'Til Death Do Us Part Read Online Free PDF Page B

investigate Miss Langley’s rather unusual business.”
    â€œShe arranges salons where respectable people can meet. What is so dangerous about that?”
    â€œWe have discussed this,” Trent said. He went down the hall toward the refuge of his study. “Miss Langley undertakes to introduce complete strangers to each other.”
    â€œ
Single
strangers,” Eudora said.
    â€œIt would be one thing if she was well-acquainted with all of the parties involved, but that is hardly the case. The people who attend her salons are not personal friends, they are her clients. You possess a sizeable inheritance. That makes you vulnerable to the worst sort of predators.”
    Eudora hurried after him.
    â€œMiss Langley insists on references from every client,” she said. “In addition, she conducts detailed interviews with each one to make certain that there are no fortune hunters or married men hoping to prey on the ladies on her guest list.”
    He paused in the doorway of the study. “They’re not guests, Eudora. She is not a Society hostess entertaining respectable acquaintanceswith teas and musicales. She’s a businesswoman and that means money is her chief consideration.”
    He went into the room. Eudora pursued him.
    â€œYou have no right to interfere in my private affairs,” she said.
    â€œI’m your brother.” He hooked the cane over the back of his chair and went to stand at the window. “I have a responsibility to protect you.”
    â€œI don’t need to be protected from Miss Langley.”
    He looked out at the vibrant garden and the glass-and-iron conservatory. Gardening and reading were Eudora’s only pleasures these days. At least, they had been until she had begun attending Miss Langley’s weekly salons. Lately she had returned from the events talking of the latest news in a wide variety of subjects—art, travel, books, the theater.
    â€œI know you feel I’m being overcautious,” he said. “Nevertheless—”
    â€œDo you really believe that I’m in danger of falling for a fortune hunter’s lies? Please give me some credit for common sense.”
    â€œI don’t doubt your intelligence or your common sense,” Trent said quietly. “But I am concerned about this connection with Miss Langley.”
    There was a short silence behind him.
    â€œWhat did you think of her?” Eudora asked after a moment.
    Her tone of voice was suspiciously neutral. He realized he had been trying to sort out his chaotic impressions of Miss Langley since leaving her very impressive mansion.
    â€œWhat?” he said, trying to buy time to assemble his thoughts.
    â€œYou heard me. Now that you have met her, what is your opinion of Miss Langley?”
    He attempted to formulate a response but for some reason he could not find the right words.
Attractive
but not in the ordinary sense of the word.
Unconventional
would be a more accurate description. But for some reason he kept coming back to
fascinating
.
    He was a naturally curious man with wide-ranging interests thathad led him to investigate any number of odd subjects and skills. The research involved in each new Clive Stone novel routinely led him down unusual, sometimes bizarre paths. But Calista Langley aroused his curiosity in new and unsettling ways.
    He had known immediately that Calista was a woman who was willing to fight for what she wanted; a woman who would do whatever it took to protect what was hers. And if she loved, he thought, she would be quite fierce about the business. There was something in her person that hinted at a capacity for passion.
    He had known some intelligent, independent, strong-willed women in his life—he was attracted to the species—but Calista Langley was unique in her appeal.
    â€œI found her . . . interesting,” he said. He turned around and gripped the back of his desk chair with both hands. “I