Read 'Til Death Do Us Part for Free Online Page B

hells. There was no faster path to ruin.
    The small inheritance that had come to them along with Cranleigh Hall had gone to pay for the establishment of her introductions agency. Presenting a gracious, refined image to clients had required the purchase of fashionable furnishings for the first-floor rooms. She had known from the outset that she would be walking a tightrope of respectability. Appearances were everything in her business.
    And fortunately, business had been brisk. She and Andrew were doing quite nicely on the income from her introductions agency but they could not afford to take risks.
    She put the fork down very carefully on her plate. “Andrew—you are not in trouble, are you? Financially, I mean?”
    â€œWhy must every dinner table conversation between us end with you implying that I cannot take care of myself? I am no longer a boy. I do not need my older sister hovering over me at every step.”
    Andrew was most certainly not a boy, she thought. Not anymore. He was nineteen, lean and fit and infused with the vitality of a young man coming into his prime. He had the additional advantages of their father’s strong, distinguished profile and intelligent hazel eyes.
    He was no longer the frightened little nine-year-old to whom she’d had to explain that their parents had been lost at sea and were never coming home. He did not need her now to protect him from the bleak moods of a grandmother consumed with bitterness. He was ready to step out into the world.
    Nevertheless, the thought of losing Andrew to the dark streets of London filled her with a special kind of panic. It was obvious that there was no point berating him. It would only drive him away all the faster. And she would be truly alone all the sooner.
    Best to change the subject.
    â€œToday I had a rather disturbing interview with a gentleman I had hoped would become an excellent client,” she said.
    Andrew looked wary for a moment, then his eyes tightened a little in genuine concern. “Anything to do with those nasty little memento mori objects that you received recently?”
    â€œNo. This is an entirely different matter. My visitor was Trent Hastings.”
    She had no intention of mentioning the unpleasant scene with Nestor Kettering. She feared Andrew’s reaction.
    Andrew’s brows shot up in astonishment. “Trent Hastings, the author?”
    â€œPrecisely.”
    â€œBut surely that is good news.” Andrew’s eyes lit with enthusiasm. “Just think what securing a well-known client such as Mr. Hastings would do for your business.”
    â€œYou know very well I do not advertise the names of my clients. Many would be quite embarrassed.”
    â€œYes, I know. But you depend on word of mouth, and the right words from Trent Hastings’s mouth would send a number of excellent clients your way.”
    â€œUnfortunately, I don’t think there will be any helpful recommendations coming from Mr. Hastings. He seems to think that I am in the business of taking advantage of some of my female clients who enjoy a respectable income—specifically his sister.”
    â€œThat’s utter nonsense. How dare he insult you and impugn your reputation?” Andrew crumpled his napkin on the table. “I’ll have a word with him.”
    â€œNo, you will not.” The thought of Andrew confronting a man as intimidating as Hastings was enough to send another bolt of panic through her. She should never have mentioned the interview withHastings to him, she thought. Frantically she searched for a diplomatic way to head off disaster. “Really, there’s no need for you to speak to him. I set him straight, I assure you. It was all a simple misunderstanding. Keep in mind that his sister is an excellent client. We don’t want to do anything to make her cancel her arrangements with my agency.”
    â€œHastings apologized?”
    â€œNot exactly,