Love by Deception (Age of Innocence) Read Free

Georgette and Mr. Condiff.
    Isabel began to cry silent tears. Her
life would change and there wasn’t anything she could do about it.
    Dr. Wyndham patted her hand. “Is it bad?”
    Isabel nodded as another sob wracked her
body.

 
    ***

 
    Two
weeks later Georgette sat stone-faced while the solicitor rattled off a list of
her father’s assets. John Ingham was in his mid-thirties, with thinning hair
and a slight build, but he had a soothing voice. It made it bearable to listen
to him read her father’s last will and testament. She was surprised at the list
of assets her father had, because she’d always assumed there were no assets
left. They had barely scraped by while he was alive. It was shocking to hear
that her father had 2,000 per annum at his disposal and that tidy per annum sum
now belonged to her.
    “Do
you have any questions?” the solicitor asked.
    “No,
thank you, Mr. Ingham. You’ve been most kind. I’m surprised, that’s all. I had
no idea my father had such wealth.”
    “Yes,
I understand. There is one last item for you,” Mr. Ingham said.
    “Oh,
what is it?”
    The
solicitor passed a thick envelope to her. “Your father wanted you to have this
upon his death.”
    “Must
I read it now? I am very tired and would prefer to go home.”
    “No,
we’re done for now. I understand this is a most difficult time for you, Miss
Condiff. I’m very sorry for your loss. Contact me at your leisure if you have
any questions.”
    “Thank
you, Mr. Ingham. Good day.”
    Isabel
stepped forward and helped Georgette stand. “Shall I carry that for you?”
    Georgette
nodded and gave the envelope to her maid. “Thank you, Isabel. Now let’s go
home. I would like to lay down. I find myself quite
winded.”
    “Of
course, the carriage is waiting outside.”
    The
trip to the solicitor’s office had been a strain on Georgette’s frail health.
By the time they returned home, she wanted nothing more than to fall into bed.
    “Shall
I bring you some tea?” Isabel asked as she helped Georgette out of her day
dress and into a nightdress.
    “Thank
you. That would be lovely.”
    Isabel
pulled the comforter back and helped Georgette into bed. “You rest now. I’ll be
back shortly with the tea.”
    Georgette
nodded and watched Isabel light a fire before heading downstairs. Another round
of tears threatened to overwhelmed her. Her maid was all that she had left in
the world. Her father had never mentioned any other family. She had been a
toddler when her mother had died, but there didn’t seem to be any relatives on
that side either. It made her sad that she never got to know her mother, and
she guessed her mother’s passing was the beginning of her father’s descent into
the bottle. He had never remarried, and it made her wonder why.
    George Candiff was a handsome man in his youth, before the
drinking bloated his face and waistline and his moods turned black. He kept to
himself and she couldn’t remember him even talking about another woman he was
interested in courting. She would have liked to have had a stepmother, not only for the purely selfish reasons of wanting a brother or
sister, but for her father, too. It would have been wonderful to have someone
who would love her father and lift the sadness from his eyes.
    It
was too late now. There would be no younger siblings to love or a mother’s
wisdom to share. There was only Isabel, who had been her constant companion for
as long as she could remember. Now that she stopped to think about that, she
was full of questions. Why had her father taken in Isabel as a child? What were
the circumstances that made him do something so unconventional? Isabel had
always been in the house, and for much of her childhood had been her constant
companion. She never thought to question those circumstances until now.
    A
slight headache began to nag behind her eyes. She hoped it was from nothing
more than from the activity of today. She was not used to such a strenuous day.
Before