The Romany Heiress Read Online Free PDF Page A

privately, Giles. There is
business between us that needs settling.”

    “I paid the wagon driver. Our business is settled,”
Giles said tersely.
    She shook her head, the dark ringlets swaying at the
motion. She slipped a hand into the billowy bodice of
her blouse, and for a moment Giles thought he knew
exactly what kind of “business” she referred to. Was
she going to seduce him?
    She brought out a slim leather folder, the kind used
for legal documents. She handed it to him.
    “What is this?” Giles asked, turning the folder over
in his hands and redirecting his thoughts. A cold chill
passed through him. He knew instinctively the folder
held no good for him.
    Irina squared her shoulders and lifted her chin to
meet his gaze evenly. Her voice was quiet and firm. “It
is my claim to Spelthorne as its legitimate heir.”

S he’d expected any other man to bluster and rage
upon hearing her news. To his credit, Spelthorne did
not. Years of genteel training were evident in his controlled response.
    “These are very serious accusations.” The Earl of
Spelthorne’s intense blue gaze never wavered. He
crossed his arms in a formidable gesture Irina was getting all too used to recognizing. Arms, she noticed,
that bulged at the seams of his expensively tailored
evening coat.
    Under his scrutiny, the enormity of her contentions
threatened to swamp her as she gathered her reserves to
unswervingly answer his stare, all the while quailing
inside. He was right. Such claims would not be treated
lightly by him or by peerage.
    For the first time since she embarked on this course, she doubted her ability to see it through. What was she
doing, challenging the well-connected and highly eligible Earl of Spelthorne? If she gave up now, there was
still a chance she could meekly walk away and abandon
her cause. No matter that the onus of truth was on her
side, the earl was far beyond her reach. She did not
doubt he could uphold his threats.

    A man like him would indeed drag her through every
court in the land. He’d have the peerage and years of presumption on his side. He could easily outlast her defense
and pile of hardearned coins. But she had reason to believe it wouldn’t come to that. For that reason, she stayed.
    She had known from the outset that a man such as
Giles would fight to the death to keep what was his-or
in this case-what he thought was his. She’d known
since meeting him that he was a man dedicated to his
responsibilities and a man of unimpeachable honor. But
she also knew such traits were a double-edged sword.
She was counting on that sword cutting both ways.
    Neither would Giles renounce the abbey and his title
without a protracted fight, nor would he turn her away
without recompense if he could be persuaded to believe
her claim. She might not get the abbey or the title of
lady, but she’d get enough to ensure she didn’t have to
spend her life traveling the countryside in a vardo, suffering lusty looks from men who thought she could be
had simply because she was Rom.
    Irina stopped her thoughts right there to steel herself.
She would not be intimidated into a compromise because the man standing before her was beautifully made, dressed in fine clothes and possessed of a stare so
penetrating it suggested he could divine all her thoughts
and insecurities. She squelched the notion. It was too
dangerous. If she started thinking all she’d get from him
was a financial settlement akin to nothing more than
hush money, then indeed that was all she could expect.

    She’d waited her whole life for more than that. Money
could be spent. She wanted a title. She wanted to be a
lady and it was her due by birth. She did nothing wrong
in laying claim to her birthright. It was unfortunate that
her birthright had to be in the possession of a man so
handsome that a simple glance at him conjured up butterflies in her stomach.
    The earl cleared his throat. “If you would kindly