Joan Wolf Read Online Free PDF

there.”
    William placed the tray of lemonade on a piecrust table close to my chair. He straightened and said in a wooden voice, “Mr. Hodges said I was to tell you that Mr. Jack’s portmanteau has been sent to the Dower House.”
    Hodges, that wily old devil, was making sure that Jack knew he was not welcome. My gently spoken, “Thank you, William,” clashed with Jack’s much louder, “What the devil do you mean by sending my portmanteau over to Adam’s! I’m not staying with Adam, damn it.”
    I nodded to William to go, which he did. Hastily. Then I turned to confront Jack. “Hodges says that you cannot stay in the house with me, as I am not chaperoned.”
    His blue eyes blazed. “Damn it all, Annabelle, I’m your cousin! Of course I can stay with you.”
    “You are not my cousin, Jack, you are Gerald’s cousin. And Gerald is...”
    I could not say the word.
    The quick anger left Jack’s face, and he leaned forward to take my fingers into his own hard grasp. “Annabelle, love, I’m sorry. You know I wouldn’t do anything to distress you.”
    I thought as I left my hand in his for a moment before withdrawing it gently, Hodges is right. I ought not to be alone with Jack.
    He gave me a charming, crooked grin. “I will even stay with Adam, if that will make you happy.”
    I took a deep, unsteady breath. “It isn’t a penance to stay with Adam, Jack.” I took another breath, and this time my voice came out steadier. “He has been very good to me.”
    Jack pushed himself out of his chair and paced restlessly to the window. He said, “I cannot understand why Gerald named Stephen and not Adam to be Giles’s guardian. The very thought of Stephen guiding anyone is enough to make one shudder.”
    “He has done very well in Jamaica these last five years.” I poured myself a glass of lemonade. “Gerald said that ours was one of the few sugar plantations that has not had to declare bankruptcy.”
    “My grandfather made a fortune out of that sugar plantation, but its time is finished,” Jack said. “Napoleon killed the sugar market when he barred British goods from Europe. You might just as well declare it bankrupt and be rid of it.”
    I drank some lemonade and did not reply.
    “I really don’t think I can stand more than two days of Aunt Fanny,” Jack said gloomily,
    “Why not? “ I said in surprise. Adam’s wife did talk a bit, but she was an extremely good-hearted woman who had kept an open house for all the Grandville children when we were young. We had all liked Aunt Fanny far more than we liked my mother.
    “Because,” Jack said, “she will tell me—in great detail—all about Nell’s come-out. She has told me all about it the last three times we have met.”
    “Nell had quite a success in London, Jack. She had four offers of marriage!”
    “I know all about them,” Jack said, “I even know the color of each suitor’s eyes.”
    I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing.
    Jack went to the cupboard where the wine was kept and poured another glass. “One can’t help but wonder why Nell hasn’t accepted one of these desirable suitors,” he commented as he turned to face me again.
    I shrugged. “Perhaps she didn’t care for any of them.”
    “She hasn’t said anything to you?”
    I shook my head.
    “Well, she is certain to get other offers,” Jack said. “The word around town is that Adam has come up with a handsome dowry for her.”
    The dogs, who had been whining pitifully from behind the door that led into the morning room, now began to bark. I went to the door and opened it to let them in.
    “The ubiquitous hounds,” Jack said with resignation as they circled around his feet, reacquainting themselves with his smell.
    “They’re spaniels, Jack, not hounds.”
    “I say, Annabelle, must they slobber all over my boots?”
    I snapped my fingers and the dogs came to my side.
    Jack said, “Who was it that Fanny inveigled into helping her bring Nell out? Some old relic of a