The Paradise Will Read Online Free PDF

Hades is Sir Giles Maxton?’ he cried.
    Noting that Piers was trembling with fury and his face was as white as his shirt, Alyssa continued in a softer tone, ‘We will come to that in a moment. What are you accusing me of?’
    ‘If you must have it spelt out then I believe you influenced Uncle Tom to change his will! You – you are to receive Hawkscote instead of me! Damn it, how can that be equitable?’ Piers then entered a long and disjointed invective, covering Alyssa’s duplicity, the maliciousness of the general’s actions, his misfortune and ill-treatment at the hands of his relatives, and concluded with, ‘I think it monstrous! It has always been understood Hawkscote was mine !’
    ‘I agree you had that understanding,’ retorted Alyssa, who had listened to his diatribe in silence but with a gleam of anger in her eyes, ‘but did Uncle Tom ever say as much?’
    He shrugged and coloured. ‘Well, no – but that is not the point. As his nearest male heir, it was his duty to leave it to me.’
    ‘It was his duty to leave it to whomever he saw fit.’
    ‘Then you deny you influenced him?’
    ‘Of course I deny it!’ she replied, with asperity. ‘How could you believe me capable of such a thing?’
    ‘It would not be your usual style, I grant you, but even someone of your high moral tone might be tempted by money!’ he jeered.
    ‘Well, I was not! I was blissfully ignorant of his intentions. Why, I have not seen Uncle these past two years and you must acknowledge it would be impossible to coerce Tom without seeing him!’
    ‘But you were always his favourite—’
    There was a knock at the door. Coffee was bought in by a porter and conversation halted until he left. Alyssa poured out two cups, handed one to her cousin and continued, ‘It was your sybaritic lifestyle that irritated him, Piers. He could not understand why you did not make something of yourself by joining the military , or some other worthwhile occupation, instead of drifting between country house parties and London, amassing debts in the process.’
    ‘Following the drum was never in my blood.’
    She gave a little smile and eyed him mischievously. ‘No, it wasn’t, was it? The army would have mounted their next assault before you had risen from your slumbers.’
    ‘I’m not in the mood for humour,’ he said.
    ‘Neither am I particularly. Let us call a temporary truce and be serious for a moment. You know I could not have influenced Tom but while it is true he has favoured me, only consider the terms I have to meet.’
    ‘What are they?’ Piers’s interest was piqued; perhaps all was not yet lost.
    ‘I am to live at Hawkscote for six months and dine once a week – alone – with Sir Giles Maxton, who owns the neighbouring estate, consulting him on all matters pertaining to the estate, farmland and staff. You may imagine how enamoured I was of that arrangement.’
    Piers slammed his cup down upon its saucer. ‘What?’ he said, incredulous. ‘Why would Tom want you to have dinner with some old fossil?’
    ‘Well, I could not describe Sir Giles as an old fossil,’ declared Alyssa, vividly recalling the dark, brooding man who had towered above her, ‘but he is uncivil. Still, I am obliged to share his company and will no doubt suffer dyspepsia as a result.’
    ‘Good God, the general must have lost his senses!’
    ‘It seems not, but you know how mischievous he was, and his will is written in the same vein.’
    Piers regarded her in moody silence. He clenched his right hand until the knuckles showed white beneath the skin and, in desperation, tried another avenue.
    ‘Will Hawkscote revert to me if you don’t meet the terms?’
    ‘I’m afraid not.’
    Piers’s scowl grew deeper as she explained. Then, he rose to his feet, exclaiming fiercely, ‘So – I am completely cut out; either you get the estate, or Maxton will purchase it.’
    ‘You have your annuity. It is not what you wanted, I know, but—’
    ‘Not what I