The "of course" took notice that Rufus had no children and that Ramage was his only nephew; it took in what they had all known for years, that Treffry Hall would go to Ramage - who else? But all that was mixed up with things like noblesse oblige and family affairs that lawyers never really understood because they could not be written down in their curiously stilted legal language. Stilted and legal, Ramage realized, because their phrases had stood the test of probate law and litigation and there was no mistaking the meaning, but nevertheless it always sounded stilted to ears that rejoiced in the rich flow of Shakespeare.
"Yes, so my father told me," Ramage said, "but circumstances prevented me from reading it. So please proceed . . ."
Again a deep breath, again a twitch at the spectacles, again two coughs, and the lawyer launched into the will. "I, Rufus Charles Aldington Treffry, being of sound mind ..."
Aldington? Ramage thought as the lawyer droned through the preliminary phrases, I didn't know that was one of his names. Ramage knew the family was one of the oldest in Kent, and that Treffry Hall had a history almost as old as the county, but he had not realized that the Treffrys went so far back. One of the habits of belonging to such an old family as the Ramages was that you tended to regard almost everyone else as a parvenu!Although come to think of it, it was not part of family history that there had been any fuss when Admiral the Earl of Blazey's young sister had become engaged to and then wed a Kentish landowner.
Ramage was startled by a double cough and looked up to see the lawyer, spectacles now in his hand, looking at him. "We now come to the sections concerning you, My Lord," he said apologetically, clearly having noticed that Ramage's attention had wandered.
"Oh, indeed. Please continue," Ramage said, aware that Sarah was looking at him with an expression combining love and exasperation.
First came the bequests to the staff. A tidy lump sum for Raven, another for the housekeeper, and three more to the cook, gamekeeper and head gardener, "All of whom," the lawyer said as though an explanation was necessary, "had been in Mr Treffry's service for many years."
"And all of whom have been paid regularly since then by my father until I could get back to England and take over the management of the estate," said Ramage, irritated by the lawyer's almost patronizing manner.
"Oh, indeed, My Lord, and in any case I could have arranged a loan on their bequests, using the terms of the will as collateral."
Why is it, Ramage wondered, that just as I begin to think you are not a bad fellow after all, you make some crass remark like that?
The man resumed reading. Treffry Hall and all its furnishings and appurtenances, outbuildings, livestock and contents, and the land comprising the estate, was left to his nephew but (so Uncle Rufus was a realist, since Nicholas Ramage was a serving officer who had nearly been killed several times already) should that nephew predecease him, Rufus Treffry then indicated
who should inherit.
Sarah went white, and for a moment Ramage thought she would faint. "But - but ... he met me only once, at our wedding," she gasped. "To leave me all this if I was widowed!"
Ramage laughed to lighten the moment. "I shall make a point of staying alive to cheat you out of your inheritance!"
The lawyer, missing completely the lightness of Ramage's tone and not noticing Sarah's shock (after all, Ramage realized, the man had drawn up the will and the terms were no surprise to him), said: "Well, My Lady, I expect it will all come to you anyway if anything happens to His Lordship."
Sarah, knowing just how many times she had already just missed being widowed since her marriage, and how many times Nicholas had nearly lost his life since she first met him, nodded politely. "I'm sure it will," she said, trying to keep the chill from her voice. "Pray continue."
The lawyer was near the end of the will. Rufus Treffry had obviously been very proud of his collection of armour, and also his sporting guns, and he expressed the hope "though creating no trust in the matter" that his legatee would continue to maintain all the pieces in good condition. "In fact the butler, Raven, has looked after them for many years," the lawyer explained, oblivious to the fact that as a boy Nicholas Ramage had delighted in helping Raven.
Finally the lawyer took another document from his case. "The deeds to the property, My Lord." He searched for another sheet and then handed it over. "That is just a note delineating the boundaries of your land, My Lord. You may wish to ride round the boundaries. I am sure that Raven knows them well."
No better than I, Ramage thought. As a boy, when he was allowed to borrow one of Uncle Rufus's fowling pieces, it was curious how the best game always seemed to be roaming the neighbours' fields. To a lawyer (and to an Uncle Rufus if Ramage was caught) it was poaching, but to a young boy it had been a great adventure. And now Treffry Hall and its estate was all his. His and Sarah's. And at Chatham Dockyard his frigate was being refitted after a long period in the Mediterranean.