The Possessive Lord's Contract Wife

"I don’t understand. What does his late wife’s will have to do with this will?" Clive asked, looking around to see if he was the only one clueless.

"It has a lot to do with this meeting. The will in which Lord Hawthorne submitted to the court is dated a week after Irene Wilkins’s passing. This will," Errol said, tapping the papers. "Respects all that is written in the late Irene Wilkins’ will."

"Lady Hawthorne’s mother left all her possessions to her daughter. Lady Hawthorne might have been too young to have any memory of a will being read. Even if your brother were to create a new will, he cannot change his late wife’s will for her belongings to go to you," Errol explained.

"Why not?" Agatha asked, annoyed that Irene was still getting in her way.

"Because it is the law that the court respects the wishes of the dead. She wanted her daughter to inherit her possessions, with a few belongings going to her husband. It was not much, but there was money set aside to be used for a wedding," Errol shared.

This news was all a surprise to Eloise. She did not know that her mother had thought so far ahead to prepare a gift for the day she would get married.

"Every dress, shoe, book, portrait, and even a fork, as long as it belonged to Irene Wilkins, was to go to her daughter. It was up to her daughter to decide what she wanted to keep from her mother. Mr Wilkins inherited his wife’s ring and a book," Errol revealed the fine details of Irene’s will.

"This is absurd," Agatha said, not liking that Irene’s will was mentioned. "Those possessions have been within Thomas’s hands for years. If he decides to give them to his brother, it should be allowed."

"With all due respect, what could you have wanted with the late Irene Wilkins’ belongings? Would it not be fair for her daughter to inherit them so she has reminders of her mother? Thomas could not have gone against his wife’s wishes," Errol said for what would be the last time.

"Mr Wilkins, the will you presented says that all of Irene’s possessions were to go to you. Here," Errol tapped Eloise’s will. "It says they are to go to his daughter. That, along with some mistakes and the evidence presented by Lord Hawthorne, suggests you forged a will and tried to fool the court."

"It is not true!" Clive exclaimed, proclaiming his innocence. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Clive abruptly stood up, the screeching cry of his chair filling the room. "I found my brother’s will and presented it to the court. If it is a fake, then someone else did it."

Errol remained calm. "Someone else created a will and placed all the belongings in your name? Not their own? The only person I can think would want to reward you is your wife. Surely, you wouldn’t say this is the work of your wife."

"It wasn’t," Agatha defended herself. "I am led to believe that you are working with Lord Hawthorne and lying when you say my husband’s will is fake. He is not a man who would go to such lengths to take his brother’s belongings."

"Are we truly surprised a man who killed his brother would pay to have a will forged?" Damien spoke up. He had allowed Agatha and Clive to make a fool of themselves, and now, he wanted to join the fun.

"I didn’t kill my brother!" Clive yelled, his hand reaching for his chair. He wanted to throw it in Damien’s direction.

"I know the look of a man haunted by killing another. You should take a look in a mirror. You have trouble sleeping, don’t you?" Damien asked, facing Clive. "You can’t escape that moment when he took his last breath. You thought you could go on living without that guilt."

"I request that Lord Hawthorne stop throwing out accusations which has had no proof. These accusations are damaging and, if heard by others, could be spread around the town to ruin the life of an innocent man. Is there no law for that?" Agatha inquired.

"Lord Hawthorne, unless you have proof or the court has found Mr Clive Wilkins guilty, I advise you to be careful with what you say. There is some action Mr Wilkins can take for you, spreading rumours," said Errol.

Errol sighed. He had hoped for a peaceful morning, but he expected too much.

"Mr Wilkins, there is evidence mounted against you to support that you had a will forged to steal your niece’s inheritance. I am told that Lord Hawthorne brought along the man you employed, and that man will speak for your crimes. As a result, you will be arrested-"

Agatha stood up. "This cannot be. My husband is innocent. Lord Hawthorne has the power to employ a man to accuse my husband. You must look further."

"It is my duty to look over wills and inheritance. I have a keen eye for mistakes in wills since it is my life’s work. Without the witness Lord Hawthorne brought forth, I know what your husband has done," Errol said and stood up. "Mrs Wilkins, I advise you not to speak unless you want to join your husband in being arrested."

Errol didn’t want to take both mother and father when he knew there was a young lady who needed to get married this season.

Errol walked around his table and went to the back of the room to open the door. Two guards awaited Clive to take him away.

"Mr Wilkins is to be arrested and placed in a cell until he is to face a judge. Your charges will be read along with the fines you will have to pay to both Lady Hawthorne and the court," Errol said, motioning for the guards to enter.

"Fines? We cannot afford to pay any fines. Our family is already in debt," Agatha said, worried she wouldn’t have money left to prepare dinner tonight.

"That is why I gave you the option of admitting to the crime. It would have released some of the burden now on your shoulders, but you are expected to pay the court and to pay the victim. This doesn’t include if you have taken any belongings from the home as yet," Errol explained.

"If you have any of Thomas’s or his wife’s possessions, then you will need to return them. If you damaged or sold them, then you will need to pay," Errol shared the unfortunate news. "Your husband must pay for his crimes. You would have been better off waiting to see what your brother left you."

Agatha stood still, letting what was said dwell in her mind. Not only was her husband going to be arrested and the family name sullied, but now they incurred more debt.