Read Hiding from Love for Free Online Page B

replying,
    â€œAnd where, pray, will she find the money?”
    Mama stared at him.
    â€œWhy, I have been saving up the dividend from my late husband’s bond.  So there’s a small amount there and I shall now sell the bond and capitalise on its full value.”
    Mr. Schilling gave a strange smile.
    â€œCan’t sell what you don’t have,” he remarked.
    â€œD-don’t have?”
    Mr. Schilling pointed his pipe at her.
    â€œIt’s just like this, you see.  Once a woman marries, what’s hers is her husband’s.  Surely you know that?”
    â€œThe issue n-never arose b-between us – ”
    Leonora was watching Mr. Schilling.
    â€œWhy don’t you get to the point, sir?”
    He took another puff on his pipe.
    â€œI took the liberty of selling that bond, as was my right,” he responded with ill-concealed relish.
    â€œI spent so much renovating this cottage, I needed some funds to invest in new investments.  And so there you have it, Mrs. Schilling.  You no longer have any money, so Leonora can’t go back to school and there’s an end of it.”
    â€œH-how could you do t-this to me – to us?”
    Mama dropped her head to her breast and began to weep silently.
    Leonora felt as if all the breath had been knocked out of her body.
    She had guessed that her stepfather was a fortune-hunter as well as an opportunist – but that he also more or less amounted to a thief was too much to bear.
    She took her mother’s hand in hers.
    â€œDon’t cry.  It’ll work out for the best, I’m sure, Mama.”
    Mr. Schilling laughed and waved his pipe at her.
    â€œAnd that’s where you’re correct for once, missy.  You can tell your mother that there’s no need to take on so.  Not when she’s got a fortune sitting right here at her knee.”
    Leonora’s fingers tightened on Mama’s hand, while she looked up slowly and fearfully.
    â€œW-what do you – mean, Mr. Schilling?”
    â€œI mean just this, Mrs. Schilling.  Those clothes that were sent to your daughter have a purpose.  They’re for her entrance into Society.”
    Leonora could not believe her ears.
    â€œDo you mean that I am the ‘investment’ you have spent my mother’s money on?”
    â€œSending you to Fenfold was an investment, wasn’t it?  Well, I reckon I’ve found a better one, though for your information the money for those clothes didn’t come out of my purse – or your mothers.  I had some other projects I wanted to invest in.”
    Leonora and her mother stared at him blankly.
    â€œThen just who – who paid for the clothes?” asked Mama in a low voice.
    Mr. Schilling leaned back in his chair and surveyed his wife and stepdaughter with satisfaction.
    â€œHer fiancé did,” he replied.
    Leonora paled.
    â€œMy f-fiancé?  I haven’t got a fiancé !”
    â€œYou have now!  And he’s as rich as Croesus!”
    â€œExplain yourself,” demanded Mama.
    â€œYes,” echoed Leonora.  “Explain yourself – sir.”
    â€œWith great pleasure, ladies.  One of my colleagues in Bristol invited me to his Club for a game of cards.
    â€œWe’d just taken a refreshment break when I was approached by a certain Lord Merton.  He has been living abroad for some years, but he recently returned to England to find himself a young wife.  He knew about my pretty stepdaughter and thought she was the ideal candidate.”
    â€œBut – this Lord Merton has never even seen me!” cried Leonora in utter bewilderment.
    â€œOh, yes, indeed he has,” returned her stepfather in a triumphant tone.
    â€œTwice!  Once when his carriage ran through a puddle and splashed your gown and once when you were helping out at Broughton Hall.”
    Leonora’s head swam.
    The masked gentleman !
    She had surely wished he