An Unsuitable Bride Read Online Free PDF Page B

Her loathsome cousin Stephen was, all unwittingly, paying for his avarice, and he would continue paying until she had safe the ten thousand pounds apiece that her father had intended to leave his bastard daughters.
    Not that the money would confer legitimacy on either herself or Sylvia, she reflected with a renewed burst of fury, this time directed at her father. How could he have done that to his daughters? Alex remembered him as an affectionate parent, somewhat distracted at times, and she remembered the many hours he and she had spent in the library . . . the library downstairs at Combe Abbey where she now spent the better part of her day.
    Her father had introduced her to all of his literary treasures, those acquired by his father and by himself. As much a bibliophile as his own parent, Sir Arthur had recognized the same passion in his daughter, and from the moment she had learned to read, he had encouraged her to have free rein among his books. She couldn’t remember his ever raising an eyebrow at the volumes she roamed through during long winter afternoons curled up in a corner of the sofa. And he’d always answered her questions about the content of thebooks, even when, as she now understood, neither the content nor the questions had been appropriate for a young girl’s mind.
    That knowledge stood her in good stead now, she reflected grimly. Who else was better suited than she to catalogue the volumes in the library for their new owner? Stephen’s interest was only in their value, but Alexandra had every intention of turning that to her own and Sylvia’s advantage.
    She yawned suddenly and stood up with a sigh, slipping the robe off her shoulders before climbing into the high bed. She leaned sideways to snuff out the candle and then lay back, watching the play of moonlight on the wall opposite the window, listening to the faint sound of waves breaking on the shore of the cove. A sound that had lulled her to sleep throughout her childhood.
    But tonight sleep proved elusive. She wondered whether Sylvia was asleep in the modest cottage in Barton, in the neighboring county of Hampshire. The sisters had never been this far apart. When Alexandra had been sent to St. Catherine’s just outside Barton, Sylvia had remained with their former nurse, who had continued to care for the invalid girl long after Sylvia no longer inhabited the nursery at Combe Abbey. Someone—their father, they had always assumed—had provided a small cottage in Barton, only a quarter-mile from the seminary, for his second daughter and her nurse, and from then on, Sylvia, like Alexandra, had had no contact with her parent.
    Matty was devoted to Sylvia, who had been in fragile health since birth, and the stipend she received from Sir Arthur Douglas to continue caring for the girl was a welcome addition to her miserly income. Without that stipend, she would not be able to keep Sylvia or afford the medicines and tonics she needed.
    Alexandra tossed onto her other side. She was always worried about Sylvia now. She knew that Matty would not abandon her, and the fifty pounds Stephen had been willing to part with would keep her for almost a year, but after that, if Alexandra was unable to put things right, to restore justice to this muddle of their lives, Sylvia’s future didn’t bear thinking of.
    Alexandra had given some thought to the lawyer’s suggestion that she take up employment as a governess or teacher. Helene had accompanied her to London but had remained at the hotel during Alexandra’s meeting with Lawyer Forsett. When she’d heard the full story on Alex’s return, she had instantly offered her protégée a position at St. Catherine’s. She’d stressed how it was an ideal solution. Alex would be able to stay in the home she’d grown accustomed to, in the company of her best friend, and within a mile of her sister.
    But resignation did not come easily to Alexandra Douglas, and she had considered the possibility and dismissed it in the