The Second Son Read online

  “Grenville, it is your place to always know what is happening on the estate, the people are not just staff, they are family, and so you should let them know now and again that you are interested in their wellbeing. Plus, it makes them happy knowing that even though you are blue blooded you do have a heart and care,” said his grandfather, smiling.

  “I understand, grandfather,” said Grenville.

  After they were alone, the Duke said, “That went well, I thought.”

  “I think they all went away happy,” replied the Duchess, smiling.

  “Well done, son,” said the Duke.

  “Yes, my darling, you have made both your father and I proud,” added the Duchess.

  “Glad to be of help,” said Grenville, smiling at them both.

  “Wednesday to get out of the way now,” said the Duke.

  “But at least now we go into it with a positive attitude,” replied the Duchess. Both Grenville and his father nodded at the sentiment and smiled.

  Wednesday came and Grenville was up bright and early, as his parents were as well. At breakfast the Duchess said, “I hope this is over with quickly.”

  “I cannot see Stephan having much of a will,” replied the Duke.

  “It’s seeing that odious man again, his friend Dexter,” said the Duchess. This made Grenville laugh. “Never could take to him, unlike Jonathan or Hugo, he always reminds me of a smiling snake,” the Duchess continued. “But at least Sara will be here, so there is a silver lining,” said the Duchess, smiling. Grenville never considered his brother’s betrothed would be in attendance, but then he never did ask who was attending.

  “Do you know who is actually attending the reading, father?” asked Grenville.

  “Not really, never thought to enquire of Stevens who was coming,” replied the Duke.

  Grenville was looking out of the window as cars started to arrive. On spotting Stevens pull up, Grenville went to meet him. “Mr Stevens, how the devil are you?” asked Grenville with his hand out.

  Mr Stevens took the offered hand and said, “Very well, my Lord, hope you are well.”

  “Splendid,” Grenville replied. “Thank you for passing on the information I asked for, most helpful,” said Grenville, smiling.

  “Glad to be of service, my Lord,” said Mr Stevens.

  “Absolutely,” said Grenville, still smiling.

  Grenville spotted Dexter Simon-Smyth pull up; not wanting to speak to him, Grenville followed Mr Stevens into the hall. Grenville went into the reading room to find his mother. She was sitting chatting to a pretty young blonde lady who Grenville did not recognise.

  “Grenville,” said his mother as she spotted him.

  Grenville smiled at them both. “Mother,” he replied.

  “You remember Sara,” said his mother, smiling.

  Grenville took the offered hand and kissed it lightly and said, “The pleasure is all mine, Miss Farthing.”

  “Sara, please, my Lord,” said Sara.

  “As you command. And please call me Grenville,” replied Grenville, smiling.

  “Thank you, Grenville, most kind,” Sara said, looking intently at Grenville. Sofia watched the exchange with a deep satisfaction. Sofia had to admit Sara had been far too good for Stephan, and if she had married him she would have had a dull life, always in the background without an opinion, and totally miserable. Sofia also suspected it was more her father than her pushing the union.

  Grenville was love-struck as he gazed into her blue eyes and for the first time in his life he felt he was falling in love. All he could do was smile at Sara. Sara smiled back, and Sofia tried not to laugh at them.

  The Duke came in and broke the spell and said, “They are ready for us now.”

  “Good, shall we?” said the Duchess, as all four went into the library for the reading of Stephan’s will. As they took their places, Grenville looked about and apart from Mr Stevens, who sat at the front, Dexter Simon-Smyth sat with another man both dressed in suits – the man with Dexter looked like a lawyer to Grenville – apart from his father, mother and Sara, there were two other men present. Grenville wondered who these men could be.

  Mr Stevens started, “Good morning. Thank you all for coming to the reading of the late Stephan James Hampton, the eleventh Earl of Eastleigh’s last will and testament.” Mr Stevens continued, “The late Stephan James Hampton made me sole executor of his last will and testament.” Mr Stevens looked up and gave a slight nod to Dexter Simon-Smyth, who returned the nod with a smile. As Grenville looked at his face, the sly smile looked like to Grenville he knew exactly what was in his late brother’s will, and to Dexter Simon-Smyth it was all good news.

  As Mr Stevens went on with the legal parts of the will, Grenville took a sideways look at Sara who sat there next to his mother and smiled. She had changed so much since he had last seen her. It was the weekend before he left for Belize, she had come down for the weekend with her parents. Grenville’s memory of that weekend was blurry at the best of times so he could not remember what impression he had made upon her. Grenville looked up as Mr Stevens was starting the beneficiaries of Stephan’s will. “To my good friend, Mr Dexter Simon-Smyth, I leave my entire estate as well as my peerage.”

  Grenville’s father was on his feet in a flash. Mr Stevens, before the Duke had time to speak, held his hand up and waved him down. The Duke sat down just as quick. Grenville noticed Dexter Simon-Smyth was sitting with a smug look on his face. So, that was his game, the title and the estate from Stephan. Mr Stevens went on leaving various bequests to family and friends. After an hour, Mr Steven look up and closed the will. “That concludes the reading of the will of the late Stephan James Hampton, the eleventh Earl of Eastleigh.”

  Dexter Simon-Smyth spoke first. “Thank you, Mr Stevens elegantly carried out. But I am afraid that this may be your last commission for the Hampton Estate.” The man with him smiled at this and he gave a slight giggle.

  “Why do you say that, Sir?” Mr Stevens asked.

  “The will, man, Stephan passed the title to me, you old fool.”

  “Sir, the late Earl of Eastleigh passed you nothing but his worldly goods.” Everyone was engrossed in the exchanged between Mr Stevens and Mr Dexter Simon-Smyth.

  “What are you talking about you old fool, talk sense,” said Dexter Simon-Smyth, raising his voice.

  Mr Stevens ignored the verbal abuse and quietly said, “Mr Stephan James Hampton was the Earl of Eastleigh by birth and hereditary title only given to him by the Duke of Hampshire, his father, so Stephan James Hampton was never the titled Duke of the realm, he was only heir apparent.” The room was silent. “And as such, could not pass on the title he only had by bequest from his father, the Duke of Hampshire,” said Mr Stevens. “But,” he went on, holding up a document, “here is a copy of a legal formally signed act of Hereditary Peerages passing from the still living Duke of Hampshire to his remaining living second son, Grenville St Louis, who has become the twelfth Earl of Eastleigh and the next in line to inherit the Dukedom of Hampshire. This will supersede the one sign by the late Earl of Eastleigh Stephan James Hampton, so only Grenville St Louis Hampton can have a claim on the family title. So, Mr Dexter Simon-Smyth, as I first correctly stated, you only get Stephan James Hampton’s worldly goods,” said Mr Stevens, smiling for the first time.

  Dexter Simon-Smyth stood and ripped the document from Mr Stevens’ hand and passed it to the man with him, who quickly studied the document. “This is all bull shit, Stephan assured me the title was mine,” said Dexter Simon-Smyth.

  “And no doubt it would have been if he had been the actual Duke of Hampshire,” said Mr Stevens softly. The man spoke to Dexter Simon-Smyth in a dull whisper. Grenville knew by the look on Simon-Smyth’s face it was not what he wanted to hear.

  Dexter Simon-Smyth nodded to the two strange men and said, “I did not want it to come to this on such a day but you have forced my hand.”

  The two strangers went to the Duke and said “Your Grace, we are Hi
gh Court Enforcement Officers,” holding out a white bundle of papers. “This is a High Court writ brought against your estate by the Easington Investment Bank to the sum of four million, four hundred and seventy-eight pounds, payable today,” said the High Court Enforcement Officer.

  Dexter Simon-Smyth said, turning to the man with him, “I win, I think. At least I get the estate.” The man nodded and smiled.

  “Wait.” Everyone turned towards Grenville. “Gentlemen, I have a banker’s draft here for the full amount,” said Grenville, smiling. The High Court Enforcement Officer said, “Of course, my Lord. We just need a few minutes to clear the banker’s draft with head office.”

  “Excellent,” said Grenville. “Anyone got a pen I could borrow so I can sign it over?” he asked, holding up the banker’s draft.

  Dexter Simon-Smyth looked totally shocked by the turn of events. The Duke went to him and said, “Sir, if you have finished your business, I will ask you to leave my estate.”

  Dexter Simon-Smyth glared at the Duke, realised everyone in the room was looking at him, smiled, gave a small bow and said as he was leaving, “This is most definitely not over.”

  Grenville signed the banker’s draft and after thirty minutes the High Court Enforcement Officer returned and handed a receipt to Grenville and said, “Thank you, my Lord. That concludes our business, the debt raised by Easington Investment Bank against the Estate of the Duke of Hampshire has now been cleared, and the matter is now closed,” said the man as he passed over the bundle of papers to Grenville, “thank you for your time.” Both men slightly bowed to the Duke and the Duchess and left.

  After they left, Grenville, his mother and father all started to laugh. Sara joined in, even Mr Stevens who was normally so traditional was smiling and said, “That felt so good.”

  The Duke slapped Mr Stevens on the back then said, “You were outstanding, my dear Stevens.”

  Mr Stevens said softly, “A solid answer to everything is not necessary, blurry concepts influence one to focus, but postulated clarity influences arrogance.”

  Grenville went to his father and held out the bundle of paper the High Court Enforcement Office had given him and said, “Father, your estate is returned to you.”

  Smiling, the Duke took the papers from Grenville smiled and said, “Words cannot express how I feel right now.” He had tears in his eyes as he hugged Grenville. The Duke passed the bundle of papers over to Mr Stevens and said, “Can you keep these with the other family documents?”

  Taking the bundle of papers, Mr Stevens said, “It would as always, your Grace, be my pleasure.” Mr Stevens bowed deeply to them all. Just before he left, Mr Stevens said softly, “I now feel confident about submitting my bill.” This made everyone laugh.

  After Mr Stevens left, the four of them were sitting in the lounge. Mr Stevens was correct, said the Duke.

  “In what way, my dear?” asked the Duchess.

  “The arrogance of Simon-Smyth. He was so sure he had the title and estate in his grubby hands,” the Duke went on.

  “Always have a plan,” said Grenville softly.

  “Sorry, what did you say darling?” asked his mother.

  “Nothing, just something a friend told me once,” replied Grenville, smiling.

  “Fancy a walk in the grounds, Grenville?” asked Sara.

  “Love to,” replied Grenville, standing.

  After they left the Duchess said, “What do you think, my darling?”

  “Sorry, not with you, my love,” replied the Duke.

  “Grenville and Sara, a nice match.”

  “Well, she cannot do any worse than her first choice,” said the Duke.

  “That’s what I was thinking,” replied the Duchess, smiling as she looking out of the window, and watched them walk away together.

  Grenville and Sara walked in silence, until they reached the stone gondola on a small rise, out of sight of the hall. Sara took a seat. Grenville went and sat next to her.

  “I killed him,” Sara said in a whisper.

  “Sorry, what did you say?” said Grenville.

  “Your brother, Stephan, I killed him,” she said a little louder.

  “It was an accident, the police report said so, no need to blame yourself, Sara,” said Grenville, smiling.

  “I know what the police report said, I was there in the car,” said Sara, putting her head in her hand. She started to sob.

  Grenville placed his arm around her and said gently, “Tell me the whole story.”

  After a silence, Sara started to speak. “I never really loved Stephan, it was my father who pushed for the match, a good match, a titled husband. But I found him arrogant and aggressive, treated me like he did any servant. You know what he actually said to me after we became engaged?”

  Grenville shook his head, not wanting to speak for fear of stopping her flow.

  “He said my sole job was to produce an heir to further the family line, apart from that he did not see any use for me.”

  “But I thought he was going to pass the title to his friend Dexter,” said Grenville.

  Sara started to laugh. “Stephan was going to change that once he had his heir. He only agreed to Dexter’s plan because he was so in debt to him, and giving him the title in his will was a way he played to Dexter’s ego. Stephan never showed love or loyalty to anyone,” said Sara. Grenville nodded in agreement, thinking of his brother. Sara continued “The evening we were driving down to Hampton Hall, I had decided to finish with him. He tried on many occasions, especially when he was drunk, to have his way with me, but I always managed to fight him off. The last occasion he was in such a rage that he said when we were married, he would beat me if I ever tried to refuse him, as it was his right as my husband, and not a court in the land would disagree.

  “As the wedding got closer I was losing my nerve, so I decided to tell him it was all over. As we drove down he was in his usual bullish attitude, saying some awful things about your parents and Hampton Hall. It was like he hated them and the place.”

  Grenville nodded and said, “My grandfather once told me there are two types of future heirs to the title, some find the prospect exciting and some it fills them with dread. Stephan was the latter.”

  Sara nodded at Grenville’s words, and continued, “As we continued driving down, I told him I wanted to break our engagement. He went red in the face and went mad, I have never seen him so angry. He started to swerve over the road. I got scared as he turned to me and said, ‘Listen bitch, you try and back out now and make me look foolish in front of everyone at this late stage and I will kill you’.” Sara put her head in her hands and started to cry.

  “It’s still not your fault, Sara,” said Grenville, “he lost control and by what you have told me he was out of control.”

  “You don’t understand, Grenville,” said Sara softly, “while he was ranting and raving at me, I unbuckled his seat belt and grabbed the steering wheel. He tried to punch me in the face, but he missed and as he only had one hand on the wheel something ran out in front of us. As he swerved, he hit a wet patch and he lost control of the car and we hit the tree and as we bounced off. The last thing I remember was Stephan going through the windscreen.”

  Grenville took Sara in his arms and let her cry her sorrow out. Grenville knew she would feel so much better now she had unburdened herself with the story to someone. Grenville was glad it was him she trusted enough to tell her story to. “Have you told anyone else this story?” asked Grenville softly in her ear.

  “No, no one,” she replied.

  “Good,” said Grenville, “it will be our secret.” Taking her face in his hands Grenville kissed her. She returned the kiss. After a time, she rested her head on his shoulder, and felt happy for the first time in many months. There both sat like that until the last of the sun was just dipping over the horizon. Finally, Grenville stood, took Sara’s hand, and they both made their way back to the Hall.

  The Duchess was looking out of the windows and noticed t
hem approaching and said, “Excellent,” and smiled.

  “Sorry, did you say something?” asked the Duke.

  “Nothing important, darling,” she replied, still smiling.

  “You are so different from your brother,” said Sara.

  Grenville smiled and said, “I do hope so.”

  Sara went on, “Since we first met that weekend you seem different, more self-assured, hard to put my finger on it.”

  “For better or worse?” replied Grenville, laughing.

  Sara laughed as well. “Last time I thought you spoiled and immature.”

  “And now?” asked Grenville.

  Squeezing his hand, Sara said, “Definitely for the better,” which made them both laugh.

  As they were sitting chatting to his parents, Preston announced that the Earl had a phone call from Mr Jonathan Spencer.

  “Must take this,” said Grenville, as he went and followed Preston from the room.

  After Grenville left, the Duchess turned to Sara and said, “You two seem to be getting close.”

  Sara went red, and said, “He is so different from his brother.”

  “Indeed, he is,” replied the Duchess.

  “And changed, since last time we met,” Sara said.

  “I know what you mean dear, he has become a man instead of a lost boy.”

  “Totally,” replied Sara, smiling. “So, you don’t mind if we carry on getting to know each other?” Sara asked.

  “You have my blessing,” said the Duchess, leaning over to kiss Sara on the cheek.

  “Thank you,” replied Sara.

  “Jonathan, my dear chap how the devil you fairing?” Grenville asked.

  “Very well, thank you Grenville for asking,” replied Jonathan. “Good news old bean,” Jonathan went on, “Think I found you the perfect premises, Bombard Street. Used to be an old insurance company building. Been on the market for years. Plus, it’s a snip at just over the million mark.”

  “Why so cheap?” asked Grenville.

  “There is the rub, my dear chap. It’s tucked away down a side street so not very easy to find,” said Jonathan.