Once an Heiress Read Online Free PDF

diplomatic post or a royal appointment?
    But no. He could never abandon Vanessa. She was his responsibility — the only one he’d never fouled up. If he left London, she’d be alone, vulnerable to malefactors who would take advantage of her condition. Long ago, he’d vowed never to let that happen. He didn’t dare lower his guard.
    Which left him, in regards to his debts, with little in the way of options. Did he risk losing more money to Ficken and his ilk and digging himself deeper into debt, or did he enter into a detestable marriage of convenience? Both were intolerable.
    Ethan glanced down at the frail old woman sleeping in his arms. He had wanted to come here to escape his problems.
    Even in that, he’d failed.

Chapter Three
    Lily disembarked from the carriage and joined her father’s solicitor on the walk. In the last two weeks, they had viewed numerous properties under consideration as possible homes for the school.
    She looked up and down the row of stately homes. “Isn’t Bird Street a little much for what we have in mind?”
    It would be the matter of only a few minutes to walk to Brook Street, turn the corner, and find oneself in Grosvenor Square, where scions of the wealthiest, most influential families lived in imposing grandeur.
    Lily’s friends, the Duke and Duchess of Monthwaite, would reside on the Square when they returned to England from their South American expedition.
    “Ordinarily, I’d agree,” said Mr. Wickenworth, the solicitor. He was a short man, round in the middle, balding on top, and almost always smiling. Lily had no idea the law could prove to be such a jolly profession, but Mr. Wickenworth seemed to find handling Mr. Bachman’s affairs the epitome of good living.
    He removed his spectacles and wiped them with a handkerchief. Then he dabbed the bit of forehead showing beneath the brim of his hat before returning the spectacles to his face. He wrinkled his nose and blinked. “However,” he said, “the owner is eager to sell and might be persuaded to accept an offer more in line with our budget.”
    She looked up the walk, where a fashionably dressed lady and gentleman strolled arm in arm, along with a small terrier on a lead. A fine phaeton rolled past, drawn by a matched pair.
    She looked at Mr. Wickenworth. “Even if we can convince the owner to sell to us at a reasonable price, I’m concerned the neighborhood might not be appropriate for the school.”
    The solicitor patted his belly. A gold ring circling his pinky finger winked in the sun. “That is something to consider,” he agreed. He gestured to the front stairs. “Still, we’re here. Let’s have a look.”
    Lily ascended, careful to hold her skirt and dusty blue, military-style pelisse free of the water collected on the steps. A general air of neglect hung about the property. Spots of rust blemished the wrought-iron rail, and the brass knocker was tarnished.
    She wrinkled her nose. “How long has this house stood vacant?”
    “It isn’t.” Mr. Wickenworth reached past her to knock. “I’m told the owner lives here.”
    Lily raised a brow. She very much doubted anyone possessed of the fortune required to reside in this neighborhood would permit his house to go without such basic maintenance as sweeping the front steps or polishing the brass hardware.
    Several minutes elapsed with no response from inside the house.
    “There, you see,” she muttered. “This has been a wasted trip.”
    Mr. Wickenworth’s features drew together, putting Lily in mind of a punched ball of dough. “I made an appointment through the solicitor handling the sale,” he insisted. He reached for the knocker again and rapped a full ten times.
    After another minute passed in silence, Lily said, “Maybe they left the door open for us.”
    She reached for the knob, but jerked back at the sound of a loud clatter, followed by a muffled voice. A moment later, footsteps pounded down stairs and the door opened.
    The eyes of the man