Read Online Jonathan Barrett Gentleman Vampire by P.N. Elrod - Free Book Online
Authors: P.N. Elrod
Ads: Link
no patience for whining; I’d forgotten that he’d taught me better than to indulge in it. But his face softened. “It means that both of you need to know what’s really beneath all this so you can understand and make the best of things.”
That didn’t sound too terribly hopeful.
He poured out another swallow of brandy and drained it away, then looked up at his wife’s portrait. “Firstly, I married your mother because I loved her. If her father had realized that, then our lives might have been quite different. Whether for good or for ill, I could not say, but different, perhaps.
“All this took place in England. You know that I went to Cambridge myself. I was out and working with old Roylston when I met judge Fonteyn and his family. He was wealthy but always looking to either increase it or raise his status in society. I did not fit his idea of an ideal son-in-law, and he saw me not as I was, but as he perceived me to be. He put himself in my place and assumed that I was paying court to his daughter for her inheritance.
“Admittedly, the money made your mother that much more attractive to me, but it was never my real goal. We might have eloped, but Marie persuaded him to consent to our marriage. He did so with ill grace but provided her with a generous allowance. He also drew up a paper for me to sign, stipulating that this allowance was hers and hers alone and I was not to touch it.”
“But doesn’t a wife’s property become her husband’s?”
“That’s the law, but old Fonteyn’s paper was a neat bit of work to get around it. The only way I could marry was to agree with his conditions. I signed it readily enough. He was surprised that I did, and at the same time contemptuous. There was no pleasing the old devil.”
That sounded familiar, I thought.
“The marriage took place and we were happy for a time, at least we were when there was sufficient distance between your mother and her family. Her father was a terrible tyrant, couldn’t and wouldn’t abide me, and it was because of him that I decided to leave England altogether. Marie went along with it, because in those days she still loved me. You both know how we came to settle here, but it was your mother’s money that bought this place and it still pays for the servants and the taxes.”
“The paper you signed . . .” said Elizabeth, beginning to see. It was like crystal to me.
“Means that I own none of this.” He gestured, indicating the house and the lands around it. “I have Archimedes, Jericho, and whatever I’ve gleaned from my practice. Now, I have made something of a decent living for myself, but as a rule, lawyers enjoy far more social status than they do money. When Fonteyn died, he divided his fortune between his daughters. There was quite a sum involved, but I’d promised to touch none of it and have kept to that promise. It . . . has never bothered me before.”
“So Mother is paying for my education,” I said.
“She always has. It was she who hired Rapelji, for example.”
“And mine, too?” asked Elizabeth.
Father smiled with affection and satisfaction. “No, that was my idea. It is a sad and wasteful thing, but the truth is your mother didn’t think it worth trying. She’s always had the mistaken idea that an educated woman is socially disadvantaged.”
“And yet she herself—?” Elizabeth began swiftly sputtering her way toward outrage.
Father waved a cautioning hand. “I must clarify. She thinks a woman has gained sufficient knowledge if she reads and writes enough to maintain her household and be agreeable in polite company”
Elizabeth snorted.
“I never saw it that way, though, so I made sure that Rapelji was well compensated for the time he spent on you. Your mother was under the impression that you were learning no more than the limits she’d set: your numbers, letters, and some French.”
“And my music from Mrs. Hornby?”
“Yes.”
“Because every girl in polite society must know
That didn’t sound too terribly hopeful.
He poured out another swallow of brandy and drained it away, then looked up at his wife’s portrait. “Firstly, I married your mother because I loved her. If her father had realized that, then our lives might have been quite different. Whether for good or for ill, I could not say, but different, perhaps.
“All this took place in England. You know that I went to Cambridge myself. I was out and working with old Roylston when I met judge Fonteyn and his family. He was wealthy but always looking to either increase it or raise his status in society. I did not fit his idea of an ideal son-in-law, and he saw me not as I was, but as he perceived me to be. He put himself in my place and assumed that I was paying court to his daughter for her inheritance.
“Admittedly, the money made your mother that much more attractive to me, but it was never my real goal. We might have eloped, but Marie persuaded him to consent to our marriage. He did so with ill grace but provided her with a generous allowance. He also drew up a paper for me to sign, stipulating that this allowance was hers and hers alone and I was not to touch it.”
“But doesn’t a wife’s property become her husband’s?”
“That’s the law, but old Fonteyn’s paper was a neat bit of work to get around it. The only way I could marry was to agree with his conditions. I signed it readily enough. He was surprised that I did, and at the same time contemptuous. There was no pleasing the old devil.”
That sounded familiar, I thought.
“The marriage took place and we were happy for a time, at least we were when there was sufficient distance between your mother and her family. Her father was a terrible tyrant, couldn’t and wouldn’t abide me, and it was because of him that I decided to leave England altogether. Marie went along with it, because in those days she still loved me. You both know how we came to settle here, but it was your mother’s money that bought this place and it still pays for the servants and the taxes.”
“The paper you signed . . .” said Elizabeth, beginning to see. It was like crystal to me.
“Means that I own none of this.” He gestured, indicating the house and the lands around it. “I have Archimedes, Jericho, and whatever I’ve gleaned from my practice. Now, I have made something of a decent living for myself, but as a rule, lawyers enjoy far more social status than they do money. When Fonteyn died, he divided his fortune between his daughters. There was quite a sum involved, but I’d promised to touch none of it and have kept to that promise. It . . . has never bothered me before.”
“So Mother is paying for my education,” I said.
“She always has. It was she who hired Rapelji, for example.”
“And mine, too?” asked Elizabeth.
Father smiled with affection and satisfaction. “No, that was my idea. It is a sad and wasteful thing, but the truth is your mother didn’t think it worth trying. She’s always had the mistaken idea that an educated woman is socially disadvantaged.”
“And yet she herself—?” Elizabeth began swiftly sputtering her way toward outrage.
Father waved a cautioning hand. “I must clarify. She thinks a woman has gained sufficient knowledge if she reads and writes enough to maintain her household and be agreeable in polite company”
Elizabeth snorted.
“I never saw it that way, though, so I made sure that Rapelji was well compensated for the time he spent on you. Your mother was under the impression that you were learning no more than the limits she’d set: your numbers, letters, and some French.”
“And my music from Mrs. Hornby?”
“Yes.”
“Because every girl in polite society must know
Similar Books
