Defiant Impostor Read Online Free PDF

and your husband will undoubtedly discover a congenial contentment that
quite often leads to genuine affection. My marriage to Baron Redmayne, God rest
his soul, was most agreeable even though we were barely acquainted when we wed.
Am I understood thus far, Camille?"
    "Yes, Aunt Melicent."
    "Good. You must wed a gentleman who is your equal,
one who can bring as much, if not more, material wealth to your marriage than
you yourself bring. First and foremost, your husband, without any assistance
from your own inheritance, must be able to support you in a manner befitting
your birth. Always remember, my dear, that you've the Cary reputation to
maintain, albeit in the barbarous wilds of Virginia."
    Camille had never questioned these dictums, fully
believing that they would help her to enrich Briarwood's fortunes, and neither
would she, Susanna thought as she moved to a large trunk full of her mistress's
belongings. If she chose a husband wisely, she would surely find not only
security and social acceptance among the Tidewater gentry, but happiness as
well. It all made perfect sense.
    She had never planned to marry for love anyway. In
that, Lady Redmayne had been wrong. Even for a poor woman, it made more sense
to wed a good, hardworking man whom she didn't love than to fall in love and
marry a handsome rakehell with few or no prospects, as her mother had done with
her father. Their love had quickly soured and turned to hatred in the face of
his drinking and constant unemployment. Susanna had sworn to herself long ago
that that would never happen to her.
    She and Camille had talked about her also finding a
husband in Virginia. She had never entertained any thought of settling down in
Fairford, although she had caught many a young man's eye, wanting as she did to
travel with Camille to the fabled American colonies one day. They had decided
that "her man" would have to be associated with Briarwood so the two
women would never be far apart. James Cary had mentioned in his letters, and
during his last visit to the Cotswolds, an industrious, trustworthy young man
named Adam Thornton who had been working at Briarwood, first as an overseer and
then as the plantation manager, and Susanna had been eager to meet him. But all
that had changed now. A hired man would hardly make a proper husband for an
heiress.
    Susanna wished Mr. Cary had mentioned in his last
letter the name of the particular gentleman he had had in mind for Camille. It
would have made her task so much easier. Now she would probably have to choose
from a wealth of eager suitors, and with only Lady Redmayne's strictures to
guide her.
    "I'll simply marry the richest, most prominent, most
eligible gentleman I can find," Susanna vowed, lifting the trunk's heavy
brass-bound lid. Such a union could not help but preserve the Carys' fine
reputation and, most importantly, fulfill her promise to Camille.
    Susanna drew out a folded whalebone hoopskirt. She was
determined to practice walking in the unwieldy garment until she could do so
gracefully. But it tumbled with a crisp swoosh to the floor when she spied the
top of a gilt frame tucked toward the back of the trunk.
    Tears dimmed her eyes as she was assailed by fresh
grief. She had forgotten all about the portrait. Slowly, and with trembling
hands, she withdrew a small, exquisitely framed painting of Camille.
    Meant as a gift for her father, it had been
commissioned by Camille shortly after she had received his last letter and
before she had learned he had been killed in a hunting accident. She had
debated giving it to her aunt instead, but at the last moment had decided to
bring it with her to Virginia, thinking the portrait would make an appropriate
wedding gift to her future husband.
    Susanna gazed into a pair of serene jade-green eyes,
and wondered if she could find it within herself to destroy her only image of
her beloved friend. The painting would surely label her as an impostor if it
fell into the wrong hands. Despite their