The Jane Austen Society(71)

While away at war, Andrew had been surprised that Benjamin Gray had not tried to scoop Frances up for himself. But in 1918 Benjamin had fallen head over heels in love with a beautiful young scientist at King’s College London, near the end of the medical studies that had prevented his own conscription. Andrew understood Ben well, knew him to be brilliant and caring but flawed like any man, with a propensity for a saviour complex. Andrew’s propensity, like Frances’s, was to be a martyr instead, and for years the two of them had resisted any interaction while never building a life with anyone else. Yet recently, as her father’s health increasingly failed, Frances and Andrew had found themselves living a type of proxy version of married life, occasionally breaking bread together, walking the Great House’s landscape to discuss various improvements to come out of the estate, and administering to Mr. Knight’s every whim.

So Andrew listened carefully to Frances when she told him that she did not want to fight the will. A small reserved corner of his heart wondered if this decision was ironically part and parcel of her greater independence now that Mr. Knight was gone. To Benjamin, Andrew had accused Frances of letting herself be boxed in by her father, but the woman before him did not seem trapped. She had a calm about her instead, as if she finally knew what, and whom, she could count on. For it was never as much as any of us like to hope—the key was to know whom one could trust to be there and when, in good times and in bad. As the only daughter of Mr. Knight, she had been required to accord him his deference and his due, all the while suspecting deep down how he really felt about her. At least she no longer had to pretend. There was liberation in that, however emotionally cruel to endure.

“Well, if you are sure then, I shall write the lawyer back and agree to this visit that Mr. Knatchbull-Hugessen would like to make to the estate. The claim will be filed anon, I am confident of that. And he can kick you out of this house once the court has approved him as the sole beneficiary. He has a most diligent and shrewd lawyer—I suspect any such approval will be obtained in record time.”

“That’s alright. Evie and I have already started packing. She is intent on rescuing certain volumes from the library for me, and the balance for the Austen Society. Do you anticipate any issues there?”

“Not necessarily, but you should get a valuation done as soon as possible—the trustees can then vote to make an offer to Mr. Knatchbull-Hugessen for the contents of the library and, hopefully, for the steward’s cottage as well. But leave me out of any assessment, alright? I will abstain as discussed from any society meeting or voting to acquire, and the offer can then be made by the trust directly to the declared heir.”

“How soon might he visit?”

“I suppose anytime.” Andrew looked at her with one eyebrow raised expectantly.

“Perhaps ”—she looked back at him, equally expectantly—“perhaps we should call an emergency meeting of the society? To advise them of Mr. Knatchbull’s claim, and to vote on making an offer for the books and the cottage, just in case he is inclined to dispose of anything fast himself?”

Andrew nodded in agreement. “But you’ll want that valuation done first—Yardley might be able to help, although I worry about any impact on his professional reputation if it’s not done strictly to the letter.”

“I have good news then.” Frances had a surprising smile on her face. “Evie’s already done one and handed it over to Yardley for his appraisal.”

“You’re joking.”

She shook her head happily. “Not at all. It’s really quite impressive. She’s been at it for two whole—”

Andrew put his hand up to silence her and she bit her lip in acquiescence. Then he stood up, shuffled the papers about on his desk, and looked straight at Frances Knight for once.

“But just so you know, just between the two of us, I am hoping, as executor of the estate and as a friend, to be completely taken advantage of by the young Evie Stone and her rapacious eye.”





CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Chawton, Hampshire

February 19, 1946

Emergency Meeting of the Jane Austen Society

The meeting was quickly held, at seven the following evening, in the front parlour of Dr. Gray’s house. Five members of the Jane Austen Society were in attendance: Dr. Gray, Adeline, Adam, Mimi, and Evie.

Andrew and Frances had abstained from attending both the discussion and the vote. Yardley was unable to get down from London with Mimi on time, which at first worked out well since Andrew feared that Yardley’s reputation and employment at Sotheby’s could be jeopardized by any involvement in an amateur appraisal with such significant financial repercussions for the parties involved.

That left only Adeline and Dr. Gray for a vote by the trustees of the Jane Austen Memorial Trust. Three votes—a majority of the five trustees—would be necessary to establish the majority required according to the law of meetings in parliamentary procedure. After some to and fro between Andrew Forrester and Yardley over the phone, Mimi was designated Yardley’s proxy for the vote. The reasoning of both gentlemen was threefold: Sotheby’s had no legal or financial interest, or anticipated interest, in the Knight estate at the time of voting; Yardley would not be personally or professionally profiting from his vote, and he was willing to sign an affidavit to that effect; and—finally—as a director Yardley was permitted to use his expertise in cultural and literary valuation for the good of the trust’s charitable objectives.