The Luckiest Man Alive

Whilst the Lake family sat in stunned silence M’sieur Edwarde Giradin Master of the Du Lac Estates explained, "The 1st Duke Du Lac had been knighted by Richard I (The Lionheart) for services during his reign and during the Crusades, the titles and lands then passed from father to son until 1777 when the 16th Duke had died leaving the Dukedom to his son who began a reign of merrymaking and debauchery until 1790 when France was in one of its tumultuous periods and the estate was attacked by reformists. The Duke fled his estates with his young son and eventually secured passage to England after the rest of his family had been killed near Chalus rather prophetic actually as that had been the site of the mortal wounding of Richard the Lionheart many years previously. The Duke grabbed all the liquid assets that he could and ran for his life. He left instructions that a trusted courier would arrive as soon as he was settled in England, but no one ever did." “And no one thought to try to find him” interrupted Alex “It was not that easy in those days, but the guardian had very specific instructions from the Duke” “Instructions?” asked Phill. “Guardian?” asked Steve. “Let me continue,” said M’sieur Edwarde. “After the religious wars in 1562 the 8th Duke had had a narrow escape when part of the Chateau was burned, so he had appointed a guardian to his family and sworn that guardian to maintain his ‘goods and chattels’ in good order for the Dukes family. In return for the guardians business acumen the guardians family was annually allowed 2.5% of the value of the estate to live off.” “So the better the guardian did for the Duke the better off he was?” said Steve “That’s quite correct, and the guardian passed that deed on to his family just as the Dukedom passed through the male lines of that family.” “But I still don’t understand why no one was allowed to look for the 17th Duke, surely that was part of the task left to the guardian?” asked Alex. “Until the reign of that particular Duke that would have been correct, but remember he was the – how would you say it - the black sheep – he trusted no one and added a codicil to the original agreement to the effect that if he left the Chateau for any length of time, then the property, horses and lands must be maintained in good order, trade was to be continued and profits would be forwarded to himself. The address would be supplied to the guardian only by a ‘trusted courier’ or the Duke himself. “So the guardian was forbidden to seek him out at all?” asked Steve. “Absolutely forbidden,” continued Edwarde “but the Duke never returned and as I said no courier ever arrived - what is thought to have happened is that The Duke was killed whilst in England, but his young son survived. However his son was only 4 years old when the Duke left and maybe his father who was now even more distrusting of his ‘friends’ had made no mention of his identity to anyone in England. He had left with the equivalence of about £10,000 which in those days was a fortune, and certainly worth him being killed for.” “So his son would never have known of his inheritance and so never returned to France himself!” said Steve “But the guardians have continued to follow the original instructions, meaning that you are the current guardian M’sieur?” “I said you were a quick study, but we have been known for the past several decades as the ‘Master of the Estates’, and yes I am the current incumbent” replied Edwarde, again with a formal bow. “Which means that you think that my family are linked to the missing Duke?” Steve said in astonishment. “No M’sieur” said Edwarde “No!” “No M’sieur I do not think you are linked – the DNA sample confirmed that since the death of your Brother Michael a few years ago you are the 27th Duke du Lac!”