Page 6 of Heiress Gone Wild

“I’m sure you’re disappointed,” he said in the wake of her silence, the gentleness of his voice like salt in her wounds. “And, believe it or not, I know how it feels when all one’s dreams seem to have been snatched away. But I won’t let that happen to you. We will see you properly settled, but you must be patient while I determine the best way to make that happen.”

Marjorie wasn’t about to let any man, even her guardian, decide what was best for her, especially when said man didn’t seem the least bit inclined to solicit her opinions on the subject. Still, she could see that his mind was made up and arguing would be pointless, so she heaved a sigh of feigned resignation as she set her brains to work on a new plan. “I suppose you’re right. You’d better go, for you don’t want to miss that train.”

“Is there anything you need before I depart? Do you have pin money?”

“An allowance? Mr. Jessop sends me ten dollars a month.”

“Is that all?”

She didn’t tell him it was more than enough. She hadn’t spent even a fraction of her allowance in the years she’d been here, for what was there to spend it on? “I’m afraid so.”

“I’ll arrange a larger allowance for you when I meet with Mr. Jessop. You’ll begin receiving it straightaway.”

Marjorie gazed at him with every appearance of gratitude. “Thank you.”

“Not at all. It’s the least I can do.”

“You will write?” she asked, clasping her hands together, trying to look the part of the forbearing little woman.

“Every month. And if you need to reach me, contact Mr. Jessop. He will know how to find me.”

“You sail tonight, you said? Safe travels, Mr. Deverill,” she added when he nodded. “I hope you’re on one of the White Star ships? I’ve heard they are very fine.”

“It’s a Cunard ship, actually. TheNeptune, I believe. Now, I really must be off.”

She held out her hand, expecting him to shake it, but to her surprise, he bowed over it instead, lifting it to his lips, and despite that she found her new guardian both uncooperative and obtuse, she also felt an unmistakable thrill when his lips brushed her knuckles.

A kiss on the hand might be a trivial thing to most young ladies, but it was the first remotely romantic thing that had ever happened to her, and it underscored all the reasons why she wasn’t about to wait any longer for her life to begin.

“Farewell, Miss McGann,” he said as he let go of her hand. “We shall meet again soon.”

With that, he turned away, stepped into the corridor, and started toward the stairs.

“We certainly will, Mr. Deverill,” she murmured softly, leaning through the doorway, her gaze narrowing on his broad back as he walked away. “And far sooner than you think.”

Chapter 3

“You can understand my shock.”

“Yes, indeed.” Arthur Jessop handed Jonathan a tumbler of whiskey and sank down on the opposite end of the leather sofa in his office with his own glass. “It was very wrong of Mr. McGann to appoint you guardian without telling you all the details. We did advise him to do so. I thought he had.”

“He didn’t,” Jonathan answered, turning to face the other man. “Billy never even mentioned having a daughter until his dying moments, and from what he said then, I assumed she was a child. To discover she’s a grown woman—”

He broke off, an image of his new ward’s shapely figure and stunning face flashing across his mind, and he took a hefty swallow of whiskey. “As I said, it was a shock.”

“And her age changes your perception of your responsibilities, does it?”

Jonathan cast him an unhappy look. “Doesn’t it?”

“I suppose it does. And you feel it’s more than you can take on?”

God, yes.

He didn’t say those words aloud, however. Tempting as it was to dump this entire mess in the lap of the girl’s other trustee, loyalty and obligation to his late friend restrained him. He’d made Billy a promise, and there was no question of breaking it. “Billy McGann was like a brother to me,” he said instead. “And I will do whatever I can for his daughter. But...”

“But...?” Mr. Jessop prompted when Jonathan paused.

“I cannot help questioning how suited I am for this. A child in school is one thing. A woman coming of age is something else. Even Mrs. Forsyte expressed doubts about the arrangement.”

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