WHEN SEAN arrived in Queen Street on Monday at noon, he found it clogged with traffic and pedestrians. Having never seen any street in Cheapside so busy, he considered himself lucky to find a place to leave his curricle in a mews only two blocks away.
Walking back, he mentally rehearsed what he might say in the meeting. At the bottom of the three steps that led to the solicitor's office, he stopped to check the plaque mounted by the building's door to make sure he was in the right place.
88 QUEEN STREET
PEABODY & LAWLESS
ATTORNEYS-AT-LAW
Mr. Peregrine Peabody being the solicitor he was supposed to meet, he nodded to himself and started up.
Then stopped again, ignoring a steady stream of people pushing past him up the steps.
Peabody and Lawless?
Lincolnshire's solicitor?
His first thought was to slink away. A summons issued by Lincolnshire's solicitor was potentially much worse than being summoned to discuss supposedly nefarious business dealings. He knew all his business dealings were on the up-and-up, after all. No matter who accused him of what, he ought to be able to prove his innocence, even if doing so might prove a grand piece of work. When he'd told Deirdre he might be busy getting arrested today, he hadn't really meant it.
But had impersonating Lincolnshire been an actual crime?
Had he been summoned here to be arrested?
"Sean!" Coming up the steps, Deirdre looked astonished to see him. "What are you doing here?"
"I wish I knew." He gestured toward the plaque. "These are Peregrine Peabody's offices, too."
Another woman mounting the steps did a double take, then turned to face him. "Mr. Delaney, isn't it? You have quite the nerve showing up here. Hmmph," she added, pushing through the door, no doubt to spread the news that he'd arrived.
There was nothing for it. There would be no slinking away. "Come along," he muttered, taking Deirdre's arm and steeling himself to face the fire.
But instead he came face-to-face with Corinna.
AT FIRST, Corinna thought Sean was a figment of her imagination. She wasn't ever supposed to see him again, and he especially didn't belong here. But then their gazes met and held, convincing her he was real, and something disturbing shuddered through her.
A mixture of love and anguish and regret.
Seeing him made her happy and sad and excited and apprehensive, all in a single instant. Her hand went up to touch the necklace he'd given her, but it wasn't there, of course. She could wear it only in her room at night, where no one would see it and ask questions.
She started toward him.
"You need to come inside now, Corinna." Griffin appeared, giving her no choice as he took her arm and began weaving her through the crowded corridor. "Mr. Lawless is about to begin, and you've been commanded to sit in the front."
She looked back, but Sean was already lost in the crowd. She could only hope he was following.
When Griffin had told her that everyone they knew had been asked to attend the reading, she'd figured he'd been exaggerating. She'd had no concept of just how many people would show up. They crammed the large chamber where the reading was to be held and spilled out into the corridor, filling the building all the way back to the front door. With all the bodies in the way, she and Griffin barely managed to squeeze into the room.
Mr. Lawless was a very tall, very serious-looking man. Over a sea of chattering heads, Corinna could see him from where she was stuck in the back. "Ladies and gentlemen," he called. "I beg your attention! Will the following individuals please make their way to the front row. John Hamilton, the ninth Earl of Lincolnshire. His wife, Deirdre, the ninth Countess of Lincolnshire. Lady Corinna Chase. And Mr. Sean Delaney."
The crowd suddenly parted like the Red Sea, letting Corinna through. Griffin followed and went to stand at the left end of the front row, against the wall. Corinna noticed that the rest of her family already waited there. Four chairs at the front sat empty save for small signs set upon them that said RESERVED. Corinna dropped gratefully onto one of them, and a moment later the new Lord Lincolnshire lowered himself to the chair on her left, and Sean took the seat to her right.
Deirdre sat beside Sean rather than her husband.
"Why were you asked here?" Corinna whispered to Sean.
He looked pale. "I wish I knew. I assumed—"
"Ladies and gentlemen," the solicitor interrupted. "Although the eighth Lord Lincolnshire requested your presence, I feel compelled to inform you at the outset that you did not all receive bequests. Alas, while he was well-known for his generosity, Lord Lincolnshire's largesse did not extend quite that far." He paused while an amused titter ran through the room. "Rather, Lord Lincolnshire asked you here to stand as witnesses to his final wishes."
Now a speculative murmur circulated the room instead. Mr. Lawless waited for that to die down before continuing.
"Let us begin." A suspenseful hush fell as he raised a large document. "'I, Samuel Hamilton, eighth Earl of Lincolnshire, being of sound mind and failing body, declare that this is my last will and testament. I revoke all prior wills and codicils. I wish to thank everyone who has assembled to bear witness to my wishes. I have instructed Mr. Lawrence Lawless not to schedule the reading of this will until my nephew, John Hamilton, has arrived in London and presented himself as my heir, which I hope will prove to be sooner rather than later. I assume that doubtless scandalous event has by now taken place.'"
Shocked whispers buzzed around the room, accompanied by a few more titters. Corinna and Sean exchanged wary glances.
"'I imagine it came as a surprise that an impostor has been posing as my nephew. It certainly came as a surprise to me. What may come as a larger surprise indeed is that I also discovered my true nephew, John Hamilton, was responsible for the deceit. He demanded another man impersonate him and made certain said man did so by means of blackmail.'"
Gasps filled the room, and John Hamilton jumped from his seat. "I object to that slander!"
Griffin stepped forward. "This isn't a trial. You have no right to object to anything." He shoved the man back down. "Stay, Lincolnshire," he ordered as though the new Lord Lincolnshire were a misbehaving dog.
Which he was, of a sort.
Mr. Lawless cleared his throat and continued. "'Needless to say, I was disappointed to learn my nephew is as immoral as the reputation that precedes him. For him I wish all the censure he deserves. Contrarily, I wish everyone to know that his impostor, whom I am now identifying as Mr. Sean Delaney, proved one of the best men I've ever had the privilege to meet. He treated me better than an uncle—indeed, better than a father—and were I to be granted one impossible wish, it would be to have had such a man for my son.'"
Corinna's heart had stuttered when Sean's name was read off, and it was racing now. An expectant silence filled the room as Mr. Lawless lowered the document and looked around as though making sure everyone had heard his words. He nodded slowly before raising the will once more.
"'And so, my dear friends, I have summoned you to this event in order to beseech you to treat Mr. Delaney as I believe he deserves to be treated. Rather than persecuting the man, I beg you to accept him into our circle. I will remind you that you've all claimed numerous times that you'd do anything for me, and this is my most fervent request.'"
The solicitor glanced up again, this time looking directly at Corinna and Sean.
"'In addition…'"
At the significant pause, everyone sat up straighter.
"'In addition, although I will not put any conditions in this will stipulating the matter, as I believe such decisions are best left to those whose hearts are involved, I wish to publicly convey my hopes that Mr. Delaney will propose marriage to Lady Corinna Chase.'"
If Corinna thought everyone's gasps were loud before, the ones they emitted now sounded like nothing less than a roar. And the loudest gasps of all came from her family. Meeting Griffin's eyes first and then those of her sisters, she reached for Sean's hand.
"And now, for the bequests…"
She hardly heard what came next, at least not at first. She felt faint. Her blood was thundering in her ears. Sean's hand felt warm in hers, and when she squeezed it and he squeezed back, she feared her heart might burst.
She glanced back to her family. Griffin's mouth was open in shock, Alexandra nodded approvingly, and Juliana's grin was smug beyond belief.
The last, at least, was no surprise.
And the reading wasn't yet finished.
"'… only my title as required by law and the small amount of entailed property that goes along with it,'" Mr. Lawless was saying. Given the indignant huff to Corinna's left, she guessed that was the new Lord Lincolnshire's punishment. "'The balance of my fortune will be held in trust, the income to go to charity. I name Mr. Sean Delaney as trustee to oversee all investments and distribution, because I know him to be a man who has no need for the income himself, a man with an excellent head for business, and most important, a man who is eminently fair and makes decisions for the right reasons.'" The solicitor paused for effect. "'Unless…'"
Skirts rustled and shoes shuffled. Everyone sat on the edge of their seats.
"'Unless,'" he repeated, "'my errant nephew, John Hamilton, grants Deirdre Hamilton a divorce, in which case he shall receive half the income of the trust in perpetuity.'"
John Hamilton stalked out of the room as Deirdre collapsed in a swoon.