, though Noelle knew it must be a mere
expression of courtesy. 'Because,' he continued, dumbfounding her, 'hasn't
His Lordship expressly mentioned you in his will?'
'He has?' Noelle dared not turn her head to encounter Fergus's gaze, but
kept her eyes fixed on the elderly solicitor.
'Yes, indeed. Wait a while till I tell you. There's devil a penny, as maybe
you'll have guessed for yourselves, but what there is, the Hall and the stud,
is left jointly between you and young Fergus here,' he paused, 'on the
condition that you both live here, keep the Hall and its lands a going
proposition, and that the pair of you make a home for Miss O'Rourke.'
'What?' This was Fergus.
'Impossible!' Noelle said. Though a discreet telephone call while Fergus
and Bridie O'Rourke were out of the way had assured her that her business
was running smoothly, that Rachel and Manny could well manage without
her for a while longer, she knew she must soon return to London. Apart
from her responsibilities to her partners and their clients, it wasn't in her
nature to be idle for long.
Mr Kelly looked from one to the other. "Tis your decision, of course, but if
either of you refuses to comply with the terms of the will, everything is to
be sold and--'
'Sent to a retirement home for racehorses?' Fergus cut in ironically, and
Noelle stared at him. How could he joke about it? Mr Kelly, too, looked
taken aback. 'No, sir, no, to be sure. But yourself already being a gentleman
of property, so to speak, the money from the sale would go to Miss
Madox-Browne.'
'What?' Noelle couldn't have been more horrified if the money had been
going to some charity.
'I see!' Fergus spoke in that exasperating drawl a which so annoyed her. 'So
either way, Miss Browne is not to be the loser?'
'Indeed not, sir.' Mr Kelly took the remark at face value, sounding shocked
at the suggestion that it should be otherwise. 'All his life His Lordship felt
some recompense was due to his daughter, particularly as her mother
steadfastly refused his offers of assistance.'
There was a long silence.
'I won't accept it,' Noelle said abruptly. 'I don't need it. I'm well able to
support myself.' She glared defiantly at Fergus, saw the heavy black bar of
his brows rise incredulously. 'Don't look at me in that insufferably insolent
fashion!' she snapped. 'I mean it. I'm twenty-five and for the last six years
I've lived on what I could earn.'
It was true. Once her salary as a trainee designer had been sufficient to
support her, she had refused to accept any further allowance from the
Madox- Brownes and latterly Noelle et Cie had prospered to the extent that
she was a young woman of some means, though that was none of Fergus
Carrick's business.
'So I'll be giving you a day or so to discuss it,' Mr Kelly announced, and
refused to hear of any hasty decision being made. Thus Miss O'Rourke saw
the lawyer out and the beneficiaries of the will faced each other across the
table.
'It would seem,' Fergus said, 'that we're stuck with each other.' His choice of
words was intensely annoying.
'We most certainly are not!' Noelle retorted. 'There's no way I'll agree to
share a house with you.'
'But what if I'm equally determined the sale price of Claddagh shan't fall
into your sticky little hands?'
'I told you,' Noelle said savagely, 'I don't want the money.'
'How can you avoid it otherwise? You heard the terms of the will?'
'There must be some way round it!'
'Only one. We both move in and try to put the place back on its feet.'
'Or you could buy me out,' she suggested.
'Impossible! Can't afford it. We'll just have to put up with each other.'
Noelle parted her lips to protest further, then closed them and became
thoughtful. True, her first reaction to the terms of the will had been a
determination to steer clear of any situation that involved Fergus Carrick, to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]