Fixing To Die

“Yes, that’s it,” Serenity said. “But the important part is that this baby sister of his was my fourth great-grandmother. She married a man from Vicksburg named Jedediah Gamble. Her brother had told her she could take everything in the room with her, but his wife pitched a fit because she was horribly jealous of my great-grandmother. So he backed out on his promise but he swore he would leave it all to her in his will, and if she died before him, to her heirs.”

Mary Turner took up the story once again.

“She lived to be quite old and outlived him, as it turned out, but this will—if it ever existed—never turned up. The will that he did leave made no mention of any legacy to his sister. He hadn’t wanted her to marry Jedediah Gamble.” She stared hard at Serenity. “You left out that part.”

“Because it doesn’t really matter,” Serenity said.

“Why did your great-grandfather not want his sister to marry Mr. Gamble?” Dickce asked. “Was he a poor man?”

“No, he was not,” Serenity said. “His family lost a lot during the war, like most people did, but he was smart and ended up restoring the family’s wealth before he married my great-grandmother.”

“Then what was the issue about the marriage?” An’gel asked. “Is it really pertinent to the story?”

“Yes,” Mary Turner said. “I think it explains why there was no will leaving the contents of the French room to my four times great-aunt. I know this will probably sound ridiculous to you, but it was because he was from Vicksburg. After the war, there was a lot of dissension between the people of Natchez and the people of Vicksburg.”

“Whatever for?” An’gel asked. “I suppose it had something to do with the war.”

“It sure did,” Serenity said, her tone becoming increasingly heated as she talked. “The people of Vicksburg stood up to the Union Army. They refused to give in, but the traitors in Natchez let them in. They didn’t want anyone to hurt their precious houses.”

“Seriously?” Dickce asked.

“I’m afraid so,” Mary Turner replied. “Families, particularly in Vicksburg, refused to have anything to do with their relations in Natchez for years afterwards. There was a tremendous amount of resentment. Naturally, people in Natchez didn’t like the attitudes of the people in Vicksburg.” She paused for a moment. “Supposedly, Jedediah Gamble had been pretty outspoken about all this because his family lost their home while Cliffwood wasn’t really harmed. But he fell in love with Great-Aunt Mary and was determined to have her.”

“If I understand all this correctly,” An’gel said, “the reason that your great-grandfather didn’t leave his sister the contents of the room in his will is because he disliked his brother-in-law so much, he didn’t want even his sister’s children to have it.”

“Basically, that’s it,” Mary Turner said. “And that’s why the Turners are sure there never was a will leaving anything to Great-Aunt Mary.”

A voice from the doorway startled them all. “That’s a damn filthy lie, and you know it.”

CHAPTER 10

Given the aggressive attitude and the contents of his statement, this had to be Nathan Gamble, An’gel thought.

Mary Turner quickly confirmed it. “Why do you always have to sneak into my house, Nathan? And then behave like a crazy person, I might add.” She rose from her chair to confront her cousin. “Why are you here?”

Nathan seemed not to have heard her. An’gel could see that his attention now appeared to be focused on his sister. “Why are you here, Serenity? If you think you’re going to badger me into giving you that money, you might as well save yourself the effort. I’m not going to let you have it.”

Serenity jumped to her feet and let loose a string of profanities directed at her brother and his stinginess and other unpleasant qualities. Wilbanks put out a hand to get her attention but she brushed him aside.

An’gel and Dickce exchanged glances of distaste and disapproval. This young woman was downright nasty, An’gel thought, debasing herself this way. She was screaming now but her brother didn’t appear to be affected by it, other than by continuing to shake his head at her.

An’gel had had enough. No one else seemed willing to stop this tirade. She might as well do it. She got up and positioned herself practically in the young woman’s face and glared at her. Serenity appeared startled by An’gel’s actions and sputtered to a halt.

“You sit down right this moment, young woman,” An’gel said, “and close that nasty mouth. I don’t want to hear another vulgar word out of you, or I will slap you so hard you’ll think it’s next week. Do you understand me?”

Serenity shrank against the back of the sofa and nodded in a jerky fashion. “Yes, ma’am,” she whispered.

Nathan Gamble grinned at An’gel. “I don’t know who you are, lady, but you’re the first person since my mama died who’s ever been able to shut her up once she gets going in one of her hissy fits. Thank you.”