Crowns & Chaos

one

The old wood creaked under my hand as I pushed open the heavy oak door. Both my parents hot on my heels, we slowly stepped over the threshold, kicking up a good amount of dust as we went. 

The home was furnished with dark wood, a deep brown that absorbed most of the light coming through the giant windows. The rain pattered on the vaulted roof as we all stood in the doorway, taking in our surroundings. 

"Theodore said he'd meet us at 4:00." My mother said quietly. There was no need for her to whisper, but there was something about the house, something deep that none of us were ready to disturb yet. 

I pulled off my rain jacket, letting my red hair tumble out the back. I smoothed out the front of my black dress, the one that still smelled new. We'd had to shop for it unexpectedly when the news of my grandma's death had made its way to Canada. 

My father's mom, a strangely enigmatic woman who I rarely saw except for very special occasions. She'd been at a few Christmases, my high school graduation, and visited us only a couple other times. I wasn't particularly close to her. There was always something different, something my parents and I could only guess at about her. Even my dad had admitted he barely knew his mother. 

But dad never knew his father and was an only child, so we went to the funeral in London, a small and sombre affair. 

There were some cousins, a few of her friends, but not very many people really knew the ever-mysterious Victoria Windham, and I suspect that she liked to keep it that way. 

"Evie, can you grab the teacups? Theodore will probably want some when he gets here."

I nodded, moving to grab some of the dusty pink china from its case in the corner of the kitchen. My mother rummaged around for the kettle and some herbal teabags. We didn't have milk or sugar or whatever British people were always putting in tea on tv. 

Even though my Dad was born in England, my mother was Canadian, which meant I had a tiny little accent from learning from my dad and the shows he watched but was mostly Canadian at heart. He and my grandmother had moved to Canada from Bristol when dad was a teenager, and once he married my mom and they had me, Grandma moved back to her birthplace, London.

"Stacy, can you come here a minute?" My dad called from the living room.

"Yep, hang on a second."

I stood in the centre of the old room, waiting for the water to boil. This was a truly beautiful house, with moss growing on the outside and big sweeping rooms. It was clearly an old money house, though I have no idea where that old money came from. There was no record of any Windhams living here before my grandma. 

The screeching of the kettle brought me back to reality. I grabbed it and took it off the heat, pouring it into some cups, just as the old doorbell rang. It was loud and echoey, the kind that you would hear in a horror movie. 

Even though the house was pretty, I couldn't shake the strange feeling that followed me around. Doesn't matter whose house it is, when the owner dies, they take something with it. 

My dad opened the door to see Theodore Camdon, my grandmother's friend and basically only confidant/advisor from what we could tell. He handled almost all the legal and financial matters on her behalf. He'd asked us to meet at her house after the service was over.

"Hello Thomas, Stacy. And where's Evangeline?"

I stuck my head out of the kitchen. 

"Hello Theodore, I'm just grabbing some tea."

"Oh lovely, do meet us in the study when you've finished."

I sighed, finding a tray and feeling not unlike Natalie from Love Actually, I piled the cups on along with a couple of old cookies I'd found in the cupboard.

I walked into the study, where there were still old books and paper out as if my grandmother had never left. We had never had a normal relationship, but my heart still twinged painfully at the sight of it all. 

I set the tray down and seated myself on an overstuffed chair in the corner of the room and tucking my legs underneath me, fiddling with the hem of my dress. Theodore sat on one side of the desk and faced my parents

"So, as I'm sure you're both aware, I'm here to discuss the matter of Victoria's will."

My dad blanched but didn't look surprised. My mom squeezed his hand on top of the desk and nodded. 

"Normally this would be handled by an executor as I'm sure you know, but some of the information here is quite, uh, delicate, one might say."

My ears perked up at that slightly. Maybe some of the secrets I was never allowed to ask about would finally have some clarity in light of her death.

"Now your mother had quite a large fortune stored away before her death. A small portion of it has been left to me, but most of it is left in your name, Thomas."

"She never liked to talk about money... I... What kind of number are we talking here?" My dad, always the tactician, asked.

Theodore slid the page over and both my parent's eyes widened substantially. 

"That's... I mean..." For the first time in her life, my mom was speechless. 

"What is it?"

They both turned to me, but my dad shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. It's enough to know that you'll be out of student loans after you graduate."

I blinked. We were decidedly a middle-class family despite my grandma's protests, so this was getting interesting. Normally my dad would have rejected financial help.

"Okay."

Theodore coughed, drawing our attention back.

"She has also left you the house, both the cars and the cottage in Herne Bay."

My mom's jaw dropped.

"I don't know what to say, honestly."

"I don't know why you're both so surprised. Thomas was her only child and she wasn't exactly known for making friends," Theodore chuckled.

"I guess," my dad muttered, still looking a little shell-shocked.

"She's left Evangeline her clothes and jewellery, as well as all the books."

My heart skipped. Grandma Victoria was clearly not at all what we were thinking, and judging by the size of the house and the apparently big fortune she'd left us, who knew how much her clothes and jewellery could be worth?

I cleared my throat nervously. 

"Um, okay, thank you."

My mom gave me a small smile, eyes still wide.

"Essentially all of her assets have been transferred into Thomas's name, and that's about it for the simple stuff."

"The simple stuff? What is that supposed to mean?" My mom's voice was pitched higher than normal, still trying to wrap her head around the ridiculous wealth that had fallen into our laps in the past hour.

Theodore smiled at us, a strange conspirational grin that made my heart drop. What did he know that we didn't?

"There is another rather large bit of information surrounding your ancestry."