Read Shattered Dreams for Free Online

innocent
misunderstanding?
    That
being the case, where had Tilly’s letter gone, and why had someone
replied on his behalf with a bag of lies? He quickly dismissed any
idea of this being an ‘innocent’ mistake, and turned his attention
back to the woman seated opposite; who looked about to shatter into
a thousand pieces.
    “ You said that you wrote here to enquire about the
job?”
    “ Yes,” Tilly sighed.
    “ The woman who told you about the job; what’s her
name?”
    “ Mrs Bolsworthy.”
    “ Is she from around here, do you know?”
    Tilly
hesitated. “I don’t know,” she whispered.
    Harry
shook his head. “I have never heard of her.” He pierced Tilly with
a hard look. “What kind of job did you do for Lady
Attingham?”
    “ I was her housekeeper.”
    His
brows lifted in astonishment. “Really?”
    Tilly
felt a little defensive. “My mother was the housekeeper. I grew up
at her side, and learned the job through her. Unfortunately, she
passed away a few years ago. Because I already knew what I was
doing, Lady Attingham gave me the position.”
    “ Then Lady Attingham died, and you needed to find something
else,” Harry murmured thoughtfully.
    Tilly
nodded, but couldn’t think of anything else to say to him. She felt
as though the chaos she had encountered back in the coaching yard
had remained with her because her thoughts had scattered in all
directions, and now her mind refused to settle on anything that was
of any real use to her.
    The only
thing that mattered right now was one horrifying fact: there was no
job in Tooting Mallow.
    Panic
immediately began to set in, and she stared at the floor while she
battled tears.
    What was
she going to do?
    Where
was she going to go?
    She
looked at him and swallowed harshly. “There is no job?” She asked
again, just in case she had misheard him.
    Harry
slowly shook his head.

CHAPTER
THREE
     
    When he
couldn’t stand the desolate look on her face a moment longer, Harry
poured her a liberal shot of brandy. He pressed it into her
reluctant fingers and then leaned his hips against the desk so that
he could study her.
    “ When did the letter arrive?” Harry knew that he had to gain
as much information as he could from her while she was there. Once
she had left, she would go – somewhere. He couldn’t help but wonder
what was going to happen to her now, and frowned while he waited
for her to answer.
    “ Last week,” she replied. “We were told that we had to close
Attingham House because the new owner didn’t want to live there. It
has been put up for sale, you see, so we were all out of work. The
timing of this job was perfect.” She looked at him sadly. “Or so I
thought.”
    Throughout his time with the Star Elite, Harry had become a
fairly good judge of character. To him, it was plain that this
delightful woman before him, who had so unwittingly turned his life
on its head, had absolutely nothing to do with what the Dandridges’
were up to.
    If it
wasn’t bad enough that they were trying to steal money from him,
they had already stolen various ornaments from around the house.
Now, for some reason only known to them, they had also stolen the
use of his seal, and written a fraudulent note to Tilly to offer
her a job that didn’t exist.
    Harry
took one look at the panic she tried, and failed to hide, and
promised himself that when, not if, he found the proof of the
Dandridges’ crimes, they would feel the long arm of the law, and
experience their dreams being shattered too.
    His
heart went out to the young woman before him and, although logic
warned him to keep his distance, he simply wasn’t callous enough to
turn a blind eye to her predicament.
    “ Can you tell me how you got to hear about the job? I mean,
who gave you the actual address?” He knelt on the floor before her,
and looked at the tears that hovered on her lashes. Thankfully, she
hadn’t succumbed to a fit of the vapours yet, and for that he was
extremely grateful. The last thing