Sari Robins - [Andersen Hall Orphanage 01] Read Online Free

signify.”
    “So we do not marry, and remain as we are.”
    “Until my inheritance comes to me.”
    “For one more year.”
    “Please understand, Dillon. I have dreams, and in them I am other than a man’s mistress. I want to travel the world, see phenomena beyond my imaginings…” In all of her dreams, she did not know exactly where she would end up or what she might be doing, but in all of them she ruled her destiny with a free spirit, unencumbered by any man.
    His blue gaze shimmered with vulnerability. “Are you unhappy with your decision to be with me?”
    “Never. I might not have liked my choices, but you have been wonderful, Dillon. And I am grateful.”
    He reached for her hand and clutched it in a firm grasp. “I would never let anything happen to you, darling.”
    “I know.” She squeezed his hand. “Pray Kane knows that as well.”
    “He does not touch you now—”
    “Not for want of trying. I fear that it is only yours and your father’s influence that truly keeps him at bay. And even then, he is like a hooded serpent lazing in the sun yet ready to strike if the opportunity presents itself.”
     
    Lord Cornelius Kane sank into the tall leather armchair at his club, nursing his brandy and his rotten mood. He had escaped to Brooks’s in the hopes of avoiding his man-of-affairs, who was becoming a dratted nuisance. The bungling idiot did not seem to understand the basic concept of credit. Perhaps it was time to retain a new man-of-affairs. If only he had the blunt to pay for it.
    Platter-faced Mr. Pitts ambled across the parlor, wearing breeches that fairly screamed last year’s fashion. Kane turned his shoulder to the man, sending the message that he was not welcome near the square of armchairs by the fire. “They’ll let in anyone these days,” he muttered.
    “What’s that you say?” Lord Felton leaned forward, causing the leather to creak noisily.
    “Nice day,” Kane pasted on a false smile. The old man was as deaf as a doornail.
    “My Sophie always loved the spring,” he sighed.
    “Don’t turn maudlin on me, old man. It’ll send me into a panic.”
    “Lady Janus?” the ripened gent’s rheumy eyes brightened. “She is yours, isn’t she?”
    As always when Lillian was the topic, Kane’s lip curled in distaste. He hated the month of June. It was a reminder of the birth of the she-devil spawnthat had thwarted his best efforts for a reasonable existence. And he deserved a tolerable life as much as the next nobleman, perhaps even more so. He hardly ever skipped on a bill, always paid on a wager and almost never cheated at cards. He was a good man, yet he felt like the angels were sitting upon high, pelting stones at his head every time he was about to land on his feet.
    His clever funding scheme was unraveling; Cecilia was making noises about telling her husband about the whole thing (and their affair, but he did not care overmuch about that; Lord Langham should be thanking him for keeping hog-buttocked Cecilia occupied), creditors were knocking at his door, and his favorite valet had off and died on him (at least it saved him from having to pay a month’s wages).
    What he could not understand was why everything had to come unstitched at the same time. Sighing, he sipped the brandy slowly, mindful that he could not order another; his bill was outstanding and he could never let anyone suspect that he could not meet his obligations at Brooks’s. It was one thing to let a tailor go unpaid (one could always pretend that the workmanship was shoddy), but a man’s club was his sacred domain. And here he sat in a bastion of recreation, unable to imbibe. His father would be rolling in his grave at seeing his dear son suffering this indignity. Lord Cornelius Kane economizing: What was the world coming to?
    Emptying his glass, he eyed the room, looking for a lackey to buy him a drink. A young man standing by the far mantel caught his eye. Or perhaps the man seemed to be studying him? The