I'll Get By by Janet Woods Read Free Book Online Page A

there’s a house involved.’
    ‘Yes . . . Foxglove House. It’s been boarded up for years. My stepfather tried to find a tenant for it, but it’s terribly expensive to run because it’s not a house that can be managed without servants. I can’t imagine ever living there myself, though I visit from time to time. It’s a bit of a hidey-hole for me. The place is rather sad. It’s filled with the past lives of my relatives, yet I never met any of them, including my father. Sometimes I feel like an alien, as though I’m on the outside of the family trying to get in. And sometimes the estate feels like a millstone hanging round my neck. If I could sell it I would. I imagine I’ll give it to charity when I’m old enough to have some say in the matter.’
    He didn’t quite hide his smile at her meandering explanation. ‘Do you think you might have felt warmer towards the place if you’d grown up there?’
    ‘Yes . . . I suppose I might have. But I didn’t and I don’t. Actually, I’m glad I don’t because that will make it easier to dispose of.’ She offered him a rueful smile. ‘Thank you, Mr Stone. I really didn’t mean to be churlish. You certainly know how to bite, so you were well named I think. I shall behave myself when I’m around you from now on.’
    His shrug was almost apologetic, his eyes agleam with amusement. ‘I’ll be in touch.’
    ‘I’ll be in London until halfway through April.’ Plucking the fountain pen from his fingers she wrote her aunt’s number on his notepad. ‘There.’
    When she reached for her bag and gloves, he stood, saying, ‘Perhaps we could go out one night while you’re in the capital. Do you like dancing?’
    She liked his direct approach. ‘Yes, but I don’t dance as well as my Aunt Es does. That would be nice though . . . perhaps we could make up a foursome with them. They would want to meet you, I imagine.’
    Rennie looked as though the inclusion of Es and Leo was the last thing he’d expected. ‘Is having your aunt and uncle along a condition?’
    She chuckled at the thought. She was seventeen, after all . . . and inexperienced. She’d already misjudged one man who’d indicated that he’d represented the law. ‘I don’t really know the protocol. I’ve never been out with a man before.’
    The corner of one eyebrow twitched. ‘Never?’
    ‘Never . . . at least . . . not a strange one.’
    ‘I’m hardly strange.’ He sighed ‘All right, seeing as how your aunt and uncle are acting in loco parentis on this occasionI’ll ring them.’
    ‘Will you wait until I’ve informed them of that fact then.’
    He laughed and hurried across the office to open the door for her. He stood in the opening, partially blocking it, the quizzical look back on his face. He was of a comfortable height. Her eyes were on a level with the firm jaw, and the curve of his mouth. ‘I’ll have to think of something more memorable than a quick shuffle around the dance floor of the Hammersmith Palais for your first date. Why do you want to go to Cambridge? You never said.’
    She admitted, ‘I’m trying not to offer information because I was conned by a man disguised as a policeman last week. He went in the house while my aunt and I were out and he helped himself to some money and our jewellery.’
    The expected scoff of laughter at her stupidity didn’t come. Instead, he said, ‘You have to be careful in London. There are a lot of disadvantaged people who will steal out of sheer necessity.’
    ‘This man wasn’t so poor that he couldn’t afford expensive shoes. He probably stole those from somewhere, too.’
    ‘I hope he didn’t get much?’
    ‘He only took a garnet ring from my room, but he stole all of my aunt’s jewellery and some cash. Just the thought that a stranger has been through the house and handled everything is disconcerting. It made my aunt feel . . . grubby. ’
    ‘Yes . . . I suppose it must have. I’m so sorry you and your aunt had to go through