The Langton Legacy

"He was engaged to be married at the time. And because he never produced an heir, the estate passed to his younger brother Thomas. There were those who said that it was better this way as, in many ways, Thomas was the responsible one of the pair. James Langton liked to enjoy life -- lots of women and parties -- and was very bad at managing money. Although it is said that he would give his last farthing to anyone, and in fact he always gave extravagant gifts to the servants at Christmas. On one occasion he was known to give a scullery-maid a year's salary as a gift. We now know that this scullery-maid was in fact the love of his life, Emily Smythe, and that she became pregnant with his child -- but because class differences prevented them from marrying, he instead gave her enough money to support herself and the baby -- and left them a considerable amount of money in his will."

"What happened to the child?" asked one of the group one day.

"Ah," said Irina, smiling. "That is a happy ending. Darryl Smythe, Lord Langton's illegitimate great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson, has been traced and proven to be a direct descendant -- and he is reclaiming his property from the National Trust as we speak."

James heard this and was content, realising that his unfinished business had been dealt with at long last. He was also sad, as he felt himself slipping away from the room he had been trapped in for the past two centuries and towards the next world, because he would not see Irina again and had no chance to say goodbye -- but he had every reason to hope that he would get to see his beloved Emily, and possibly even their son Oliver, once again.

Irina felt the change in the room, and later that night gave way to a few tears in mourning at his departure. But she had searched for Darryl for this very reason -- to let James move on -- and since she and Darryl had been attracted to one another right away, and were going out for dinner that night, she knew it was for the best that her relationship with his ghostly ancestor should be at an end.