Read The Heiress for Free Online Page A

with a bag of gold between his legs. And as entertaining as Suzette was, he didn’t appreciate her interest in him being based only on his wealth. So he did what any reasonable man would do in this situation . . . he lied.
    “I am as poor as a church mouse,” he announced with feigned regret. “In fact, poorer than a church mouse since just this last year I inherited Woodrow from my uncle and it is a terrible mess in need of a great deal of repair and care that I cannot afford.”
    The last part wasn’t a complete lie. He actually had inherited the family seat from his father’s older brother a year ago, and it was in horrible repair, nearly falling down really. He did have the money to repair it, however, and had been doing so for the last year. Actually, he’d inherited the estate shortly before George’s supposed death which had been meant to be Richard’s death, and had been at the estate taking in the poor state of repair and seeing what needed to be done to return it to its earlier glory when he’d received news of George’s death in the townhouse fire. By the time he got the news, the man’s body, or what everyone had thought was his body, was interred in the Fairgrave family vault and the dust had settled. Daniel had sent a letter of condolence to Richard, or who he’d thought was Richard in London, and offered to come to him if he needed a friend, but had never received a reply.
    Still, he’d intended to visit town and seek him out to see how he was handling his twin’s death at some point, but there had seemed to be one problem after another with the reparations at the estate, and then his mother had fallen gravely ill and nearly died. She had recovered, fortunately, but it had been a slow recuperation for her and it was nearly six months before he’d felt he could leave and make his way into town. Daniel arrived after midnight, and had considered heading to Richard’s townhouse at once to see how he faired, but the late hour and his own exhaustion from the journey had made him decide to go to bed instead and visit the next day. But he’d woken that next morning to Richard’s letter coming to him from America of all places.
    Once he’d read the contents, Daniel hadn’t bothered visiting the townhouse where George was now installed, a pretender to his brother’s name and title. Instead, he’d booked a cabin on the first ship heading to America to fetch Richard back.
    “Really?” Suzette asked. “You’re poor?”
    Daniel blinked at her amazed expression, once again recalled to their talk. He then decided to embellish a bit and said, “Yes, really. In fact I am supposed to be here tonight seeking out a wealthy bride to marry. The money is needed to repair Woodrow as well as to pay what little staff is left.” He feigned a sigh. “I do not suppose you know any lovely young ladies with bags of coin and a desire to marry a fellow down on his luck?”
    “Me!”
    Daniel’s jaw dropped. Not only had she squealed the word as if it were quite the most wonderful thing in the world, but she was looking as excited as a child at Christmas. This was not the response he’d expected. He’d truly thought his words would have her stomping off back into the ball, or at least trying to since he hadn’t finished seeking to worm information from her yet and would have prevented it. He’d just hoped that as a woman in search of a rich husband, his response would get her thoughts off his being a prospect. Instead, she was now looking at him as if he were the answer to her prayers.
    “But this is perfect,” she said happily. “I need a poor husband and you need a rich wife. It’s as if it was meant to be.”
    “I highly doubt—” Daniel swallowed the rest of what he’d been about to say and nearly swallowed his tongue along with the words when Suzette suddenly grasped one of his hands in both of hers and raised it to squeeze excitedly between both of hers. It wasn’t the fact that she was