“Now, now,” admonished Orthan,“we went through all of this last night. We all know they are notwho they claim to be. For goodness sake, Lord Alrecht did not evenhave any brothers or sisters so he certainly couldn’t have nephewsand nieces, but without a Lord or Lady in the manor, we will all beout in the streets. I, for one, am willing to put up with thischarade for as long as we can make it last.”
“He’s right, Miranda,” agreedAlicia. “We can’t afford to be out on the street. It would kill usfor sure. There is no other Lord or Lady in Cidal who will employus and there are more than enough beggars already so that none ofthem can get enough to eat. You’ll just have to grin and bearit.”
“Not quite,” snapped Miranda,“I am the head maid here and I have decided that you will be theone to deal with our Lady Niki from now on. We shall see just howwell you grin and bear it.”
Alicia went storming off with the wash.“Was that really necessary?” asked Orthan. “We are all in the sameboat, so to speak.”
“And how safe is our boat,Orthan?” Miranda inquired. “Does the young Lord have access tofunds to pay us? Or even funds to pay for food? And what if ourLady decides to fire us? Do you have a plan for everything,Orthan?”
“We will take one step at atime, Miranda,” Orthan said fatherly. “I will work with LordFredrik Wason to solve all of our problems. The young man is athief if ever I laid eyes on one. I will arrange for him to allowme to manage the finances of the estate. Once that is accomplished,I will sell off enough out-holdings to sustain all of us incomfort. The hard part will be in getting him the legal authorityto then turn it over to me.”
“Well, you had better startyour bargaining then, Orthan,” quipped Miranda, “before I strangleour Lady and they haul me away for murder.”
Orthan patted Miranda’s armcomfortingly and headed upstairs. He caught Fredrik just coming outof Niki’s suite. “Will My Lord spare me a few moments of his time?”Orthan asked Fredrik.
“Certainly, Orthan,” repliedthe young Lord. “Let us go into the study and we’ll see about whattroubles you.”
The young Lord and his butler enteredthe study and Fredrik took the Lord’s chair without hesitation.“What seems to be the matter, Orthan?” Fredrik asked.
“The problem, my young Lord,”Orthan smiled, “is that Lord Alrecht had no brothers orsisters.”
Fredrik listened lazily and suddenlystiffened as the butler’s meaning sunk in. He reached for hisdagger that he was not wearing in his new outfit. Orthan indicatedthat he should relax and sit back down. “I say that so we both knowwhere we each stand,” Orthan said calmly. “I think with yourcooperation, my Lord, we shall all get what we want out of thischarade.”
Fredrik smiled cautiously as herealized all was not lost already. “And what is it that my butlerwants out of this?” he asked.
Orthan pulled up a chair and sat down.“Our Lord, that is to say, Lord Alrecht, had no living kin. I canprove that and you two would be hung for the impersonation.Unfortunately, that would gain me nothing and I rather likeyou.”
Fredrik snorted at the last statement,but still managed to sound sincere when he asked, “And you have aplan, no doubt. What is your plan, Orthan?”
“The maids and myself have nodesire to find permanence on the streets as beggars,” Orthanstated. “What I propose is a partnership. I will help you establishyour right to remain as our Lord. You will execute documents givingme complete authority in financial matters. I know enough aboutLord Alrecht’s holdings that I will make us all wealthy. We willcontinue to serve you as servants and you will promise that we willnot be mistreated. We will wish for you to remain here as our Lordand protector and you will wish for us to remain safe as yourhumble servants. Everybody wins.”
Fredrik sat studying the elderlyswindler. He had to admit the plan had great merit and he hadnothing to lose. The servants needed him or some other person witha claim to inheritance if they ever hoped to stay employed.Obviously, the servants were not about to just hand over everythingwithout some safeguards for themselves. That is why Orthan insistedon holding the purse strings. That was purely a minor matteranyway. Whatever document he signed would be void if Orthan shouldsuddenly die. Orthan could not do the same towards him or theestate would be empty again and the servants would be back in theposition of being tossed out into the street. All in all, theagreement was fair and slightly in Fredrik’s favor.
“Well, partner,” Fredriksmiled, “it looks like we will have a mutually beneficialrelationship for some time to come. If you will fetch some brandy,perhaps we can toast our new relationship.”
“Certainly, My Lord,” Orthansmiled. “It will be my pleasure.”
Orthan retrieved the brandy decanterand two glasses. Expertly pouring the liquid into the two glasses,he picked one up and offered a toast. “To the new Lord of AlrechtManor, Lord Wason, may he live in splendor ‘til a ripe old age.”Orthan sat back in the chair as they sipped their brandy. “Will thenew Lord be available for company around the noon hourtoday?”
Fredrik squinted at the old man. “Thatcan be arranged, Orthan. What do you have up yoursleeve?”
“A painter friend of mine willbe calling to ask for a sitting,” Orthan chuckled. “He will bepainting a portrait of Lord Alrecht with his favorite and onlynephew. He will be most discrete for as long as I wish.”
Fredrik laughed. “You certainly havethought this out well, Orthan. Why have you figured to leave theLady out of the portrait?”
“No one will believe youbrother and sister, Sir,” Orthan stated. “People will accept her asthe Lady of the Manor believing that she is your kept woman, butnot as your sister. I hope that is acceptable.”
“It will have to be, Orthan,”Fredrik replied. Niki could get to be a problem in this wholeaffair if he didn’t handle her well. It was obvious that she hadset off on the wrong foot with the servants, but she was sobull-headed that she would never back down if confronted with theirknowledge. Best if he tried to head off her objections with somepositive news. “Orthan, have my things moved to the Master’s Suite.I need to have a talk with my Lady.”
Orthan nodded as Fredrik rose and leftthe room. He walked to Niki’s room and knocked. Niki answereddressed in a beautiful, red satin gown and a red bow in her hair.“What do you think?” she asked.
Fredrik closed the door and sat in oneof the chairs. “It is perfect,” he replied. “You look absolutelygorgeous, turn around.”
Niki twirled with a broad, beamingsmile on her face. She strode over and gave Fredrik a kiss. “I amso happy,” she declared. “This is going to work outperfectly.”
“There is a problem that Iwanted to talk to you about,” admitted Fredrik. “It seems that theservants know that Lord Alrecht did not have a niece. They arewilling to accept me as his nephew and you as my . . . woman. If wego along with this, we will be accepted by the whole community andhave great wealth. Orthan knows a great deal about Lord Alrecht’sfinances and I have asked him to handle them for us.”
Niki looked stunned. “Why don’t we justget rid of the servants?” she asked.
“No,” Fredrik quickly said.“No, we can not do that. Without their acceptance, we will have noclaim to the inheritance. It is only because of the servants thatwe have any chance at all of holding on to this mansion. Niki, wemust take care not to upset them.”
“Upset them?” Niki shouted.“You expect me to care about upsetting the servants? They were bornto serve us and we to rule them. You can’t be serious?”
Fredrik needed a way to keep Niki quietand docile long enough to get the inheritance taken care of.“Niki,” he lectured, “if you want to rule somebody, we will beruling from Beggars’ Corner. If you want to live in splendor andwealth, you will treat the servants civilly. I don’t know how to bemore clear about this, Niki, but if you get the servants mad, wewill be running for our lives. If you keep them happy, we will bevery happy. Do you understand?”