The Daring Exploits of a Runaway Heiress Read Online Free PDF

have a great deal to learn. With every word I write I am honing my craft. There is no better teacher than experience.”
    “I believe you’ve said that on more than one occasion, Father,” Spencer pointed out.
    “Well, on this particular occasion, apparently I am wrong.”
    Cam rose to his feet. “I am sorry, Father, but I am twenty-seven years of age. You have long bemoaned the fact that I was doing little more than drifting through my life. Now I have found my calling, my passion as it were, and there will indeed come a time when I give up my position and turn to the writing of novels, but not yet. If you cannot accept that”—Cam met his father’s gaze directly and squared his shoulders—“then I fear we are at an impasse.”
    “Oh, sit down, Cameron, and stop being overly dramatic.” Father cast an annoyed glance at his wife. “He gets that from you, you know.”
    “He gets all sorts of things from me,” she said sharply. “But he gets his tendency to overact from you. Now, sit down, Cameron.”
    Cam sat.
    “Obviously, I am not pleased, but neither am I surprised by your refusal. Therefore I have considered what my response would be should you decide to ignore my wishes.”
    “Sounded more like a command to me,” Simon murmured.
    “I am not about to disown you or exile you from the family or cut you off without a penny,” Father said. “While four sons may seem like a great many to those who have none, I am not going to toss one aside for choosing his own path, even if I disagree with said path.” He paused. “I was not aware that you seem to have something of a plan for your life in place. In truth I had feared this was yet another thing you would try your hand at and then abandon.”
    “I have at last found what I want to do with my life,” Cam said. “It is not a passing fancy.”
    Father nodded. “Am I to take from what you’ve said that you do not intend to pursue this journalistic endeavor forever?”
    “For a while but not forever,” Cam said cautiously.
    “And then you intend to write books?”
    Cam nodded. “I do.”
    “And I shall be the first to purchase the first edition of your first book.” Thad studied him curiously. “Do you intend to be the next Charles Dickens then?”
    “Are you going to write about orphans and poverty and war with heroes or heroines who die tragically in the end?” Grace asked.
    “No.” Cam shook his head. “If I have learned nothing else thus far, my eyes have been opened to the fact that the world is often a dire and dreadful place beyond the gates of Roxborough Hall or the walls of fine London houses. I think what people need in this world, and what I want to do, is give them a respite from their daily troubles. I didn’t know this when I began, but now I realize I want to write about the oddities and absurdities of life. I want to make people laugh or at least bring a smile to their faces, if only for as long as it takes to read a book. No, I do not intend to follow in the footsteps of Dickens, although I deeply admire his work.” He drew a deep breath. “I would much rather follow in the footsteps of Mark Twain.”
    “You want to be a humorist?” Surprise sounded in Simon’s voice. “Although I should have known. I’ve always found you most amusing.”
    “Mr. Twain’s humor is delightful, but he is American and we have such excellent English writers,” Grace said. “Some of them extremely amusing. Why, Shakespeare wrote a number of fine comedies.”
    “I don’t think he wishes to be Shakespeare, Grace,” Thad said with a smile.
    “I like him. Twain that is.” Spencer nodded. “A great deal, really.”
    “As do I.” Father studied Cam for a long moment, a slight smile lifting the corners of his lips. “But then you knew that, didn’t you?”
    “Well, yes.” Cam distinctly recalled his father attending a banquet for the American during his visit to England when Cam was a boy.
    “You do realize if you had confided in me