Виктория Холт - Lord of the Far Island

And so in the offices of Merry, Fair and Dunn, I learned that I was indeed the heiress to a considerable fortune which I should inherit when I was twenty-one and until that day this was held in trust, and that Jago Kellaway had the power to manage the Island estate and that my father had strongly advised me to allow him to continue to do so.

There was something else. It was true that in the event of my death without heirs, Silva Kellaway was to inherit the Island.

Since she was undoubtedly dead, it was explained to me Jago Kellaway was the next in the line of succession to the Island crown.

This last piece of news had set the alarm bells ringing in my mind since I had first heard it; but I didn't want to listen to what they were trying to tell me.

More than anything I was eager to confront Jago. I must know what he had to say when he heard what I had discovered and what excuses he would make for not enlightening me.

I was still bewildered and it seemed strange that the thought which was uppermost in my mind was not that I was going to be very rich but that Jago had kept me in the dark, and most insistent of all was the thought that if I were not there and since Silva was presumed to be dead it would all belong to him.

It was frustrating that he was not in the castle when I returned. Jenifry told me, when I asked if he were there, that he would not be back until dinnertime.

Impatiently I went to my room. I washed and changed, but it was too early to go down. I sat down and nervously leafed through the sketchbook. Inevitably I came to the picture of Jago.

I kept thinking of that moment when I had discovered the hole in the boat through which the water had slowly seeped. He had given me the Ellen. "You should have a boat of your own," he had said, when he had taken me down to the shore and proudly shown me the jaunty little craft with my name painted on her side. How delighted I had been—not only with the boat but because he had given it to me. Why was I thinking of all that now?

I could hear the cool voice of Mr. Dunn. "Should you die without heirs the estate would go to Jago Kellaway."

There were long shadows in the room. An air of menace had crept in. But perhaps it had always been there.

At last it was time to go down to dinner and my heart beat uncertainly because he was there.

"Have you had a good day, Ellen?" he asked.

"Very interesting, thank you."

Gwennol was watching me closely, her eyes cold and hard. She was wondering whether I had been with Michael.

"I went to the mainland," I said.

"What? Deserting our Island again!"

Our Island, Jago, I thought. You mean my Island. At least it will be...or should be... in a few months' time.

I wished we were alone. I could scarcely wait to speak to him. How long the meal seemed, how difficult it was to make conversation with my mind running on one theme.

As soon as it was over I said: "Jago, I want to talk to you."

Lights of speculation leaped up in his eyes. Was he thinking that I had come to a decision? And being the man he was, who could not imagine he could ever be defeated, he would be thinking that I could no longer deny the fact that I wanted to marry him.

I faced him in the parlor.

"Today," I said bluntly, "I have made the most extraordinary discovery. It was a shock to realize that I am heiress to great riches."

He did not seem in the least embarrassed. "You were certain to discover it sooner or later," he said easily.

"Why was I not told?"

"Because you would know all in good time."

"I had a right to know."

"It was better that you shouldn't."

"Whose idea was that?"

"Mine of course."

"I feel...cheated."

"My dear Ellen, what a strange thing to say. No one shall cheat you while I'm around to protect you."

"You told me that my father had made you my guardian until I am twenty-one."

"That's true."

"But you didn't say what would happen to me when I became twenty-one."

"That was to be a pleasant surprise."

"I don't like it, Jago."

"You don't like the idea of inheriting the Island?"

"I don't like being kept in the dark. Will you please tell me what all this is about."

"I thought you had discovered that. Tell me who was your informant."

"I have been to see my father's secretary, Mr. Fenwick, and he gave me the address of Merry, Fair and Dunn. Mr. Dunn explained to me the terms of my father's will."

"Well, then you know everything. How did you find Fenwick?"

"Michael Hydrock found him for me."

"Oh? Is he interested in your inheritance?"

"What do you mean?"

"I meant that he goes to a great deal of trouble to do what you ask."

"It was a friendly gesture. You aren't suggesting that he is interested in my inheritance, are you? He is very rich, I should imagine. He would not want what I am likely to get."

"Don't be too sure. Often those who appear to be rich are in urgent need of money. The richer one is, the more disastrously one can accumulate debts."

I thought: He is sidetracking me. Attacking when he should be on the defensive, which of course is what I would expect of him.

"You knew all this when you came to London," I accused.

"Ellen, let us not be melodramatic. It is not very long since your father died. All the formalities concerning his estate have not yet been resolved. I was appointed your guardian. That was why I took matters in my own hands. I wanted to see you and inspect the man you were proposing to marry. His death made it possible for me to ask you here. I wanted you to see the Island, to get to know it, to love it before you knew it would one day be yours."

"Why?"

"Because, my dear Ellen, if you had heard that you were to inherit a remote island which could, if sold, represent a great deal of money, what would you have done?"

"I should have come to see it, of course."

"And very likely have sold it at once. Some unknown person might have bought Kellaway Island. That was something I dared not risk. I wanted you to come here, to see it for yourself, to grow to love it while you remained in ignorance of your father's will."

"And you thought I would marry you before I knew that the Island was mine."

"That has nothing to do with our marriage except that it will be convenient for you to have me here to look after it and work with you to make it an even more desirable spot than it is now."

I looked full into those heavy-lidded eyes; they held secrets, I knew. And I felt wretched because I could not trust him and it was becoming more and more clear to me that whatever he had done, my life would be dull and meaningless without him.

"Oh Jago," I began, and he came swiftly to me and put his arms about me, holding me so tightly that I thought he would break my bones.

His lips were on my hair. "Don't fret about it," he said. "I'll look after you, Ellen. You've nothing to fear with me beside you."

I broke away from him. "It's all so unnecessary," I said angrily. "Why did you have to make it so mysterious? Why did you come to London without saying who you were and then come to that house in Finlay Square... why?"

"I wanted to see you ... to get to know you... before you knew who I was."

"I can't see the reason for it," I insisted.

"I wanted to know about this family you were marrying into, and what would have happened if I had presented myself to you? You would have introduced me to them, would you not? I did not want them to know that I was around, because, Ellen, I was making inquiries about them."

"About the Carringtons? They are a well-known family not only in England but internationally."

"Exactly. Then why should they be so happy about their son's marriage with a girl who was, as far as it seemed, penniless?"