Julius made his way to the study as Raymon continued to talk.
"So, I finally got to meet with Clansky. I'm actually at his second estate now."
"Oh, so what were you able to find out?" Julius questioned as he made his way to his desk. Sitting down, he pulled out pen and paper to take notes if needed.
"Quite a bit. We were right about Lanster, he definitely needed Resena to stay on the estate due to her will. Clansky gave me a brief over of it, but he wants to speak with you face to face. We'll be heading to you first thing in the morning."
"Okay, I'll have a guest suite prepared for him. What did he tell you so far?"
"Well, apparently her parents left a huge estate to her for when she turned 18 with a dowry being paid out to her guardian once she reached that age."
"Interesting. So, the Lansters never received anything after taking her in?"
"Nope, not a thing! Oh, and here's the catch, according to the will, determining who the guardian was based on where she legally lived ON her 18th birthday. So even though the Lansters were her guardians for the past nine years, because she was off the premises before her 18th, they won't receive any funds. Delvoy Lanster has been trying to find Clansky for the past several weeks. My guess, he wanted to catch him before he learned Resena was gone."
Julius sat in silence, finally it all made sense, Lanster's paranoia regarding Resena leaving prior to turning eighteen. He needed her there for the purpose of the dowry. This made Julius seethe, Resena was nothing more than money to him.
"I see, and exactly how much is the dowry?"
"So that's where he got tight lipped. He said it would be best to go over everything with you because technically you are now Resena's legal guardian."
Julius eyes shot wide opened. Her guardian! How could he be her guardian and her fiancé at the same time? Wouldn't that cause some type of issues?
"Raymon, I can't be Resena's guardian. We're engaged."
"Yeah, I know, I told him that. He said he'll explain everything to you once you both meet. We should be to your estate by 6pm tomorrow."
"Okay, I'll be ready, in the meantime, until I gather all the facts, we'll keep Resena out of it. I don't want her to get flustered about anything."
"Oho, does this mean I get to finally meet the lovely Resena Blackwell."
Sigh. "I guess, just don't be your usually annoying self."
"Ha-Ha! We'll see! See you tomorrow."
Julius sat his communicator on his desk, his mind was rushing with many thoughts. The easiest of the thoughts were the Lansters, it all made sense about the urgency of keeping her on that estate. "What a usual will." Julius thought as he replayed the conversation with Pascal over. "And now Clansky thinks I'm her guardian. (Sigh). I'll have to think of a way to get around that. I don't want a dowry for Resena, and I can't be her guardian and her fiancé, that would cause too much of stir in high society." Julius poured himself a drink as his mind began to wonder off to him and Resena in the dining room. Remembering how her lips felt and how her face flushed as he kissed her made him blush. Although he no intentions of doing anything further until the wedding, he would be lying to himself if he said it wasn't difficult.
"It's getting harder and harder to look at her without wanting to engulf her. Perhaps I should move the wedding up."
Julius stood from his desk, he would speak to Resena about the idea of moving the wedding to a sooner date later on, for now, he would need to focus on his meeting with Clansky.
Raymon and Paul along with his butler Hector Dorsey arrived at the Spencer estate around seven the next evening. Bellman along with three servants greeted the gentleman as they reached the front entrance.
"Mr. Pascal, always a pleasure. Mr. Clansky and Dorsey, welcome to the Spencer estate, I'm Richard Bellman, the head caretaker."
All four gentlemen shook hands as Bellman led them into the foyer.
"Please allow my servants to gather your belongings and take them to your guest suite. The rest of you all, please follow me into the grand room. Mr. Spencer will be with us shortly."
Julius was in the study with Resena, he'd called her in shortly after dinner. He figured it would be safe to at least warn her she would be meeting his best friend along with an associate of her parents though he decided not to tell her just yet exactly who Clansky was.
"So, Raymon is your childhood friend?" Resena stood in amazement as Julius informed her of everyone she would be meeting. This would be the first personal person of Julius she'd met; the thought made her feel nervous. "I hope he likes me." She began to anxiously think as Julius continued to speak. Julius could sense her worry and smiled.
"No need to worry. Raymon is a good guy, though he has a knack for being annoying, he'll like you just fine."
Resena smiled brightly; hearing reassurance from Julius always brought her joy.
"And you said this Paul Clansky knew my parents?"
"Yes, he's here on a business matter for me, but I wanted to tell you in advance in case he caught you off guard."
"Oh, how thoughtful! Well, it's always nice to meet people who were friends with my parents. Thank you for telling me."
Resena's bright and trusting smile made Julius feel a tinge of guilt. Though it was true he was not necessarily lying to her, he felt guilty for not telling her the full truth. "I promise I'll tell you everything once I learn all the facts." He thought as they made their way to the grand room. Just then Bellman introduced the two.
"Gentleman, I present to you, Duke Julius Spencer and Lady Resena."
As Julius and Resena walked through the door, he could feel his gaze make his way to Raymon who now stood in shock. Though Raymon had seen her in the papers, seeing Resena in person was completely different. "The papers didn't do her justice, she's stunning." Raymon thought was he made his way to his long-time friend. Walking up to Julius, Raymon shook his hand and whispered in his ear.
"I get it now." Julius blushed a little as he looked at Raymon, "you better not pull anything" he glared as he pulled away. Raymon let up a nervous laugh as he knew all too well what that glare met. Just then, Paul Clansky silently walked over to Resena.
"My goodness. I haven't seen you since you were a toddler. You're all grown up; you look so much like your mother."
Paul Clansky starred at Resena with emotion in his eyes, it had been so long since he'd seen her, and now here she stood a beautiful young woman. Paul could not help but choke a little. "Marlow, Lucena, she's grown up perfect. I promise I'll take of her this time." Paul thought as he lightly shook Resena's hand.
Smiling, Resena began to speak. "So, I understand you knew my parents?"
The question caught Paul off guard, did she not know who he was? Suddenly he looked over to Julius and Raymon, who stared at him with intensity.
"Oh, yes, I knew them quite well. Hopefully one of these days I'll be able to discuss just how well with you." Paul stated in a nervous voice. Why hadn't Spencer informed her of what was going on? He would reserve his questions for when she left the room. Suddenly, Raymon let out a loud clap.
"Well, I guess it's my turn! It's certainly a pleasure to finally meet you Ms. Resena, I'm Raymon, Julius' best friend!"
Raymon held his arms out as if to gesture for a hug, nervously, Resena walked forward. Suddenly, Raymon gripped her into a hug, startling her and angering Julius.
"Let her go Ray!" Julius seethed through his teeth, just as he expected, Raymon would be over the top.
"Hey! I just wanted to give a hug to my new sister-in-law! Resena, you have no idea how happy I am that you found Julius. I thought this stiff would never get mar-"
Before Raymon could finish his sentence; he found Julius giving him a death glare. Suddenly he stepped back.
"Anyway, it was nice to meet you." As Raymon scurred over to the couch, Resena couldn't help but giggle, Julius was always so poised and refined so seeing his more relaxed and awkward side was kind of cute. Just then all the men in the room flustered as they watched her smile. Juluis suddenly cleared his throat. Resena took that as her cue to leave.
"Well, it was most certainly a pleasure meeting you all this evening. Raymon, thank you so much for being a good friend to my fiancé, and Mr. Clansky, thank you so much for befriending my parents. I hope to meet you all again soon."
The men all blushed as Resena made her way to the door, before she existed, Julius grabbed her hand and whispered in her ear.
"In this very moment, I've never been prouder to be your fiancé."
Resena could feel her face redden. What made him suddenly say that? Julius smiled as he watched Resena scurry down the hall. Watching her get flustered always brought him slight joy. Turning back to his audience, he walked over to where the gentlemen were all sitting. Just then, Raymon exclaimed.
"Wow man! I totally get it! She is absolutely breathtaking!"
"I have to admit, watching her was like seeing Lady Lucena all over again." Clansky chimed in as he smiled slightly. Suddenly his fell into a serious look.
"Though I must say Duke Spencer, I was quite surprised she was not aware of exactly who I am."
Julius looked over to Clansky, he knew where he was going with this statement.
"I thought it would be best to inform Resena of everything once I gathered all the facts. Believe me, I have no intentions of keeping her in the dark for long."
"I can understand that, but don't you think she should be here as this also pertains to her?"
"I understand your reservation Mr. Clansky but you have to understand, these past nine years have been very difficult for Resena as you can imagine living with the Lansters. I just want to gather all the facts before I bring her in."
Paul looked at Julius directly in the eyes, he could sense a surge of warmth and protection as he of spoke of Resena. "I suppose he does care a great deal about her." He decided he would follow Spencer's lead regarding her.
"Understood Mr. Spencer, I'll follow your lead regarding Resena, but eventually, I will have to speak with her as well regarding her parents and their will."
"Understood. Now, if we could get down to business, I'd like to know exactly what has been going on."
"In order to do that, I will have to take you back to the beginning, when Marlow and Lucena first decided to create their will."