Read Online Improperly Wed by Anna DePalo - Free Book Online

annulment. Your uncle may still reside there on his estates, but it’s at my discretion.”
    Belinda looked at him with stupefaction. “Why in the world would Uncle Hugh sell the town house to you? You’re the last person in the world to whom he’d sell.”
    â€œSimple,” Colin responded in a dry tone. “He wasn’t aware I was the ultimate buyer. The town house was sold to one of my companies. Presumably he didn’t know I was the principal shareholder. I imagine he thought he was selling to one of those newly minted Russian oligarchs who prize privacy as well as London real estate.”
    She stared at Colin in astonishment. It couldn’t be…
    Colin shrugged. “It was a quick sale for an agreeable price. Your uncle was apparently looking for a quick infusion of cash.”
    â€œWhat does that have to do with me?” she demanded defiantly.
    â€œI also already owned the larger of the two Berkshire estates.”
    Belinda’s shoulders lowered. The Wentworth familyhad, somewhat unusually, two estates in Berkshire. The smaller of the two was of more recent origin, having come into the family through the marriage of her great-great-grandmother. The larger—which Colin apparently now owned, if his claims were to be believed—had been in the family since the days of Edward III. Downlands, as it was called, bordered Granville land, and had been the subject of a prolonged property-line dispute with Colin’s family in the nineteenth century.
    Belinda’s head buzzed. She had no responsibility for the Wentworth estates, she told herself. After all, she had her life in New York as an art dealer. She was far from the family fray—or was she?
    â€œI suppose you acquired the Berkshire estate through a similar anonymous purchase? The privately held company that you used for the transaction wouldn’t be LG Management, would it?” She named the mysterious company that she had been told owned the Las Vegas hacienda that they were in.
    Colin inclined his head. “LG Management, yes.” He quirked his lips. “Lord Granville Management.”
    Belinda’s eyes narrowed. “How clever of you.”
    â€œI’m glad you think so.”
    Her mind raced even more. How was it possible that the family holdings had been so diminished and she had been unaware of it? Was the family’s financial situation that dire?
    â€œHow did you pay for your lavish wedding to Tod?” Colin asked, seemingly reading her mind.
    Belinda started guiltily. “It’s none of your business.”
    Colin thrust his hands in his pockets. “I imagine that in the customary way the Dillinghams bore some of the cost, but as far as the Wentworth share, I can’t imagine that you shouldered the entire burden.”
    The truth was that she had paid for a portion of her wedding. But when Uncle Hugh and her mother had insisted on a lavish affair, she’d given in—on the condition that they bear the additional expense.
    â€œI imagine that Hugh saw your nuptials as Napoleon’s escape from Elba,” Colin said, connecting the dots for her. “It was his last, desperate gamble to save the family legacy through a fresh infusion of cash from the Dillinghams. Unfortunately, it instead became his Waterloo.”
    She stared at Colin in disbelief. It was inconceivable that a Granville owned Wentworth land now. But then again, she imagined that some people found it hard to comprehend that a Wentworth—namely, her—was married to a Granville.
    But all was not lost, she told herself.
    â€œEven if you own both properties,” she countered, “as your wife, I have a claim to them. We are married, after all.”
    She’d learned something from consulting a matrimonial lawyer.
    Colin’s eyes gleamed with reluctant admiration. “Yes, but only to half the property at most, in all likelihood. And at best, you might be able to get