The Seduction of Lady X by Julia London Read Free Book Online Page A

longer assume the title.”
    “Neither can I,” Harrison said calmly. “The laws of primogeniture are quite restrictive and very explicit in the requirement for legitimacy. Honey?”
    Mr. Fish shook his head to the honey. “They are restrictive, indeed . . . unless one has been given a title and an estate by a royal edict, as well as the terms for inheritance.”
    Harrison snorted. “I rather doubt even a royal edict would make an illegitimate offspring worthy of an estate as grand as Ashwood. So let us avoid a lot of discourse, Mr. Fish. Is there some paper I must sign for this countess to have her place? Give it over, and I will sign it.” He sipped his tea and glanced at the mantel clock.
    Mr. Fish did not move.
    “Shocked?” Harrison asked.
    Mr. Fish put his teacup down. “After the year I have spent, sir, I am rarely shocked by anything. Nevertheless, I fear you do not understand me. King Henry VIII bestowed the title and estate on the first earl of Ashwood, and specifically entailed it to the blood offspring of that earl, and the earl’s issue, et cetera and so forth, without regard to legitimacy. The blood offspring. That means, as the only surviving blood male offspring of the last earl, you have inherited the estate. Furthermore, our solicitor in London believes you have legal claim to the title, as well.”
    The meeting suddenly gained Harrison’s full attention. He stared at the man, trying to guess his game. “Forgive me, Mr. Fish, but do you expect me to believe that you have come here to hand me an estate and a title?” He laughed. “I will not believe I have any claim that cannot quickly and easily be dismantled by some enterprising solicitor. I am the bastard son of the late earl, a man I remember meeting once or twice in my life. My blood relation, as you put it, is illegitimate.”
    Mr. Fish nodded. “Lady Ashwood—Lady Eberlin, ” he corrected himself, “rather thought you might view things that way.” He reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a letter and handed it to Harrison.
    The damp vellum had a wax seal that was the crest of the Duke of Darlington—a revered named in England. The brief letter introduced Mr. Fish as a bona fide and true agent of Ashwood, and declared that the Duke of Darlington vouched for what he was telling Harrison today. The duke ended his endorsement with the word Congratulations scrawled presumably in his own hand across the bottom.
    Harrison supposed he should have been happy to hear this startling news, but he was not. He tossed the vellum back to Mr. Fish as myriad thoughts clouded his brain. There was the problem of Alexa, first and foremost. And there was the personal and private problem of Lady X. “I do not want it,” he said flatly.
    Mr. Fish almost sputtered his tea. “Pardon?”
    “I do not want this,” Harrison said again, directing his gaze at Mr. Fish. “Tell your countess to send me whatever papers are necessary to deliver the estate to her, and I will sign them.”
    Mr. Fish looked stunned. He came to his feet. “Do you realize what you are saying?”
    “Yes, I do,” Harrison said firmly. He pushed his fingers through his hair, trying to absorb this impossible, ill-timed news. His father had never acknowledged him in any way, and now he would have his estate? Harrison was entirely suspicious, certain there was a catch. And Harrison wanted nothing to do with Ashwood and whatever catch that might be for so many reasons that his head began to spin with them.
    “You can’t possibly!” Mr. Fish argued. “No man in his right mind would dismiss this so easily—”
    “Do you think this is easy?” Harrison snapped.
    Mr. Fish caught himself. “I would not presume to know. But I do know that it is a royal edict. And much like any child born to inherit, you may not want the riches that have just fallen into your lap, but they are yours regardless.”
    “Mr. Tolly?”
    Both Harrison and Mr. Fish started at the sound of Miss Hastings’s