The Unknown Heir. Anne Herries

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      ‘You—the heir to an English duke?’ Red Clinton threw back his head and laughed deep in his throat. ‘Don’t make me laugh, Jared. You are kidding me, aren’t you?’

      Jared looked at his cousin, a lazy smile playing over his sensuous mouth. ‘It sounds crazy, I know, but my mother ran off with my father when her family rejected the marriage. Pa didn’t have much going for him then…’

      He glanced round the richly furnished room above the gambling club he owned in New Orleans. It had been his father’s legacy to him when he died, all that remained of the fortune Jack Clinton had amassed when he was younger. Jared’s father had built a home fitting for the daughter of an English duke after making his fortune gambling on the riverboats that plied the Mississippi River, but it had been sold when she died, most of the money lost the way it had come. Jack Clinton’s heart had been buried with his wife, and he had become reckless, neglecting his son, drinking and gambling carelessly until all he had left was a gambling saloon. After his death of a heart attack, Jared had taken what he’d inherited, swearing that he would never end the way his father had, and had since increased his wealth many times over. He was now much richer than his father had ever been, respected and admired by the highest in New Orleans society; he had recently been approached to enter politics by some of the elders of the city.

      ‘I thought the family refused to have anything to do with her after she ran away with your father,’ Red said. ‘Why have they decided they want you now—after all these years? Isn’t there anyone else?’

      ‘It seems not. There were three sons and about four grandsons as I recall. A heck of a lot of people must have died for the title to come down to me.’

      ‘Hell!’ Red swore half a dozen times and pulled a wry face. ‘What are you gonna do? You live like a king here—why would you want to go and live in some draughty old mansion that’s probably about ready to fall down over your head?’ He tipped his head to one side, the left eyebrow raised in inquiry. ‘Or is the family dripping in gold?’

      ‘I very much doubt it,’ Jared said. He grinned, looking much like his more handsome cousin for a moment. They were both tall, strong men with broad shoulders, slim hips and the athletic look of men who had passed out of West Point with first-class honours. Both were rich men, both attractive in their own way, though of the two Red was the most striking, his hair a flaming torch as a ray of sunshine touched it. Jared’s hair was a darker shade of auburn, his features harsher and less attractive when in repose. Only when he smiled was it noticeable that the two were cousins. ‘The lawyer’s letter was all about the honour of the family name. Apparently, it is my duty to go over there and set things to rights.’

      ‘You mean they’ve got wind that you’re as rich as Croesus and they want some of it,’ Red drawled, his top lip curling in disgust. ‘You’re a fool if you do it, Jared.’

      Jared nodded because his cousin was echoing the thoughts that had been running through his head for the past week since the latest letter arrived.

      ‘What’s more, they seem to imagine I need a lesson in manners,’ he said. ‘They are sending someone to talk to me and take me back on the ship to England. I have been advised that I should leave the purchase of any new clothes I might need until I get there. Apparently, a female cousin is going to teach me what to wear and how to behave in society.’

      ‘Well, dang my hide!’ Red exclaimed, a huge grin spreading over his face. ‘Think you’re an ignorant hillbilly, do they?’

      ‘Well, the lawyer didn’t quite say that, but that’s about the size of it,’ Jared agreed, amused by his cousin’s unaccustomed language. ‘He is coming today. I was wondering where to receive him.’

      ‘What do you mean?’ Red asked, puzzled. He glanced around the large room, which was furnished with the finest French furniture from the Empire period and contained treasures that a lot of Jared’s neighbours would give their eye-teeth to own. ‘You’ve plenty of property you could choose to receive him in. Why not this place? One look should disabuse their agent of any erroneous ideas they happen to have formed of your education and standing in American society.’

      ‘Yes, I dare say it would,’ Jared said, a wicked glint in his eyes. They were somewhere between green and blue in colour and at that moment the expression in them was both deep and mysterious. ‘But it makes me angry when I think of the way the old man treated my mother. He was a martinet by all accounts and he could afford to ignore her, because he had all those sons and grandsons. It must have given him some grief to realise that I was the only one left to him.’

      ‘Yes, I suppose so,’ Red drawled. Knowing his cousin well from the time they spent at military academy together, he knew that some devilish plan was lurking behind that look. ‘Going to tell me any time this week? Only I’ve got a pretty girl waiting for me to show this afternoon.’

      ‘You know that shack down by the river?’

      ‘The warehouse you bought last week?’ Red’s eyes narrowed. ‘You were going to pull it down and build new, as I recall.’

      ‘Fortunately, I haven’t got around to it,’ Jared said. ‘Do you think your lady love would mind if you were a little late for your important meeting, Red? Only you can do me a favour if you will.’

      ‘No problem,’ his cousin said. ‘Sue Ellen looks beautiful when she’s angry. She may shoot me on sight, but I guess I’ll take the chance.’ He raised his brows. ‘So what is the plan?’

      ‘I’m going to meet Mr Birch there in the river shack,’ Jared said. ‘I’ll dig out some of Pa’s old working clothes and give him a fright. Since he’s expecting me to be ignorant and disgusting, I may as well give him what he wants.’

      ‘Good,’ Red said and grinned broadly, loving the plan. ‘Where do I come in?’

      ‘Well, I think they may have done their research,’ Jared said. ‘But they made a big mistake. You see, I’m a no-good gambler, like my father, and last month I lost everything to you.’ He smiled at his cousin. ‘Think you can do that for me?’

      ‘Yes,’ Red said and laughed. ‘I reckon that will teach those aristocratic relatives of yours a lesson—but what then? You won’t actually go over there, will you?’

      ‘Well, that depends,’ Jared said. ‘I’m curious to see what happened to all those sons and grandsons, but I’m still thinking about it.’

      ‘Well, take your time making up your mind,’ Red told him. ‘If they have sent someone all this way, they want something—and they need it desperately.’

      ‘Yes,’ Jared agreed, his eyes narrowed, angry. ‘I am certain they do.’