The Importance of Being Married Read Online Free PDF

one would ever find you. When I’d lived with Grandma in her small terraced house in Ipswich, I used to imagine that my mother hadn’t really died; that she was still alive somewhere, living in a crumbling house like the one in the photograph (only about a quarter of the size), and that one day she’d come and find me and take me home. Not that she ever did. And I knew it was just a dream, not real. But this house in the photograph was completely real. And it was mine?
    “It’s…very big,” I said tentatively.
    “Yes, I suppose it is,” Mr. Taylor said, nodding. “Now, I’ve got all the information here, along with details on the furniture. It’s all staying with the house, so you can go through it at your leisure, along with Lady Hampton’s personal effects.”
    “Lady…Lady Hampton?” My voice had become a squeak.
    “So you didn’t know?”
    I shook my head. Maybe I hadn’t known her as well as I’d thought.
    “Then you had no idea that her will in total amounts to in the region of four million pounds?”
    “Four million?” I couldn’t see properly. I felt like the world was closing in on me.
    Mr. Taylor started to open his briefcase, but I held up my hand. “I’m sorry,” I said, my voice now several octaves above its usual register. “Can we just rewind slightly. I thought you were talking about Grace having left me a few books or something. I didn’t know…I mean, an estate? I…And she was a lady? She never said. And I don’t want her money. That’s not…I mean…”
    “Grace considered it very important that someone she trusted take over the estate,” the lawyer said, gently. “Someone who would nurture it, perhaps have a family there. Someone whom she could trust with her possessions, too,” he said. “Grace was a very…private lady. I know that when she met you, a great weight was lifted from her shoulders, because she knew that you would be a good and trustworthy heir. That by leaving her estate to you, she would protect it. I know that this knowledge made her very happy. Very happy indeed.”
    “But…but…” I said redundantly. “Isn’t there someone else? Family? Someone other than me?”
    The lawyer nodded. “Lady Hampton did have a son. Does have a son. But they are estranged. She…disinherited him many years ago. He left home when he was eighteen.”
    My eyes widened. “She had a son? She never mentioned a son.”
    “She didn’t consider herself to still have a son,” Mr. Taylor said, the flicker of a frown crossing his face. “They…father and son argued, as I understand it. He left home when he was eighteen. I believe they haven’t been in touch since.”
    “But won’t he want the money? The house?”
    Mr. Taylor shook his head. “I understand that he’s gone abroad. I assure you, he has no claim on the will.” He was looking just to the right of me, as though he couldn’t quite look me in the eyes.
    “Right,” I nodded, my mind spinning. Grace had never mentioned a son. Then again, she’d never mentioned the four million pounds, either. Or the house.
    “Mrs. Milton, you are going to be a very rich woman,” the lawyer said. “And with wealth comes responsibility. It’s a lot to take in, so I suggest you take this folder, perhaps discuss it with your husband, and try to give some thought to what you’d like to do.”
    “To do?” I asked hoarsely. I was having trouble assimilating the information being given to me. I was going to be rich. Seriously rich. Which meant no more debts. No more anxiously checking my bank balance at the end of each month as I teetered precariously toward my overdraft limit. I’d never expected to be rich. Never hoped for it. And I couldn’t believe Grace really wanted to leave it all to me.
    “Whether you wish to move in to the estate, or…or dispose of it.”
    “Sell it?” I asked incredulously.
    The lawyer shrugged.
    “Sell the estate that Grace left to me specifically so that I could look after it?” I