“That’s your uncle’s name, isn’t it?” I said, choking back the imbecilic urge to add, The crazy one.
Lucy hesitated, as though thrown off balance, then nodded. “There are many Willistons on our family tree, but Sir Williston was the first. He was a devoted and dutiful young man. When Julia Louise acquired this building, he promised her that it would remain in the family for as long as the family existed. As you can see, he kept his promise. We’ve been here for nearly three hundred years.”
I gazed in awe at Julia Louise’s portrait and wondered if I’d ever have any sons to inspire. “What about her other boys?”
“She had only one other child,” Lucy replied. “Lord William, Sir Williston’s twin. He was a sore disappointment to her, I’m afraid. He drank, gambled, took up with unsuitable women. In the end, she was forced to ship him off to the colonies.”
I blinked. “You mean ... he founded the American branch of the family?” Despite my respect for Willis, Sr., I nearly whooped with laughter. Lord William, whose name had been passed down through seven generations of American Willises, whose portrait was treated like a religious icon back in Boston, had been nothing more than a wastrel packed off to the colonies by a mother who would no longer tolerate his shameful behavior. The staid and respectable Willis family in Boston had been founded by an Evil Twin. I couldn’t wait to break the news to Honoria and Charlotte. “Is that why the two branches have been incommunicado for so long?” I asked, fascinated. “Because Lord William was banished?”
“That’s part of it,” Lucy informed me. “Lord William made some terrible accusations against his mother and his brother. He claimed that this building and everything in it belonged to him, and that—”
“Lucy?” Nell piped up. “You said that Sir Williston was the elder‘son. If the boys were twins, then how ... ?”
“Sir Williston preceded his brother into the world by seven minutes,” Lucy explained, “and thanks to Julia Louise, we can prove it. We have the sworn testimony of the midwife and two other attendants. Julia Louise wanted there to be no doubt about who was first in line to inherit.”
“Just think,” I said, looking around the room, “if Lord William had been born seven minutes sooner, all of this would have been ours.”
“Alas ...” Lucy turned at the sound of the hall door opening. “Ah, thank you, George.”
Tea had arrived. I watched attentively as George wheeled the trolley to where Lucy was sitting, and was relieved to observe plates of petits fours and crustless sandwiches between the silver tea service and the Wedgwood cups. The burst of energy provided by my sugary breakfast had begun to wane.
“I don’t understand why there should be any question about who owns this building,” I said after George had left the room. “There must be a deed somewhere.”
Lucy reached for the teapot. “There is. Unfortunately, it’s with some other research material I sent to my mother just last week. My mother ...” Lucy’s hand trembled, and a splash of steaming tea landed on the tablecloth. “My mother has retired to our farm up in Yorkshire,” she finished in a rush. “She’s writing Julia Louise’s biography.”
I accepted the cup Lucy passed to me and asked, “Do you think William might have gone to see her?”
Lucy put the teapot down, looking thoroughly exasperated with herself. “Of course he has. Why didn’t I think of that sooner? I don’t know where my mind is these days.”
I was about to tell her that she was in no way responsible for keeping tabs on my peripatetic father-in-law, but there was a subdued knock at the door, and I turned to see Arthur enter, with his hands in his trouser pockets and an injured expression on his face.
“Lucy,” he said gruffly. “Sorry to break in, but d‘you think you could have a word with Lady Rutherford?”
Lucy’s eyes clouded with dismay. “Oh, Arthur, what have you done now?”
“Gave her our condolences,” Arthur replied belliger ently. “How was I to know she loathed her old goat of a husband? Thought wives loved their husbands once they had ‘em in the ground.”
“They usually do, Arthur, but not in this case. I thought I told you ...” Lucy sighed. “Never mind, dear. You stay here and entertain our guests while I soothe Lady Rutherford’s ruffled feathers.” Lucy quickly introduced us to her cousin and left the room.
Arthur remained where he was, standing just inside the door, glancing shyly at us while he ran a hand back and forth through his hair.
“Arthur ... ?” Nell called softly. “Won’t you join us? I’ve brought something rather special for tea.”
“Eh?” said Arthur, his interest aroused. “What’s that?”
Nell took Gerald’s tin out of her shoulder bag. “Come and see.”
15.