Read Secret Heiress for Free Online Page A

Perhaps she had set her sights too high and would have to settle for something more menial. ‘Thank you. I had hoped, but I suppose these things take time.’
    â€˜You may need to put in a second notice, but there is no hurry, Eliza. You are very welcome to stay with us for as long as you please.’
    Eliza thanked him, but her spirits sank a little for she did not wish to be a burden to her friends for too long. She would wait one more week, then, if she heard nothing, she would look for employment through the agency.
    Â 
    Lady Sarah looked through her post when it was brought up to her by her maid and sighed. Most of it would be invitations to dine or attend the theatre or some other function. She had been in Bath for just threeweeks and already she was inundated by invitations. It was very kind and generous of her friends, but she was used to a quieter life and uncertain whether the new social circle she had found here would suit her on a permanent basis.
    She could return to the Dower House and give up her search for her daughter, but that would be to admit defeat. She had been waiting for a letter these past several weeks, but so far the lawyer had not replied to her request for details of her daughter’s whereabouts. He was being very stubborn and she could not think why.
    She opened the newspapers that had been delivered that morning. The Times was always a day late, because it was sent through the post from London, and the local paper had lain unnoticed on her dressing chest all the previous day. She had spent the whole day visiting and had decided to keep to her bed a little longer this morning.
    She poured a cup of the dark chocolate she enjoyed, sipping from the delicate cup that was part of a Dresden breakfast set. The chocolate was a little bitter, but she preferred it to tea or coffee at this hour. Sipping its richness, she opened The Times and turned to the page she was interested in. Although her maid, who had been with her for years, had been perfectly adequate for her needs in the country, Sarah had become aware that she required a companion here in Bath. She had hoped to find her daughter and ask her to stay, but as yet that was beyond her, though if the lawyer did not soon answer her letter she would employ an agent to find the child…girl. Her daughter would be twenty by now.
    Running her finger down the list of young womensearching for a position as a companion, Sarah stopped at one that appealed to her.
    The headline read:
    Sensible young woman recently bereaved seeks a position as companion.
    I have nursed my mother and am well able to make beds comfortable, prepare tisanes and read in a pleasant voice. I can cook, embroider and mend and I do not mind light cleaning in the house. I am happy to run errands and look after an invalid. However, I have no previous experience of employment in this field.
    Sarah smiled as she read the few lines. They seemed to speak from the heart and told her that the writer had never applied for a position before. The advert was a little naïve, perhaps, but that made it all the more appealing.
    Sarah was not yet in need of a nurse, merely someone to run her errands and accompany her to the Pump Room and other functions. The young woman who called herself Eliza Bancroft seemed eminently able to fulfil that duty, and, if Sarah’s health grew worse, might be just the person she needed.
    She was not going to give up the search for her daughter. Sarah was quite firm about that, but she saw no reason why she should not employ a companion in the meantime. She could afford it; she had the income from her grandfather’s estate. Because her husband had withheld it from her for so many years it had grown to a considerable amount. She had been quite shocked when her lawyer told her how much the accumulated capital was. Had her husband been able to touch it, she wassure he would have gambled it away to spite her, but her grandfather had been a canny