Ellis Peters - George Felse 12 - City Of Gold and Shadows Read Free

with equal suddenness, burned clear in opposition, and Charlotte had a vision of two principles in headlong collision, and chose to ally herself with her own kinsman, by intuition and once for all. ‘If we do not see him again—for we must take that possibility into account—you are his next of kin and his sole heiress. That is why I need to consult with you over anything I do, from now on, in his name.’
     
    Charlotte had never in her life felt obliged to examine her relationships with anyone. Her mother, once rid of the armour-plated respectability of Maître Henri and his phalanx of parents, brothers and sisters, all devoted to the law, had married a happy-go-lucky literary exile from Leeds, as nearly as possible his opposite, and the half-English, half-French child had been absorbed into their slapdash household with the greatest enthusiasm and affection, and never given time to doubt or worry, surrounded as she was by joyous evidence of her own importance and value. There had never been too much money, but never less than enough. She had no vision of money as an independent power, or a formidable opponent. It was there to be used, insofar as you had it; and when you were short, you worked a little harder, and made good the deficiency. And foreseeing that necessity, you made sure that you knew something which could earn you money at need. It was as simple as that. She did not even know what it meant to adapt oneself to another person’s requirements for the sake of self-interest. All she had, to enable her to visualise Mr Stanforth’s view of her position, was a vivid imagination and a very acute intelligence. They helped her to understand him, and even, regretfully, to sympathise with him.
    ‘If you’re asking me,’ she said carefully,‘ to come into consultation and share responsibility for whatever decisions we have to make about Great-Uncle Alan’s affairs, of course I will, though I don’t claim to know anything about business and I probably shan’t be much help to you. I can’t even claim to know what he would want done, because I know almost nothing about him. But I don’t at all mind saying what I think
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should want done in the circumstances. I don’t think, for instance, that I should want my death assumed and my property disposed of too soon, so we won’t go into that part of the affair just now, if you don’t mind. He’ll probably live to be a hundred, and make a will leaving whatever he’s got to his old college, and I shan’t mind at all. But I quite see that you need someone to come in on a practical issue like what to do about his tenants. I think you should extend the tenancy for another full year, if that’s what they would like. It would ensure the house being taken care of, and the staff maintained, since you say they’re good tenants. And even if Uncle Alan turns up within a month or two, he can hardly complain. It’s his own fault. And the inconvenience will be only slight, he can always take up residence at his college again until their time’s up.’
    She made it sound very simple, as young people do; and she hadn’t yet considered the implications for herself, Mr Stanforth reflected cynically, or she would not so blithely dismiss the matter of the inheritance. It was not a fortune, but it was a respectable competence, thanks to royalties, which would continue for years yet, whether the doctor reappeared or remained in limbo. ‘I’m gratified,’ said Mr Stanforth, with only the mildest irony,‘ that your judgement agrees with mine. That is indeed what I had intended suggesting to you, and it disposes of the immediate problem.’
    ‘If you want me to keep in touch, and be available for consultation, of course I will.’
    ‘Thank you, that will ease my position considerably. And as you say, all we can do is wait, and continue to expect Doctor Morris to turn up in his own good time. May I ask what your own plans are? Do you intend to stay some time in