Jacobs Miranda's Family

The uplifting story from the multi-million copy bestselling author Anna Jacobs
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-0-7490-3250-0
Verlag: Allison & Busby
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, Band 1, 288 Seiten

Reihe: Miranda's Family

When Miranda Westerby's estranged and unpleasant great-aunt suddenly passes away, it appears that she left a legacy behind: a home in the idyllic village of Fairford Parva, Wiltshire. However, there are strings attached to the inheritance . . . The move prompts more discoveries about her family history than Miranda bargained for, which leave her confused and hurt. But while she might not have any flesh or blood around, Miranda does have the chance to shape a new circle of people dear to her. And perhaps find love along the way.

Anna Jacobs was born in Lancashire at the beginning of the Second World War. She has lived in different parts of England as well as Australia and has enjoyed setting her modern and historical novels in both countries. She is addicted to telling stories and recently celebrated the publication of her one hundredth novel, as well as sixty years of marriage. Anna has sold over five million copies of her books to date.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Jacobs, Anna

Leseproben

Chapter Two

Mr Parker gave Miranda an uncertain look, as if he had something else to tell her. What next, for heaven’s sake? she wondered. He indicated the brand-new file lying between them. ‘This contains copies of our summary documents and when you’re at the family home in Wiltshire you’ll be able to access the specific financial information of both the trust and your aunt’s personal details, which I gather she kept in the safe there.’

He’d already told her that and she wondered why he was repeating it. She frowned down at the file as something else occurred to her abruptly. ‘If so much information about the Westerbys has been lost, how do I know someone from another branch of the family won’t suddenly appear and claim to be the heir instead of me?’

‘I’ve been calling her your aunt but actually she’s your great-aunt, and she still had the relevant records dating from her generation of the family onwards. I followed them up and you can be quite sure that you really are her heir. From what I’ve heard of her, I doubt Miss Westerby would have made a mistake about something as important to her as that.’

‘What about my cousin? How is he involved?’

‘Mitchell Westerby is the son of your great-aunt’s second cousin, so there isn’t the slightest doubt that you take precedence over him as the direct legal heir. And since she’d found out that he was a gambler and not particularly successful at it, she couldn’t bear to leave him even the more generous bequest she had originally planned. Since you’re accepting her conditions for inheritance, I can now tell you that she’s given him the right to live in a small cottage on the estate for his lifetime. You will, presumably, meet him there.’

‘Oh. I see.’

‘It makes things easier for you that your mother kept the Westerby name when she married and that you did the same, because it was extremely important to your aunt that a female Westerby born and bred inherit the family home.’

Miranda had also been very glad of that when her own brief marriage had broken up. What was wrong with the women of her family, though, that they didn’t seem to form happy marriages?

‘You also met with your aunt’s approval about the way you’ve managed your own finances since you graduated. That was very important to her.’

‘Good heavens! It must be the only thing she ever approved of about me.’

‘Well, she always sounded a little surprised about your financial skills, I gathered from my colleague when he was handing over your affairs to me.’

She frowned. ‘How did my great-aunt know about that for sure? As I told you, I’ve had no actual contact with her since I turned fourteen.’

He hesitated, then said, ‘I gather from our records that she hired a private investigator from time to time to check up on you.’

The thought of that annoyed Miranda intensely but done was done, as her friend Libby would say. ‘I actually know very little about Phyllis’s personal background. She never married, did she?’

‘No. She, um, seemed to dislike men, if you don’t mind me saying so.’

‘I prefer to know the truth about any situation. Did she ever live in a house of her own as well as managing the family home in Wiltshire?’

‘No. She didn’t have another home when she was younger, either, because she lived with her mother in a cottage in the grounds of the family home, the one that she has now allowed your cousin to live in. So you see, she lived in your family home in Wiltshire all her life, taking charge of it when her own mother died without ever inheriting.’

‘So she owned it after the former Westerby died?’

‘No, she never actually owned it and you won’t either. Fairfield House is owned by the trust and whoever inherits the management of that is entitled to live there rent-free for the rest of their life, as you will be able to do from now on.’

That was a wonderful thought, even if she would have to move away from her friends in London.

‘I gather the house is quite old and has belonged to your family trust for nearly two hundred years.’

Why had her mother never told her more about it? That thought made her see another potential problem. ‘The house isn’t heritage listed, is it?’

‘No. Definitely not.’

‘Well, thank goodness for that. One of my friends and her husband had a lot of trouble modernising a house she’d inherited because of that. Has this house been modernised at all?’

‘I’m afraid I don’t know.’

He opened his desk drawer and took out a piece of paper, looking rather embarrassed now. ‘There’s one other thing I’m required to do. Your great-aunt wrote this a few years ago and when Mr Lloyd retired, she made me promise that I would read it aloud to you after she died. She had apparently insisted he do the same thing. If I hadn’t given her my word about that, she would have taken her business away from our law firm, so I can’t avoid doing this, I’m afraid. The senior partner reminded me of it only this morning.’

He scowled down at the paper. ‘Believe me, these are not my own feelings and if I could avoid doing this, I would.’

Miranda shrugged and waited, feeling quite certain whatever it was would be unpleasant.

He took a deep breath and began to read it in a dull monotone, avoiding her eyes. ‘“To my great-niece Miranda Westerby when she inherits. There are too few family members nowadays, so it is your bounden duty to get married again as soon as you can find a man willing to have you. Please choose a more decent husband than the last one. It was a relief not to have his genes dumped into our family pool.

‘Remember, it’s only right that you pay the family back for this generous inheritance by creating a potential heir of your own, preferably more than one daughter to ensure that the Westerby family name and genes survive. Your mother refused my request for her to remarry after your father died, so she only produced one child and that is not secure enough. Phyllis Westerby.”’

Miranda’s annoyance got the better of her. ‘The old bat should have had children herself, then.’

He gave her an uncomfortable glance. ‘I was told by the head of our firm when I too queried this aspect that she was unable to bear children because she’d had a bad accident as a youngster and that had precluded it.’

‘That’s no excuse for her gratuitous insults to me, though.’

He nodded as if he agreed but didn’t say anything, only waited for her to gesture to him to continue. He had clearly distanced himself from what he’d had to read, so she didn’t hold it against him.

She didn’t say anything else about the Will and other documentation. What was the point? Her great-aunt was dead now. But no way was Miranda getting married again merely to provide heirs for the family. ‘Once bitten, twice shy’ described her feelings about marriage very accurately, because it was too stressful getting unmarried if things didn’t go well. She’d only marry if she felt utterly certain someone was decent as well as attractive.

And if her ex ever dared to come near her again, she’d throw something at him on sight and ask questions later. She would never forgive Keith for thumping her, had been taken by surprise at how quickly he’d changed into a bully once they were married. She’d left him after only a few months because he was stronger than her and hadn’t kept his promise to seek counselling for his violence.

She realised the lawyer was waiting for her to speak so she asked the first thing that came into her mind to give herself time to calm down again. ‘What’s Fairfield House like, Mr Parker?’

‘Don’t you remember?’

‘No. I was very young and I only have a vague memory. Isn’t there a photo among the records?’

‘No. Your aunt said it wasn’t appropriate for it to be photographed.’

‘Why on earth not?’

‘I can’t tell you why not. I’ve only spoken to her a couple of times by telephone since I took over and she was very abrupt both times.’

Had the old woman been losing her marbles? ‘Go on then, please.’

She listened carefully as he continued to share the little he did know about the financial side of things. ‘Your aunt also bequeathed to you her personal portfolio of shares, her collection of Victorian jewellery and whatever money was left in her bank account when she died. She seems to have been good with finances so I should think the share portfolio will amount to a generous sum.’

‘I’m still feeling surprised that she left me any...