A Lady Most Lovely by Jennifer Delamere Read Free Book Online Page A

Denault said with a patronizing air. “We have a team of engineering and cartography experts who are overseeing the project.”
    If Denault felt he had all the organizational power he needed, that meant he was coming after Tom for something else. And now they were getting to the crux of the issue. Like so many others Tom had met, Denault was only after one thing. “All you want from me is my money.”
    Denault shrugged and raised his hands. “What’s sobad about that? It makes your role that much easier. All you need to do is fund this project, and then enjoy yourself while the earnings pile up. You won’t need to do any of the work.”
    “You say that as if it were a good thing,” Tom said with irritation.
    “Isn’t it?”
    “Everyone seems to want to get something for nothing. They think that’s what happened to me. It’s not. I worked hard for that money, and I intend to be very careful in how I spend it.”
    “But it’s not spending, ” Denault insisted. “It’s investing. ”
    Tom let out a snort of derision. These high-society people were so good at using fancy words to make anything sound better—to put a gloss on it, like shining up a worn boot. Whenever a man started talking that way, it was a signal for Tom to run in the opposite direction. Just now he was seriously considering picking up his hat and walking out without a backward glance. He owed this man nothing, after all. He’d done him a favor just by showing up.
    In the end, it was thoughts of Margaret that kept him from leaving immediately. She was about to be tied to Denault by marriage, and Tom still wanted to find out everything he could about this man. Today he was speaking like many a charlatan he’d seen in Sydney and Melbourne—men who were always coming up with schemes to separate people from their hard-earned money. Was Denault such a man? If so, did Margaret have any inkling of it?
    He could not simply walk away, knowing Margaret was about to place her life in the power of a man who might be disreputable in his business dealings. Of course,he owed nothing to her, and she certainly was not looking for anything from him. This was a solid fact, and yet to Tom it weighed nothing when placed in the balance. He dropped his hat on the table and sat down. “All right, suppose we go over your plans. In detail.”
    Denault grinned and took the other chair. “I thought you’d never ask.”
    *
    Margaret breezed into her study. Hawthorne was standing near the window, observing the traffic below and not looking at all perturbed that she’d kept him waiting for more than a quarter of an hour. She was surprised to see that he was joined by Mr. Clarke, one of the partners in the firm.
    “I apologize for the delay,” Margaret said. “The seamstress had me ridiculously pinned up and I was only just able to free myself. I hope you were able to take some refreshment while you were waiting.”
    “Indeed, Miss Vaughn, that was most kind,” Hawthorne replied.
    But a quick glance showed Margaret that the tea tray was untouched. The two men wore solemn expressions that were unusual even for them, given that an overly grave aspect was a solicitor’s stock in trade. “Is this visit really so serious that it requires two of you?” She spoke lightly, but the expressions on the men’s faces did not waver. Something was definitely amiss. “What’s happened?” she asked warily. “Are Paul’s lawyers still giving you trouble?”
    The two men looked at each other. Mr. Clarke went over to a table and picked up a portfolio filled with papers. Mr. Hawthorne said, “If you would be so kindas to sit down, Miss Vaughn, we have some information we’d like to go over with you.”
    Margaret walked to a large desk and moved aside the correspondence that littered it. She sat down and motioned to two chairs on the opposite side of the desk for the men. “Will this do?” she asked.
    Hawthorne nodded, and Mr. Clarke pulled the papers from the portfolio and