Riches to Rags Read online

  The man who greeted her was not as stern as she’d imagined he would be. He had very kind pale blue eyes, and when he smiled she felt a little better. He looked genuinely pleased to see her.

  ‘Ah, Miss Winford. I’m so pleased to meet you at last. Your father spoke of you all the time.’

  ‘You knew him?’ His accent sounded just like her father’s and a lump lodged in her throat. ‘Did you see him after the crash? Was he so unhappy?’

  ‘The only thing that made him unhappy was the fact that he couldn’t see you more often. Please sit down. He was a dear friend, and I was his lawyer for many years.’ Dwight Roberts had papers spread across a desk. ‘Before we start, your father’s second wife asked me to give you this letter from her. She has also enclosed photographs of her two sons – your half-brothers.’

  She took the envelope, her hand trembling, and stuffed it into the pocket of her dress. What was he talking about? How could her father have felt anything other than despair? Nothing less than that would have made him take his own life. And why was the lawyer talking about another family? Half-brothers? ‘His second wife?’

  Dwight frowned. ‘I thought you knew. He divorced your mother seven years ago.’

  Jenny felt as if a tram had hit her as she stared at the lawyer in horror. ‘I was never told.’ She sat up straight; whatever the rest of the news was, it couldn’t be worse than this! ‘You said my father divorced my mother. On what grounds?’

  ‘Infidelity.’

  Her laugh was harsh. ‘You must be joking.’

  The lawyer shook his head. ‘These are the papers. See for yourself.’

  What she saw on that legal document was almost too much for her, and she began to shake in reaction. It was true! Her mother had committed adultery with a man she had never heard of. ‘Why didn’t my mother marry this man after the divorce?’

  ‘I believe he was already married and managed to patch up his marriage after the scandal.’

  ‘He must have been very rich for my mother to have taken such a chance.’ She grimaced in disgust, lifting her head defiantly, drawing on every ounce of courage she could find to face these revelations. ‘It seems my family have kept a great deal from me, Mr Roberts. You had better tell me the whole story.’

  ‘Your father believed you had been told on your sixteenth birthday, but I can see that isn’t so.’ He leant back in the chair. ‘Well, after the divorce your father married again in New York. She’s a charming woman who gave him two sons. They were very happy together, and she understood the love your father had for you. He tried to get custody of you so he could take you to America to be a part of his new family, but your mother refused. To avoid a nasty court battle that would have hurt you, he gave way. It nearly broke his heart to leave you. He came here two or three times a year to spend time with you.’

  The shock was receding, and Jenny could feel rage bubbling up inside her. She had known that her mother was selfish, but this was unbelievable! Gathering her thoughts with great effort, she said, ‘I’m pleased my father was happy with his new family, but it makes it even more puzzling that he should have killed himself.’

  Dwight Roberts was on his feet so suddenly that the chair he’d been sitting in went flying. ‘Who told you that?’

  Jenny was shocked by his reaction. ‘My aunt, Gertrude Osborne.’

  ‘What the hell is that woman up to?’ Dwight raged.

  Matt came over, poured the agitated lawyer a brandy, righted his chair and made him sit down again.

  He downed the drink in one gulp. ‘I’m so sorry, Miss Winford, you’ve been told a pack of lies!’

  She half stood up and then collapsed back. ‘Lies? What do you mean? Oh, God, please tell me what’s going on!’

  ‘Your father did lose nearly everything in the crash, but he was a good businessman and would have bounced back, in time. Only he wasn’t given time.’ Dwight looked sad. ‘He was shot by a crazed man who had lost everything and blamed your father.’

  ‘He was murdered?’ The words came out in an anguished whisper. How could her aunt have told her he had committed suicide when he hadn’t? It was unbelievable.

  ‘Yes. After killing your father, the man turned the gun on himself.’

  She was going to be sick! Her darling father hadn’t killed himself; he had been cruelly murdered. She touched the pendant round her neck. Thank heavens she’d never sold that. It was the only reminder of him she had left – apart from the memories, of course. But it was all too much! She turned round, seeking support. ‘Matthew!’

  He came over immediately, sat beside her and placed his hand over her tightly clenched fist. She uncurled her fingers, holding on, trying to draw some of his strength into her shocked body.

  ‘Soon after your father’s death,’ Dwight continued, ‘I contacted your mother with the full story. I received a reply from Mrs Osborne, saying that she would be handling your affairs.’

  ‘But why lie? And why try to make me marry Greaves?’ Jenny wanted the whole story now. For two years she had believed her father had chosen death rather than face poverty, and deep down she had harboured the belief that that was a coward’s way out. And that was something she had found impossible to believe about her father.

  ‘Money!’ Dwight ground out.

  ‘But I haven’t any.’ She indicated her worn dress. ‘As you can see.’

  ‘That isn’t true. Your father made substantial provisions for his children in case anything happened to him. There are insurance policies in your names, and these are unaffected by his losses. I was also able to save the house in America for his wife, but everything else had to go, including the London house. The sum of $25,000 was to come to you at the age of eighteen, or if he died before you reached that age. It was to be controlled by a parent or guardian until you were eighteen. And –’

  ‘They knew!’ Jenny was on her feet immediately, not giving him a chance to say anything else. She was incandescent with rage. ‘They knew!’

  She spun on her heel and charged for the door, only to be stopped by Matthew, who caught her arm. ‘Where are you going?’

  ‘Going?’ She glared at him in disbelief. ‘I’m going to face those callous, manipulative, selfish bastards. That’s where I’m going!’

  Dwight Roberts was on the other side of her, holding her other arm, and she tried to shake herself free. ‘Let go of me!’

  ‘You’re not going anywhere on your own,’ Matthew threatened.

  ‘Come if you want, but you’re not going to stop me.’ Freeing herself, she shot out of the room and hurtled down the stairs, with Matthew and Dwight charging after her.

  ‘Jenny, stop!’ Louise called, but the girl ignored her plea with an expression on her face akin to murder.

  Matt grabbed Jenny’s coat and brushed aside the rest of his family, who had gathered in the hall, wanting to know what was going on. Dwight, for all his extra years, was fitter than Matthew and was right on Jenny’s heels.

  Jenny was aware of the commotion she was causing, but she had only one thought in her mind: to tell her family what she thought of them. A car drew up beside her and the passenger door was thrown open.

  ‘Get in,’ Matthew demanded.

  Dwight pushed her into the car, slammed the door and clambered in the back. ‘We’re coming with you, whether you like it or not.’

  She cast a mutinous glare at the men, and then folded her arms, shivering slightly.

  ‘Your coat is in the back. Give it to her, Dwight.’

  Once Jenny had struggled into her coat, Matthew turned in his seat to face her.

  ‘’Now, tell me where you’re going.’

  ‘Russell Square, and I’ll direct you from there.’

  Matthew put the car in gear and headed for Bloomsbury.

  32

  Never in her life had Jenny been so angry. She wanted answers only her family could give her. Her face was contorted with disgust. Family? She was going to finish this business once and for all, and the only way
to do that was to confront each of them in turn. They weren’t going to get away with this. Oh, no! Her hands clenched into tight fists. They would be dealing with a very different girl from the one they had tried to swindle.

  The fact that she now had some money of her own didn’t interest her. What was making the red mist rise before her eyes was the way they had lied about her father. She beat her fists on her knees. How could they do that? How could they be so cruel?

  ‘Where to now?’

  Matthew’s voice penetrated her seething mind, and she managed to spit out the directions to her aunt’s house. She would go there first.

  As soon as they were parked, she opened the car door, got out, ran up the steps and banged on the front door with all her might.

  The door opened almost at once, and she pushed the butler aside. He caught her arm and she tried to rush past him.

  ‘Let her go!’ she heard Dwight drawl in his lovely American accent, so reminiscent of her father’s.

  ‘Where’s Mrs Osborne?’ Matthew demanded.

  ‘In the drawing room,’ the man spluttered, glaring at Matthew and Dwight. ‘But who are you? And how dare you burst in like this!’

  ‘I’ll announce myself.’ Jenny ran up the stairs and erupted into the room, throwing the door open with such force that it crashed against the wall.

  The occupants rose in alarm.

  Jenny glared at her mother, aunt and Greaves. ‘How kind of you all to be here at the same time,’ she snarled.

  ‘Eugenie!’ Her mother was the first to recover, and eyed her daughter up and down with a look of distaste. ‘What disgusting clothes you are wearing.’

  ‘I’ve got holes in my shoes as well.’ Jenny couldn’t resist taunting her mother, who was always so immaculate.

  ‘What is the meaning of this sudden appearance,’ her aunt demanded, ‘and who are these two?’ She waved a hand at Matthew and Dwight, who had closed the drawing-room door and were leaning against it with their arms folded. ‘If you don’t all leave at once, I shall call the police.’

  ‘Oh, please do.’ Jenny smiled evilly and glanced at Dwight. ‘Do you think we can have them arrested for attempted embezzlement?’

  ‘It would be fun to try,’ he drawled, hooking his thumbs in his belt and looking every inch the gunslinger from the movies.

  ‘What are you talking about?’ her mother demanded. ‘What’s all this nonsense about embezzlement?’

  Jenny gave her a long contemptuous stare, just managing to control a humourless laugh. ‘So they didn’t even tell you about the money.’ Her gaze swept over the three of them. ‘I know all about the way you’ve lied to me. Now I want to know why! I’ll start with you, mother! Father divorced you for adultery. He wanted custody of me. You never cared for me, so why didn’t you agree?’

  ‘If I’d done that, he would have taken you to America, but while you were with me he had to support us both. What did you expect me to do? He was wealthy. I wasn’t going to live in poverty!’ She looked outraged at the very idea.

  Jenny turned away in disgust and dismissed the avaricious woman from her thoughts. She was no longer her daughter.

  ‘And now you, aunt. Why did you tell me that my father had committed suicide when you knew it wasn’t true?’ Her voice trembled. In her view, this was the most heinous crime. ‘You never liked him, always running him down, but why try to demean him even in death?’

  ‘I don’t have to explain myself to you,’ her aunt said haughtily. ‘You look as if you have just come out of the slums.’

  ‘I have, and it’s a whole lot more savoury than here, I can tell you. The people I live with might be poor, but they are honest!’ She stepped forward menacingly until she was face to face with this hated woman, pleased to see that she was now taller than her aunt. Jenny spoke through clenched teeth. ‘You will answer my questions or I’ll give you the thrashing you deserve.’

  ‘Albert!’

  Jenny laughed and cast a quick glance at Greaves. He looked as if he wanted to run, but he wasn’t going to be able to get past Matthew and Dwight. ‘It’s no use calling for that coward. I’ll ask you just one more time. Why did you hate him so much, and why did you lie to me?’

  A look of sheer malice crossed her aunt’s face. ‘Yes, I hated him! He should have married me. Instead he chose my stupid sister and I never forgave him for that. When Osborne proposed I married him, only to find out he was nearly penniless. I got my revenge on Cyrus in the end by telling everyone he’d shot himself.’ Her laugh was ugly. ‘That made him look like a weak man. And with Albert’s help I was determined to get my hands on some of the money he’d left you.’

  The temptation to hit the cruel woman was great, but Jenny managed to resist – just. She stayed toe to toe with her. ‘And you thought you could take control?’

  ‘Of course. You were too young to handle your own affairs.’

  ‘Why were you so determined to marry me to him?’ She nodded in Greaves’s direction. ‘As my husband he would have had control of the money, surely.’

  ‘We’d drawn up a written agreement to share it. We were both in financial difficulties.’ Gertrude Osborne was speaking quite freely now, obviously realizing that it would be useless to refuse to speak.

  Jenny raised her eyebrows at Dwight. ‘A legal agreement between thieves. What do you think of that?’

  ‘Despicable, Jenny,’ he drawled, ‘but they’d forgotten one thing. Your father appointed me your guardian and left me in control of the purse strings.’ He gave an apologetic shrug. ‘But, do you know, I do believe I forgot to mention that to them.’

  She tutted in a parody of censure. ‘How very remiss of you.’

  He grinned.

  Now Jenny turned her attention to Greaves. ‘You are the most evil of the pathetic trio. When I wouldn’t come to you willingly, you sent two thugs after me. They stabbed Matthew and nearly killed him. I’ll never forgive you for that, and if there is ever a way to have you charged with attempted murder, I’ll see you stand trial.’ She had the satisfaction of seeing him blanch at the threat. ‘Would $25,000 split between the two of you have cleared your debts?’

  ‘Not quite, but there was more to come when you were twenty-one,’ Greaves mumbled, now with a very unhealthy-looking flush to his skin. ‘A lot more, and as your husband I’d have had it all.’

  She turned slowly to face Dwight. ‘More?’

  He raised his hands in surrender. ‘You rushed out before I got to that part.’

  ‘How much?’

  He grinned again. ‘About $50,000.’

  ‘Really?’ Jenny fought to control a hysterical laugh from bursting out as she heard her mother gasp. This was becoming more ridiculous by the minute.

  Her mother stepped forward imploringly. ‘I didn’t know about the money until now. If I had known, I would never have allowed you to go to Albert. All I knew was that my allowance stopped immediately and that I was penniless. You can come home with me, Eugenie. My husband is old and sick, but I’ve got a lovely house –’

  ‘Dear Lord,’ Jenny gasped. ‘Your greed has clouded your sense of reality. No, more than that – it has completely destroyed your ability to tell right from wrong. You are beneath contempt. You may not have known about the money, but you must have known my father didn’t kill himself, and yet you let your sister lie to me.’

  ‘Well, Gertrude thought it would be for the best. And I needed her then.’

  ‘Best!’ Jenny exploded. ‘I never thought you were very bright, with your single-minded urge to climb the social ladder, but you really are stupid, aren’t you?’

  ‘Don’t talk to me like that!’

  ‘Shut up!’ Jenny swept a ferocious gaze over each one of them. ‘I don’t want to see or hear from any of you – ever again! I hope you rot in hell for the anguish you have put me through!’

  With that parting shot she turned and walked out, head held high, as the two men opened the door for her. Matthew and Dwight fell in behind her as she
left the house.

  It was over! She was free of them, with lovely memories of her father filling her mind. The doubt was gone. He hadn’t killed himself. He had loved her. Now as far as she was concerned, Ma had been her mother, and Fred and Glad her uncle and aunt. She couldn’t wish for a lovelier family. She was going to give them the best damned Christmas they had ever had.

  ‘Take me home, Matthew, please,’ she said when they reached the car.

  ‘To Lambeth?’ He opened the door for her.

  ‘Of course. Where else would I go?’

  He ignored her sharp tone. ‘You could come and stay with us until –’

  Her emotions were still in turmoil and she gave him a withering look. ‘What, now I’ve got money?’

  ‘Don’t insult me, Jen. When have I ever cared if you were rich or poor?’

  She was instantly contrite. That had been unkind and she’d hurt him. He’d only ever shown her kindness; he didn’t deserve to be spoken to like that. She touched his arm, her eyes full of remorse. ‘I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. I don’t know what I’m saying.’

  He gathered her in his arms and held her gently for a moment, then kissed the top of her head. ‘I know, it’s all too much at the moment, isn’t it?’

  She nodded and got in the car, not speaking all the way back to Lambeth as she struggled to come to terms with everything.

  It was dark by the time they arrived, and both men followed her indoors. She put more coal on the fire and poked it until it burst into life.

  ‘Would you like tea?’ she asked politely, but secretly wishing they would go away so she could be on her own. It had been a traumatic day.

  They shook their heads, and she sat in Ma’s chair – something she had never done before, but it gave her comfort now.

  ‘Cosy place you’ve got here.’ Dwight gazed around the small room, then smiled at her. ‘Real quaint.’

  ‘Yes, it is. When will I be able to have the money?’

  ‘I’ll deposit it in a bank of your choice tomorrow.’

  ‘Thank you. Will you put it in the Stannard Bank, please?’