The Daring Exploits of a Runaway Heiress by Victoria Alexander Read Free Book Online Page A

And certainly hadn’t expected to like her. Possibly she sensed a kindred spirit in the older woman, of independence perhaps, although it was more probable that Lucy had taken an immediate liking to Clara because she was so clearly not the kind of companion Jackson had had in mind.
    Why not tell her? If she had misjudged Clara, it was best to know that now. Besides, Clara might be a great deal of help.
    “All right.” Lucy nodded firmly. “Then there’s something I should show you. I need to fetch it from my room.” Lucy stood and headed toward her room. “It will only take a moment.”
    Lucy returned quickly, resumed her seat, and drew a deep breath.
    “I too am financially stable, Clara. More than stable, really. I have a rather sizable fortune. A few years ago I received an inheritance from my Great-aunt Lucinda. I was named after her, although I’ve never been particularly fond of the name Lucinda.” Lucy wrinkled her nose. “But Lucy does seem to suit me. At any rate, I received my inheritance on my twenty-first birthday. It was accompanied by, oh, a journal of sorts written by my great-aunt. It’s not a usual type of journal. It doesn’t contain passages about her day-to-day life or poorly written poetry or anything of that nature that young girls tend to write when they are revealing their innermost thoughts. What it really is, is a list of those things she wanted to do in her life. Adventures, she called them.” Lucy handed the book to Clara. “Each page is titled with a different adventure and has a few paragraphs of explanation.”
    “Adventures?” Clara paged through the book.
    “She was very young when she wrote them. Judging by the dates of the entries, my great-aunt made this list when she was between fifteen and eighteen years of age. She married my great-uncle when she was eighteen and then obviously set the book aside. And with it, those things she wanted to do. As you can see, most of them are extremely innocent. Some are a bit foolish. Some might even be called scandalous or perhaps a little improper.”
    “Yes, I can see that,” Clara said under her breath, still turning the pages. “She does mention kisses and romantic interludes.”
    “The letter that accompanied the journal said that while it had started as a list of things she wished to do, ultimately it became a book of her regrets. Of things she never managed to accomplish.”
    “I see,” Clara murmured, her gaze still on the journal.
    “I thought, when I received the book, that it was frightfully sad. To get to the end of one’s life, you know, and have things one wanted to do, even things that are silly or easily accomplished, and not have managed to do them, well, I thought it was a terrible shame. But at that time there was nothing I could do about it. I was expected to marry Jackson, after all. And while he really is a good man, until recently, he has never been particularly, oh, imaginative. So, I set the book aside even though Great-aunt Lucinda’s regrets have lingered in the back of my mind.” Lucy paused. “When I was very young, I had a list of my own—although my list was completely absurd, terribly far-fetched, and for the most part rather ridiculous.”
    Clara glanced up at her. “Not things easily accomplished then?”
    “I wouldn’t think so. Being the lady captain of a pirate ship or leading an expedition to find lost treasure in the jungles of the Amazon or traveling through the heavens on a comet are things that can only be accomplished between the pages of a novel of adventure rather than real life.”
    Clara laughed. “You do have a point there.”
    “Still, I have always found the idea of adventure, even mild adventure, to be extremely exciting. I have never had even the tiniest adventure at all.” Lucy reached forward and tapped the book with her finger. “These adventures of my great-aunt’s are quite tame compared with those I longed for in my youth, but unlike mine, hers are eminently