The Importance of Being Married Read Online Free PDF Page B

demanded.
    Mr. Taylor smiled. “I’m glad you see it her way,” he said. “Grace always prided herself on being a good judge of character. Still, I will leave these papers with you, if I may, and perhaps you would like to visit me in my office to discuss the transfer of assets—say, next week?”
    I nodded, my mind still racing.
    “Why was she at Sunnymead?” I asked. “I mean, if she was rich—couldn’t she have had a team of doctors and nurses at her estate or something?”
    The lawyer looked thoughtful for a moment. “She was lonely,” he said, eventually. “Grace always liked to be around people. And after her husband died, she wanted to leave the estate. She said that the house felt too empty, felt too full of memories.”
    “And she really left it all to me?”
    “She said that you were like the daughter she never had. Or the granddaughter. I know that it was very important to her that you inherit the house, in particular. She said that otherwise it would go to the government and get demolished by developers. Or turned into an ugly conference center.”
    He was smiling again, wryly this time, and I smiled back. That was exactly the sort of thing Grace would say.
    “As I was saying,” Mr. Taylor continued, “you’ll want to come to my office, I should think, to sort out the paperwork. I can go through the details of the estate and financial arrangements then.”
    “Paperwork,” I said, nodding vaguely.
    “Nothing too onerous. Just need your proof of identity, signatures, that sort of thing,” he said, smiling. “There is one rather strange but significant clause to the will, which is that the inheritance must be claimed within fifty days or it will be forfeit.”
    I frowned. “Forfeit?”
    Mr. Taylor nodded. “It’s a Hampton peculiarity—all the family wills have the same clause. It was introduced to avoid family wrangles—if anyone disputes a will beyond the fifty-day limit, the entire inheritance is lost. It’s rather an effective mechanism, actually.”
    “Fifty days.” I nodded again; words were suddenly a bit of a struggle. “That sounds…okay.”
    “It’s rather a lot to take in, isn’t it?” Mr. Taylor said kindly, and I kind of nodded and gulped both together, and shot him a smile so he wouldn’t think I was rude.
    “I can’t quite believe it,” I heard myself saying. It was like an out-of-body experience.
    “Well, you should. Mrs. Milton, you are going to be a very wealthy woman.”
    Mr. Taylor stood up then and held out his hand. “I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for your time. I’ll be in touch shortly about the funeral—it will be in London. Kensington. Sometime next week. Perhaps you’d like to bring your husband.”
    “My husband?” I looked at him strangely, then remembered. “Oh, yes, my husband, of course. Well, yes. I mean, if he’s free. He’s very busy, you see.”
    Mr. Taylor nodded, and I shook his hand, using all my strength to keep calm, to not yelp, to act like inheriting four million pounds was no big deal at all. Inside, I was screaming, though, screaming and dancing and shaking my head in utter bewilderment. I was going to be rich. Rich beyond my wildest dreams. I couldn’t believe Grace had never said anything, never even given me a clue.
    And then, suddenly I thought of something. Something that made my stomach turn upside down rather violently.
    “Um, so, the will,” I said, trying to keep my voice casual. “Grace left everything to Jessica Milton, did she? I mean, you know, to me. In my married name?”
    “The papers cite a Mrs. Jessica Milton, that’s right.”
    I nodded, managing somehow to keep a fixed smile on my face, and suddenly needing desperately to sit down again. “It’s just that…” I paused, my mind racing. “Well, I didn’t actually change my name. So, I’m still Jessica Wild. Officially, at least. Is that…is that okay?”
    “That’s perfectly all right,” Mr. Taylor said, and I felt relief