A Visit From Sir Nicholas by Victoria Alexander

picked up the papers and waved them at him, "I need, I deserve, a more detailed explanation than I have received thus far. Honestly, Jonathon, do you really think a copy of a portion of my husband's will, a clause I had no idea existed, and a cursory note from you would suffice?"
    "I thought I explained it all rather well," Jonathon murmured.
    "Then you were mistaken." She narrowed her gaze. "Somewhat cowardly of you to inform me of my husband's lack of faith in me in a letter rather than in person, don't you think?"
    "Good God, yes." Jonathon nodded vehemently. "In fact, calling it cowardly is putting a good face on it. I confess, I have never thought of myself as a coward, yet when it came to telling you of Charles's last wishes, obviously I am. I daresay I'd rather face pistols at dawn than face you. At least about this. You've always had something of a temper, you know, and you are prone to throw things, even if you have been more reasonable and even-tempered in recent years. Besides, I had rather hoped by the time you had made your way here after reading my letter, you would be substantially calmer and rational. Apparently, I was wrong."
    "Apparently."
    "However, although I did underestimate your ire, I was still fairly confident your initial reaction would not be pleasant, and in that, obviously"—Jonathon cast her the all too engaging and charmingly boyish grin that had been the downfall of any number of unsuspecting women—"I was right."
    "Indeed you were." Elizabeth resisted the urge to return his smile. This wasn't really Jonathon's doing, and it wasn't entirely fair to vent on him alone the fury and unrelenting sense of betrayal that had burned within her since she'd read his note a scant hour or so ago. That he had not seen fit to inform her of Charles's wishes was not nearly as maddening as the discovery of Charles's wishes in the first place. And the fact that Charles had chosen Nicholas Collingsworth of all people to oversee her finances only compounded her anger.
    She crossed her arms over her chest. "Well?"
    "Well?"
    She huffed. "The explanation?"
    "Of course. It's really quite simple." He shrugged. "Charles was impressed by Nicholas's financial success and the knighthood of course, and decided he would be the best man to oversee the financial future of his family. However, he was also well aware that Nicholas might not return to England permanently, therefore he requested I manage your affairs until such time as Nicholas did return home, if ever. Or the boys reached their majority and received their inheritance. Or," Jonathon paused, "you remarried. If said marriage was to someone approved of by myself and Father, the management of his fortune, your fortune really, would be turned over to your new husband."
    Elizabeth had gathered as much from her brother's note, but not until she heard it from his own lips did the import of Charles's action truly strike her. She sank into the nearest chair.
    "So have I ever really been in control of my finances?" she said slowly. "My life?"
    "You most certainly have." Jonathon pulled up a chair and sat down beside her. "Essentially, in Nicholas's absence, Charles put everything in my hands. You recall how after the shock of his death had passed, you began taking over more and more?"
    She nodded. "But I was under the impression you were simply handling things out of familial concern because I was unable to do so at that particular time, and not because Charles had designated you some sort of legal overseer."
    "As much as Charles was my dear friend, he never quite understood that there was far more to you than anyone ever suspected." Jonathon grinned with brotherly affection. "I, however, knew better."
    "That's something, at any rate," she muttered. "Why wasn't I told this when Charles died?"
    "It didn't seem particularly wise." Jonathon chose his words with care. "Grief is a dreadful thing, Lizzie, particularly as there is little anyone else can do to help. Charles's