Minerva still saw the boy Jeremy had recently been when she looked at him. She at times had to remind herself that he was one and twenty now.

She broke some bread and spooned at her own porridge and watched him devour the cheese. He was probably still growing. She remembered when he was a lanky blond youth of fifteen. Now he was a lanky blond man, filling out but still thin by nature. His hair hung long because he said his mother always made him look like a serf when she cut it.

He finally slowed down enough to talk. “You should have called me, that’s all I’m saying.”

He picked up a conversation from yesterday, when he had learned about Mr. Radnor’s unusual appearance.

“If you hadn’t moved into the old carriage house, you’d of already been here,” Beth muttered.

“Not that again, Mum.”

“I’m just saying that with you out back we could be butchered in our sleep and you wouldn’t even know.”

“At least he would not be butchered too,” Minerva said. “We did just fine on our own, Jeremy. He didn’t know what hit him until he came to. Now, I want to talk about the legacy.”

Jeremy grinned. “I do too. That’s a lot of money. I was dreaming of a fine pair and a carriage most of last night.”

“I’m glad you were dreaming. I didn’t sleep the last two nights at all. I’ve been too shocked,” Beth said. “Ten thousand is a fortune. And there’s more you said. Even a hundred would be riches I’d never dare pray for. You’ll be wealthier than some fine ladies.”

“We’ll all be rich,” Minerva said. “I am still as stunned as you are. It is too astonishing. All the more so since I never met this duke. I’m sure of it.”

“You must of at some time and just don’t remember,” Jeremy said.

“I’d remember meeting a duke.”

“Maybe he is one of those peculiar sorts who likes to do odd things like give money to strangers,” Jeremy said. “You were just lucky.”

“I have no explanation except that. Yet he knew about me, so it wasn’t entirely random.”

“Knew too much, to my mind,” Beth muttered.

Minerva chose to ignore that. “Someday we will learn how this happened, but I intend to take advantage of the miracle it is. While you dreamed of horses, Jeremy, I was thinking of how we could use some of that money. I have some plans I want to tell you both about.”