“You just like me for the sort of lifestyle I can give you,” Cedric said. He had a self-satisfied grin on his face now. “Marcel is truly devoted to me.”

“A French valet?” Edwina demanded. “Are you mad?”

“Better a French valet than an Australian farm worker. He comes from an aristocratic family that lost everything in the revolution. He has good blood.”

“Good blood.” Edwina spat out the words. “At least John is your own flesh and blood—your brother’s child.”

“So his mother claimed,” Cedric said. “Obviously John was the best choice among the many contenders for father of her brat.”

“How dare you!” Jack leaped up. “I warned you before not to insult my mother. You take that back.”

He started round the table toward Cedric.

“Stop him,” Cedric said to the footmen standing behind us, who were staring at us in horror and fascination. They made a halfhearted grab at Jack, who attempted to fight them off.

“Sit down, John,” Edwina said in her powerful voice. Jack hesitated then backed off, standing undecided at the back of the room. Edwina drew herself up to her full height, sticking out that impressive bosom. “This is madness, Cedric. It cannot be allowed to happen.”

“I don’t think there’s much you can do, Mother. There are legal precedents aplenty.”

“We will have you declared insane if we have to.”

“Good luck. Try it. I’ll enjoy the fight,” Cedric said. “You and Father always claimed I was spineless and lacked imagination. Now I suspect that I’ll have the last laugh.”

With that, he strode from the room.

The Starlings had also risen to their feet and watched him go, half wanting to run after him, but not daring to.

“That conniving little minx Marcel.” Julian sounded near to tears. “Pretending to be so humble and subservient, when all this time he’s been plotting against us.”

“He can’t really do it, can he, Mama?” Irene asked. “I mean, one can’t really adopt someone who is over twenty-one, surely?”

“I have no idea,” Edwina said. “And we don’t actually know that he is over twenty-one, do we? Your brother selected him. I know nothing about him.”

“If he was going to adopt anyone, he should have adopted Nick.” Irene glared at the doorway through which Cedric had departed. “If anyone deserves to be the rightful heir, it is surely one of my children. We have the blood of the dukedom in our veins, don’t we? But a common valet, and a Frenchman at that—it’s too much to bear. Get on to our solicitor now, Mama. Summon him here immediately, before something awful happens.”

“I will telephone our solicitor in the morning and ask him to come down and meet with us, Irene. The wheels of the law move slowly. Cedric can’t just adopt someone overnight. And it may just be an idle threat. It wouldn’t be the first time your brother did something stupid out of spite then regretted it. Give him time to see the absurdity of his threat.”