Read Enticing Eve: Scandalous Secrets, Book 2 for Free Online Page B

his indiscretions – one such person being Eve’s mother. When the Viscount of Haversham met Anne Wycliffe, he found a kindred spirit, a woman as carefree as he. Recognizing the perfect match, he married Eve’s mother without hesitation, eager to begin their adventures.
    Although he loved his title as well as the power and importance that it afforded him, the Viscount detested work. Because mundane duties bored him, he soon shirked his responsibilities thus causing the family’s wealth to evaporate at a rapid rate. He cared not for the future, living only for the present.
    When his wife gave birth to a baby girl, James wasn’t daunted. Far from it, in fact, as he was relieved to be free of the constrictions raising a male heir would impose upon his relaxed lifestyle.
    Eve squeezed her eyes shut as a memory seized her. She was about eight years old and had entered her father’s office in search of him. Instead, she found her grandmother sitting behind his grand birch desk; the sweet woman’s shoulders shaking as she sobbed. It was the first time Eve had seen her grandmother cry.
    “What’s the matter, Grandmamma?” Eve ran to her, kneeling in front of the older woman, clutching her skirt as icy tentacles of fear inched up her spine.  
    The lines of despair etched in her dear grandmother’s proud features soon frightened Eve more than the fact that the woman was crying.
    “My darling girl,” the Dowager Viscountess exclaimed as she pulled Eve onto her lap. “I’m saddened by a missive I received from your father.”
    “What is it, Grandmamma?”
    “It’s nothing for you to worry about my darling,” Fiona answered as another tear drifted down the woman’s cheek. Eve wiped it away with her fingertips.
    “My brave girl,” the Viscountess whispered as she encircled her granddaughter in a tight hug. Only after she released Eve from her embrace did the Dowager Viscountess explain while tears clung to her lashes, “Your father and mother have decided to spend more time abroad. They’re leaving you in my care.”
    The heartbroken woman must have seen the blend of disappointment and pure panic reflected in her granddaughter’s eyes, for she squeezed Eve’s hand, the reassuring gesture failing to bolster the child’s spirits.
    “They don’t want me anymore?” Eve asked, her voice no louder than a faint whisper.
    “Of course they do, dearest, as do I.” Eve had never seen her grandmother so pale. The Dowager Duchess dabbed her eyes with a lace handkerchief before continuing, “Your mamma and papa know I can give you a proper home, one which they can’t. I love you dearly, my sweet girl. You and I shall have a grand time together, and your parents will visit us often – they promised.”
    Mama and Papa have left me, and they didn’t say goodbye … such were the thoughts of a frightened little girl.
    “No son of a man as kind and loving as your grandfather could ever desert his family,” her grandmother whispered as if reading Eve’s mind.  
    Although Eve believed her grandmother at the time, she soon came to learn that her father couldn’t have been any less like the man who sired him. Indeed her parents did not want her, but that became the least of their offenses.  
    A few years later, James Weston and his wife fled London, leaving his mother under the weight of their massive debts. By this time, the Weston family estates were in disarray, their accounts dwindling, and Eve and her grandmother faced losing their home.  
    If not for the kindness of the Dowager Duchess of Davenport and her son, Sebastian, Eve and her grandmother would have been penniless. Not only did the duke straighten out the Westons’ finances, but he also managed their estates along with his own,   bestowing   upon   Eve’s   father   a   generous allowance that thus allowed the Viscount and his wife to continue traveling abroad to their hearts’ content.
    It was because of the kindness of the ninth Duke of Davenport