surveyed her cynically. ‘If that’s meant for me, sister dear, I’ll thank you to keep your observations to yourself. Jarvis and I settled the rent of my cottage long ago.’
‘I know you settled it, but when did you last actually pay it?’
‘Don’t split hairs. I pay for my cottage and my drink, not in cash, but in the pleasure of my company.’
Sarah Ashton made a noise that was perilously close to a snort. ‘I’d like to see Jarvis pay his bills with the pleasure of your company—such as it is,’ she remarked acidly.
‘Leave him alone, Sarah,’ Jarvis advised amiably. ‘You know he’s incorrigible.’
‘He wouldn’t be if you didn’t encourage him.’
‘Yes, I would,’ Ferdy said at once. ‘I was born incorrigible.’ He went to the drinks cabinet, considered its sparse contents, and returned to his seat empty-handed. On his way he caught his heel in the shabby carpet and almost fell into the chair. He grasped the arms to steady himself, and heard a dismal wrenching sound as the threadbare material tore. ‘I’ve made a hole in your chair,’ he announced with an air of discovery.
Jarvis shrugged. ‘I doubt I’ll notice it among the others.’
‘You know what you could do with, Jarvis lad?’
‘A new chair, probably.’
‘A rich wife.’
Jarvis’s grin returned. ‘To be sure, they’re going begging, aren’t they?’
‘As a matter of fact they are.’ Ferdy picked up the newspaper which he’d been reading a moment earlier. ‘See here,’ he said, jabbing with his finger at an advertisement.
Jarvis took the paper and read, “‘Wanted—one fortune-hunter to marry heiress: Millionairess seeks nominal husband in order to gain control of her own fortune. Generous terms to the right man”.’
He tossed the paper back to Ferdy. ‘Someone’s idea of a practical joke,’ he growled. ‘Either that or a journalist. If you think I’m going to offer myself up to ridicule you’ve taken leave of your senses.’
‘But suppose it’s for real? Why pass up the chance?’
‘Because for one thing I’ve nothing to offer a millionairess—’
‘Nonsense,’ Ferdy ribbed him. ‘You’re a fine upstanding fellow and the answer to any maiden’s prayer.’
‘And you’re incurably vulgar,’ Jarvis said without rancour.
‘I agree,’ Sarah added acidly.
‘And for another,’ Jarvis continued, ‘the last thing I’d ever do would be to offer myself to a rich woman in a meaningless marriage simply to get my hands on her money.’
‘Quite right,’ Sarah announced. She descended from the steps and pointed to a large portrait over the fire. It showed an elderly man with a belligerent face that bore a notable resemblance to Jarvis’s own, standing very upright, in the splendour of a general’s dress uniform. ‘What would your grandfather have said?’ she demanded. ‘I’ll tell you. He’d have reminded you of the Larne family motto—“Let invaders tremble”. Then he’d have shown this woman the door.’
‘But he’d have tumbled her in the hay first,’ her brother said wickedly.
‘Ferdy!’ she snapped.
‘Well, it’s true. He was a terrible man for the women. Father told me there was hardly a family in these parts that didn’t have a little Larne bast—’
‘That’s enough. You’re shocking Sarah.’ Jarvis grinned.
She took up the paper. ‘If this isn’t a journalist but a real woman she must be lacking in all sense of decency.’
‘She’s certainly not a woman I’d ever care to meet,’ Jarvis agreed.
‘You’re a puritan,’ Ferdy rebuked him.
Jarvis nodded. ‘I’m afraid you’re right. Don’t worry. I’ll save the estate, but I’ll do it on my own.’
‘How?’ Ferdy demanded.
Jarvis sighed.
A few minutes later Sarah requested a private conversation with Jarvis, who courteously left the room with her. Ferdy could heard the hum of their voices through the door. ‘So what’s this little chat about, eh, Sarah?’ he murmured. ‘Some earnest advice about nothing? Whatever excuse you’ve found, you’re wasting your time. You’ve given Jarvis a hundred chances to propose to you, and he’s taken none of them. You’re like a sister to him, I’m glad to say. It wouldn’t suit me at all to have you the mistress here.’
He surveyed his empty glass with a sigh. Then a wicked smile spread over his face. He crossed over to the desk, quickly purloined a couple of sheets of estate notepaper, and was sitting by the fire again when the other two returned.
‘Where exactly is Yorkshire?’ Meryl asked Benedict as they shared a bottle of champagne.
‘In England. That’s all I know. Why?’
She chuckled. ‘It’s where my prospective husband lives.’
‘You actually had a reply?’
‘It came this morning.’ She yawned and leaned back against the leather arm of Benedict’s huge sofa. She was lying lengthways on it while he sat sprawled at the other end.
‘No kidding!’ he said. ‘Who?’
‘Jarvis Larne. A lord, no less. He lives in Larne Castle in Yorkshire.’
Benedict took the letter from her and scanned it hilariously. ‘He’s very upfront about his poverty,’ he noted. ‘Castle falling down, cracks everywhere, whisky running out—heiress urgently required.’
‘It’s a joke. I bet he doesn’t exist at all.’
‘He does,’ Benedict said unexpectedly. ‘I’ve seen the name in a book of English peerages I bought in case I ever get any titled customers. It’s on that table.’ She gave it to him and he began flicking through the pages. ‘Here we are. Viscount Larne of Larne Castle. Hmm! Quite a pedigree.’
He began to read aloud, “‘Jarvis, Lord Larne, twenty-second viscount, age thirty-three, inherited the title when he was twenty-one.” Hey, fancy being a lord at twenty-one. All that droit de seigneur.’
‘What?’
‘The ancient feudal right of the lord to have any virgin on the estate.’
‘You made that up!’
‘No way. It’s the tradition. It goes back centuries. That’s why half the estate workers look alike. When you give him a son you won’t be able to tell him from the others.’
‘Don’t be silly. Of course I’m not going to marry him. I put that advertisement in because I was mad at Larry, but I’ve cooled down now.’
‘Goodbye ten million dollars,’ Benedict sighed.
‘Nope, I’ve sorted that,’ Meryl announced triumphantly. ‘I’m getting a bank loan. The Lomax Grierson isn’t the only bank in New York. Any one of the others will be glad of my business. I’d have done it before but it seemed so silly when I didn’t need to.’
‘Bless you. Why didn’t you tell me about this earlier?’
‘I was waiting for the call to confirm it, but that’s just a formality. When the phone rings—you’ve got it!’
Right on cue her mobile shrilled and she seized it up, giving Benedict a delighted wink. But then he saw her smile fade, replaced with a look of outrage. When she spoke it was through tight lips.
‘You