Read The Hidden Heiress for Free Online

hand, brought it up to his lips and gave it a firm kiss. "Thank you."
    "I should be the one thanking you."
    "I don't think so."
    When Marshall released her hand, Isabel placed it against her fluttering stomach. She received the hatbox and walked up the steps to the house, waving one more time before she hurried inside.
     

    * * *
     
    "Goodnight, Paige," Isabel stammered, as happy as her student was that the day was finally over. She watched Paige disappear into her bedroom, then turned to her own door.
    Isabel shut herself in her bedroom, sighing with relief. Finally, an escape.
    After taking another step toward her bed, she heard a noise. She wasn't alone.
    "I hope my daughter isn't giving you too much trouble." Edward Templeton leaned against the bedpost, a sad shadow of his younger, handsomer brother.
    She quickly opened the door. "Please leave, Mr. Templeton. This isn't appropriate."
    "Not appropriate for me, but acceptable for Marshall?" He shook his head with damning condemnation. "I only want what you've already given to him."
    Isabel struggled to control her tempter. "Why don't you ask him what I've given? You'll learn that you are gravely mistaken in your assumptions."
    "I think not, Miss Balfour."
    A sickening feeling in her stomach, Isabel gestured to the open door once again. "I am not interested in dallying with my employer, Mr. Templeton. Please leave."
    He started to approach. Now that he was closer, she could smell the liquor on his breath. "I'm not above a little friendly coercion."
    Isabel's lips curled up in distaste. "I am sure there are other women who would welcome your advances. It isn't necessary to waste your efs on me."
    He stopped. "What do you want me to do? Surely you don't expect me to pay for a prostitute?"
    "I expect you to desire an attraction that is mutual."
    He laughed, then steadied himself on the back of a chair. "Once you realize how much better things can be for you, it will be mutual."
    "Never."
    Edward's face crumpled. "I'm tired of talking!"
    Isabel leapt into the hall before he could reach her, trembling with fear. She heard a sound from further down the hall. She turned to see Paige watching her coldly, only a few feet away.
    "Miss Balfour, where did you run off to?" Edward appeared in the doorway. "Don't be afraid of discovery, my dear. Jane is already asleep downstairs."
    Isabel turned to Paige and said, "Did you need something, Paige? Are you having trouble sleeping?"
    Edward followed her gaze to his daughter and blanched. "Hello, dear. Just making sure your governess is doing her job."
    "And we all know what that is." Paige scowled, then stalked off into the shadows.
    Edward grimaced and took another step into the now empty hall. "Did you do that on purpose? Did you bring her out here?"
    "I didn't do anything. She must have heard us speaking in my room. Her room is only one door away." She would hear my screams , Isabel thought to herself. She pointed to the stairs. "Now would you please leave me alone?"
    "Your job might be on very shaky ground, Miss Balfour. I would watch it if I were you."
    She shook her head, cringing with disgust. "I appreciate the advice, Mr. Templeton, but I will not sleep with you to save my job."
    He laughed with disbelief. "We'll see about that."
    Isabel didn't reply as he passed her to go downstairs. She would let him have the last word. He could enjoy it for all she cared. But she was determined that was all he would get out of her.
     

    * * *
     
    "You're just like the rest of them," Paige sneered as soon as Isabel sat down the next morning. Her brown hair, frizzy and unbound, was worse than usual that morning. The buttons on her dress weren't even completely closed. She must have escaped her maid prematurely.
    Isabel didn't blink an eye at her outburst. She leaned back in her chair. "Who is 'them', Paige?"
    Paige moved a tall stack of books to carefully shield herself from Isabel's gaze. "All the other governesses that my father has