She Was Sold to an Old Duke — But His Wedding Night Gift Changed Everything
Chapter 17
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The ground was too frozen to dig a proper grave. Thomas Ashbourne was entombed in the stone crypt beneath the estate's private chapel, laid to rest alongside generations of men who had built the Clydesdale fortune.The ceremony was incredibly brief: the vicar rushed through the liturgy, his breath pluming in the freezing air. Josephine stood at the head of the stone bier, wearing a dress of heavy black bombazine, a thick veil obscuring her face. She did not weep; she simply watched the heavy stone lid slide into place, sealing away the man who had bought her life and ended up saving it.Reginald and Lady Agatha stood on the opposite side of the crypt: they did not look at the tomb; they looked at Josephine.The reading of the will took place the following afternoon in the grand library. The fire was roaring, but the room felt glacial. Reginald sat in one of the wingback chairs, his legs crossed, projecting an air of bored triumph. Agatha sat beside him, nervously twisting a lace handkerchief. They had brought their own solicitor from London, a thin, sharp-featured man named Mr. Finch, who sat beside the estate's primary solicitor, Mr. Davies.Josephine entered the room precisely at 3:00. She had discarded the heavy veil. Her dark dress was immaculate—high-collared and unadorned. She walked to the large oak desk and took the leather chair behind it: Thomas's chair.Reginald sneered. "Playing the duchess to the very end, Josephine? I suppose we can allow you a few final moments of delusion before you pack your bags."Josephine ignored him. She folded her hands on the polished wood. "Mr. Davies, please begin."The old solicitor adjusted his spectacles, broke the wax seal on the heavy parchment, and began to read.The first two pages were standard: they outlined the entailment—the title of the Duke of Clydesdale, the Yorkshire estate, and the surrounding tenant farms passed directly to the closest male heir, Reginald Ashbourne.Reginald leaned back, a smug smile spreading across his face. He glanced at his mother, who let out a long, audible sigh of relief."Now," Mr. Davies said, his voice dropping slightly as he turned to the third page, "to the matter of the unentailed assets, liquid capital, and private holdings. I read the late Duke's specific addendum, drafted and witnessed in London four months prior to his passing."Mr. Finch, Reginald's solicitor, leaned forward, his brow furrowing. "Unentailed assets? The bulk of the wealth is tied to the duchy.""The land is tied to the duchy, Mr. Finch," Mr. Davies corrected smoothly. "The mining company, however, was legally separated from the estate by the late Duke's father. It operates as a private enterprise, as do the railway contracts, the London townhouse, and the cash reserves in the Bank of England."Reginald's smile vanished. "What are you saying?""I am saying," Mr. Davies continued, reading from the parchment, "that all shares in the Clydesdale Mining Corporation, all railway dividends, the deed to the property in Mayfair, and the entirety of the liquid cash reserves are left in their absolute entirety to Her Grace, Josephine Ashbourne, Dowager Duchess of Clydesdale."