“How dare you sneer at my son’s forebears—they were, at least, all gentlemen born!”
“And gentlemen born live in debt, is that it? Thank God I had some common blood, in that case. No—we shall not brangle over the past.” He stood up and made for the door. “You have my last word on it, Amelia; you and Thomas must learn to live on your income, or find someone else to frank your vowels.”
“Well, and so we shall if only you will go back to Yorkshire!” hissed Amelia waspishly. “You could not have come to London at a worse time!”
Mr Devenish turned. “What do you mean?”
“Thomas and I have found a solution to all our difficulties, and if you would just take yourself away, we will bring the whole thing off.”
“What solution?”
She did not reply, but concentrated instead on examining a small, dark oil painting.
“What solution, Amelia?” he repeated in a deep, commanding voice.
Amelia tossed her head and looked mutinous. Her half-brother-in-law waited, his silent gaze boring into her.
“Oh, very well, if you must know, Thomas is taking the same solution as your father did for his difficulties. But the girl is proving very lukewarm and he will not be able to bring it off if you blunder in with your jumped-up tradesman’s blood and your ugly labourer’s hands, trumpeting your connections with us. You know they always want titles and the bluest of blood!” She sat down on her chair again in a flounce of silk.
“Who always want titles and the bluest of blood?” Hugo’s rather hard grey eyes narrowed. “You don’t mean Thomas has decided to marry an heiress?”
“Yes. Of course, he is far too young to have to make such a terrible sacrifice, but if you will persist in being so frightfully clutchfisted…”
Hugo considered her announcement. It may not be such a bad solution, he thought. With the right bride, Thomas may be induced to learn to control his ruinous habits.
As his financial advisor and uncle, Hugo could reasonably be expected to have an influence in the drawing up of the marriage settlements. He would ensure that the bride and any children she had would be protected from the results of Thomas’s extravagance. It might work, he thought. It all depended on the bride.
“So, who is this heiress?” he said mildly.
Amelia, obviously relieved by his calm acceptance of the news, sat forward excitedly on her chair. “Well, of course, nothing has been settled yet—and it probably won’t be unless you go back to Yorkshire immediately and not breathe a word to a soul!—but she has a diamond mine! She is—” Amelia’s smooth complexion glowed in triumph “—a nabob’s daughter!”
Hugo frowned. “Which nabob? I’ve heard of no new nabob in town.”
Amelia rolled her eyes at him. “It is not generally known. Anyway, there is no nabob—”
“But I thought—”
“He is dead, at any rate, and a good thing too, I say, for nabobs are invariably loud and vulgar—the stench of trade is alwa—” She broke off. “Not that there is any question of vulgarity—the girl is quite sweet and demure, but it is providential that she is an orphan, at any rate. Thomas will have complete control of all her money from the start.”
Hugo’s frown remained. “I have heard of no new heiress. Who is she?”
Amelia pouted. “Well, but if you must know—not that it is at all your business!—it is the Singleton girl.”
“The Singleton girl!” Hugo looked appalled. “You cannot be serious!”
She nodded.
“Good God! I had no idea the boy was so desperate! Rose Singleton is as old as you are!”
“Rose Singleton? She is not! She’s forty, if she’s a day!—you forget I was the veriest child-bride! Why, Rose has been on the shelf for years and years. But what has Rose Singleton’s age—you don’t mean you thought—?” Amelia stared at him in stupefaction. Then she burst out laughing. “Rose Singleton? And Thomas?’
“To my knowledge the only unmarried female among the Singletons is Rose,” said Hugo, with some asperity,
“You have forgotten the long-lost Singletons,” said Amelia matter-of-factly, applying a wisp of lace to her eyes.
Hugo frowned. “I didn’t know there were any long lost Singletons.”
“No, nor did I. But then this girl arrived, and Rose is bringing her out, and oh, Hugo, with a diamond mine, she is exactly what Thomas was looking for!” She tucked the handkerchief back in her reticule.
Hugo ignored that. “A long-lost Singleton, and a nabob’s daughter…You did say she was a lady?”
“Well, naturally there is the trade connection, but of course she is a lady, Hugo, else Thomas would not wed the girl!” Amelia said indignantly. “The girl herself is an orphan and the father is safely dead, so he cannot return to embarrass anyone. And there is a diamond mine!”
“Yes…the diamond mine,” Hugo murmured. “You’ve had her investigated, of course.”
Amelia shrugged. “She is bound to have vulgar connections, so what is the point?”
Hugo sighed. “Her financial background, I meant.”
“Do you never believe a thing anyone tells you?” Amelia snapped crossly.
He bowed over her hand and strode towards the door. “Not usually. I find I prefer to ascertain the truth for myself, wherever possible. If she is as wealthy as you say, it would be an obvious solution for Thomas’s difficulties. I have numerous connections with the East India Company, so—”
“Not India. New South Wales.”
Hugo came to a sudden halt. He swung around, staring at his sister-in-law in blank disbelief. “New South Wales? What do you mean, New South Wales?”
“The mine is in New South Wales.”
“A diamond mine in a convict settlement?”
Amelia looked puzzled. “And what is wrong with that, pray? I have heard tell New South Wales is very large.”
He snorted. “A diamond mine in a penal colony! Lord, imagine the problems—every rag-tag thief and criminal would be committing crimes in the hope of transportation to Botany Bay and a fortune in diamonds. The courts would be even more flooded than they already are. No, no, you are mistaken there, Amelia.”
“No, I am not. She quite definitely came from New South Wales—I am not stupid, you know Hugo!”
“A diamond mine in New South Wales!” he repeated scornfully. “Such a thing could not exist.”
She pursed her lips in annoyance. “Obviously you wish it did not!” she said waspishly. “But apparently they have only quite recently crossed some impossible mountain range into the unknown interior, so who is to say there are no diamonds there? Certainly not a man who buries himself in rural fastness for most of the year and is odiously selfish the rest of the time!”
“The whole tale sounds too smoky by half to me.”
Amelia shrugged pettishly.
“I would be very interested to meet the owner of a New South Wales diamond mine,” Hugo said slowly.
Amelia glared at him. “This is nothing to do with you, Hugo! If you want Thomas to be settled comfortably, then take yourself back to Yorkshire! I won’t have you meddling and putting the girl off our family.”
“I gather she is here tonight.”
Amelia hesitated, then