The Heiress by Lynsay Sands Read Free Book Online

she’d told him, but had seen no way to avoid explaining it all to him. Besides, he had a right to know, she supposed. Still, she’d rather not have had to tell him. Daniel was the first man tonight who had matched the imagined suitors she’d dreamed of before the ball. Well, she supposed there was Danvers. He’d been about the same age as Daniel, but while he’d been average in looks, Daniel was . . . well, she supposed he wasn’t much more than average in the grand scheme of things, but now that he was no longer dragging her about, there was just something about him that appealed to her for some reason. Perhaps it was his lips, she thought, peering at his full lower lip below the thinner upper one and wondering what it would be like to be kissed by him.
    “Why you and not your sister?” he asked. “Lisa was it?”
    “Yes, Lisa,” Suzette answered and then shrugged. “I am the older of us by a year. It seems more responsible for me to take on the task this time.”
    “Hmm.” He was silent for a moment and then murmured, “So Christiana married Geo—Dicky to claim her dower and pay off your father’s first round of gambling debts?”
    “Well, Dicky paid them off himself, but got it back through the dower when he and Christiana married,” she said slowly.
    “And that was the first time your father had ever gambled in his life?” he asked, eyes narrowing.
    Suzette sighed and nodded. “Yes, he’d never bothered with things like that before then.”
    “But now he’s gambled again for only the second time, and for the second time lost so much that one of his daughters—you—need to marry to claim your dower and pay off those debts again?” he asked. When Suzette nodded, he frowned and asked, “And you say Geo-Dicky took your father to the gaming hell where he lost the money this last time?”
    Suzette nodded again, her mouth twisting bitterly. She really wished the man was dead. It would only be justice considering that what he’d done was forcing her to marry so hurriedly.
    “Did he take your father to the gaming hell the first time?”
    Suzette blinked with surprise. “No,” she said at once and then frowned and said, “Actually, maybe.”
    Daniel raised his eyebrows. “Which is it?”
    Suzette bit her lip. “I’m not sure. I was reading in the attic when Dicky arrived at Madison and I overheard his conversation with Father.” She paused to explain, “The attic stretches across the house and for some reason you can hear what’s said in Father’s office in one spot up there and it just happened to be where I was reading.”
    “It just happened to be, did it?” he asked with an amused grin.
    Suzette blushed, but continued, “Anyway, I heard when Dicky offered to pay Father’s debts in exchange for Christiana’s hand in marriage and he did say something about feeling responsible for Father’s gambling that night.” She frowned. “I don’t recall him saying why he felt responsible though . . . but it could have been because he took him there that time too, don’t you think?”
    “It’s possible,” Daniel agreed quietly, his expression turning thoughtful.
    Suzette sat fidgeting for a moment, but finally asked, “So? Will you marry me?”
    Daniel seemed startled by the question and suddenly sat up straight. “Oh . . . er . . .”
    “It is the perfect solution for both of us,” Suzette pointed out anxiously. Truly, she was almost desperate to convince him. She simply abhorred the idea of having to marry Lord Willthrop or any of the others she’d danced with tonight. This man, however . . . Well, she found him attractive at least. And so far he hadn’t displayed any unbearable habits like picking at spots, though to be fair, he didn’t seem to have any spots to pick at. But he also hadn’t leered at her once, there was no incessant sniffling and she hadn’t noticed him having bad breath.
    Frowning at that last thought, she leaned a little closer to him on the bench