Read A Battle of Brains for Free Online Page A

horse!” she exclaimed.
    â€œA new stallion and it is a present from me to you.”
    â€œYou know how exciting that is for me and thank you very much,” she forced the words out between tight lips.
    She knew that she ought to kiss him, but could not make herself do so.
    Instead she asked quickly,
    â€œCan we go and see him now?”
    â€œThat is what I thought we would do, so I have already warned the stables to have him ready for you.”
    Yolanda was aware that he had known before their conversation started that he would be the winner.
    He obviously recognised that he would afterwards prove his magnanimity by giving her such a present.
    How could she be anything but grateful when she loved horses so much?
    The one thing she had missed at the Convent was being able to ride.
    As they walked to the stables, she had the feeling that she had sold her principles at an expensive price.
    Because it was impossible to do anything else, she talked at dinner about everything she could think of with the exception of steel-hulled ships.
    What she had to do tomorrow night kept her awake long after she had gone to bed.
    The more she thought it over in her mind, the more she realised in her heart that there should be no question of her complying with her stepfather’s wishes.
    But how could she possibly face going out into the world alone?  She knew that it would be practically impossible to find work with hardly a penny in her pocket and no knowledge of London.
    She had been only been in the City briefly, but what she had seen had been the elegance of Hyde Park, the rich and comfortable houses of her mother’s friends and the luxury of her stepfather’s mansion.
    She was not so stupid as to think any of that would be of the slightest help – not if she actually had to earn her own living.
    Apart from that what could she do?
    She had an excellent education, yet that was not to say it would enable her to earn much on her own.
    The most she could hope for was to become a governess or a servant and even that would be unlikely, as she had no experience.
    It surely was a man’s world, she thought ruefully.
    Women were not particularly necessary whilst it seemed men were always in demand.
    â€˜It is all so frightening,’ Yolanda brooded.
    She was forced to be dependent on whoever would be kind to her and at the moment that was her stepfather.
    â€˜I have to obey him, Papa, even though I think he is wrong and ungentlemanly,’ she murmured slowly.
    Then she felt like crying.
    However drastic their situation had been in the past, her dear father had never done anything so underhand – nor something he would think of as common and beneath him.
    *
    All the next day Yolanda waited apprehensively for the arrival of Mr. Harpole.
    When he did arrive, he was such an unpleasant looking man that she felt that it might be easier to cheat him than if he had been handsome and charming.
    Yolanda was sure that if it was a question of Mr. Harpole deceiving her stepfather, he would not hesitate.
    He was clearly impressed with the huge house and as usual her stepfather introduced her in a way that made her sound grander than she really was.
    Because he would expect it, she put on a very pretty gown for dinner, although she should be dressed in black as she was still in mourning.
    When she had first arrived back, she had asked her stepfather if she could buy some black clothes.
    She did not have any to wear on her journey home from Paris, so she had chosen her plainest coat and taken all the decorations from her hat.
    Her stepfather, however, told her firmly,
    â€œNo mourning!”
    â€œBut it is correct for me to wear mourning because my Mama is dead,” protested Yolanda.
    â€œI am aware of that,” he replied.  “But I do dislike black and I want you to look attractive.  You can wear as much white as you like and, as you are a debutante now you have left school, white is the correct