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.But Geraint had taken the news that she had worked as a housekeeper to the family of an employee of their father’s so badly she doubted he’d ever respect her again.‘If you don’t mind, I will help myself to a brandy, Mrs Bull.Can I get you one?’ Mr Richards picked up one of the decanters set on a silver tray on a tripod table.‘No, thank you, Mr Richards, but I will have a small sherry, please, so we can toast Aunt Edyth and Mansel’s memory.’‘I had no idea Mrs James and Mansel knew so many people.’ He poured and handed her a glass of sherry.‘Given the crowds outside the chapel and graveyard, I think every customer of Gwilym James must have come to pay their respects.’‘I am sure that you are right.’ He pulled up a chair and sat opposite her, as Harry climbed back on to her lap.‘You two are very close.’‘We are.’ She kissed the top of Harry’s head.‘I try to spend as much time with him as I can.’‘To Mrs James and Mr Mansel James.’ He touched his glass to hers.‘May they rest in eternal peace.’‘To Aunt Edyth and Mansel.’ She sipped her sherry.‘Did Mrs James ever discuss her will with you?’‘In a letter to me once.I didn’t really take it in.’‘She knew exactly how she wanted to dispose of her estate; the difficulty was in accomplishing it because of the age of her heir.But within certain well-defined parameters, she has managed to leave the bulk of her estate to Mansel’s son.’ He looked down at Harry who was engrossed in his book.‘But Harry is illegitimate.and Mansel.there are.’ She faltered.‘I know he fathered other children,’ she revealed abruptly.‘Harry is the only one named in Edyth James’s will.’ He pulled an envelope from his pocket.‘If you are going to read the will, Mr Richards, shouldn’t the other beneficiaries be present?’‘The only other beneficiaries are the servants and, apart from a bequest to Jenkins of five hundred pounds, they will receive relatively minor legacies.I have asked them to assemble in the hall after the mourners have left so I can give them the details.’ He opened the envelope and removed the papers it contained.‘I could read this to you or I could explain it.It is a little complicated.’‘I’d prefer it if you explained it to me.’‘Mrs James left her personal jewellery to you for your use in your lifetime, but she stipulated that you cannot sell it, and on your death it is to be passed on to Harry.Everything else she owned, this house, Gwilym James department store, the shares in the Market Company, her other investments and money have been left to Harry and he will come into his inheritance on his thirtieth birthday.Until that time, the businesses and investments will be controlled by a board of twelve trustees, made up of the three senior members of staff at Gwilym James, the two senior directors of the Market Company, two partners from my firm of solicitors, three directors from the Capital and Counties Bank, yourself and Jenkins.’‘Me?’‘And Jenkins,’ he added.‘Mrs James settled on twelve trustees because, frankly, she was appalled by the way your uncle commandeered your father’s estate.And she didn’t even live to see the fraud Morgan Davies perpetuated,’ he added bitterly.‘You really cannot blame yourself for what Uncle Morgan did, Mr Richards.’‘I can and I do, but to return to the matter in hand,’ he steered the conversation firmly back on course, ‘the board is to meet once a month, reasonable expenses to attend the meeting to be drawn from the trust fund, all business and policy decisions to be carried by a majority vote.This house and all its contents belongs to your son, but you can both live in it until he reaches the age of thirty, as can your brother, sisters and mother.I believe Mrs James foresaw a time when you might be called upon to act as the guardian to your family that I should have been.Please,’ he protested as she attempted to speak, ‘do not attempt to lessen my culpability by making excuses for my deficiencies.However, Mrs James inserted a clause in her will stating that neither Owen Bull nor Morgan Davies can spend a night beneath this roof.’‘Effectively preventing them from stealing Harry’s inheritance as they did mine,’ Sali murmured thoughtfully.‘Precisely,’ he confirmed.‘But the validity of these exclusions are open to question.If, for example, you had wanted to move into this house with Owen Bull –’‘That would have been the last thing I’d want to do!’‘Nonetheless, if you look upon it as a hypothetical case, you could, in theory, appeal to the board of trustees, who have the legal right to overturn Mrs James’s instructions if they feel the situation warrants it.’‘Please, don’t concern yourself, Mr Richards.I have no intention of appealing to the board of trustees to challenge any of Aunt Edyth’s wishes.’‘The household expenses, staff wages, the cost of Harry’s education, and your and Harry’s personal accounts at Gwilym James will be met from another account, which is also controlled by the trustees.My only concern, which I voiced to Mrs James, is that the board might tend to be a little conservative in the investments they choose to make on your son’s behalf and in effecting policy changes in the store.But when I consider what Morgan Davies did with your father’s estate, that might be no bad thing.’‘No, it might not.’ She wrapped her arms around Harry and held him very close.‘Your son will be a very wealthy young man, Mrs Bull [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]