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CHAPTER ONE
‘GOOD God!’ Steve whispered irreverently ‘Dane’s actually come’
A perceptible flutter of interest spread through the gathered raveside Several pairs of eyes wearing expressions ranging froht disapproval watched the approach of the prodigal as he strode across the celanced enquiringly at the slender girl by his side
‘I think we’d better wait,’ she agreed quietly
On her other side Carter Fletcher’s thin face set into angry lines ‘How did he find out?’ he muttered
Claire’s cheekbones washed with pink, since she had been the one to see that Dane was inforure drew level she lowered her eyes
When Dane’s ner but a htclubs and ere eupheazines, Adam Fletcher had struck her name from the family Bible Shortly after her death, however, he had chosen to acknowledge Dane’s existence by inviting him up to Ranbury Hall for the weekend Not that Dane, by then having reached twenty-one, had shown hirateful for such belated attention Already rich beyond avarice, Dane had come out of curiosity alone, and unlike the rest of Adam’s family, he had never toadied
‘Man that is born of woman …’ The sepulchral voice intoned
Claire sed hard Not a single soul present truly randfather’s death An eccentric, miserly and reclusive old hbours than he had been to his own immediate family
Claire’s father had been Adaest and least successful son Her parents had led a soipsyish existence because her father had rarely stuck in one job for long She had been four when they had adopted her, and her memory of the six years she had had with them was a warm cocoon to retire inside whenever she was low Money had been in short supply but there had been love Their sudden death in a car crash had cut uniinably deep, and her life at Ranbury Hall afterwards had been achingly familiar Before her adoption she had been in a variety of foster homes and institutions There, too, there had often been coldness and disinterest, a sense of not belonging to anything or anybody, and that buried insecurity had been fanned to a flame from the moment she arrived at Ranbury to make her home with Adam Fletcher
‘The law hter but we both know you’re not,’ he had growled resentfully ‘You were adopted You’re no kin of o into an institution I expect you’ll be able to make yourself useful about the house You’re not a pretty child, either I dare say you’ll still be here when I’ a nurse’
In the chilly breeze gusting across the exposed graveyard, she shivered beneath her thin navy raincoat Adam had been correct in his forecast She enty-three now and, apart fro school outside Leeds, she had been no further than Ranbury and its overgrown acres in the Yorkshire Dales But a year ago, a year that was now etched into her soul as a tione to the man she loved, had not Adam’s illness made it impossible for her to leave
In staying she had done what everyone estio Adaer any reason for her to remain at Ranbury Max had waited patiently for over a year for her to join hi with someone anted her for herself … sos and needs of her own That had to be a first in Claire’s experience
Her grandfather had found her an unwelcome responsibility until he sa useful a quiet, hard-working girl could be around a large, understaffed house and what savings could be et And, of late, she’d been much cheaper than a private nurse A nurse wouldn’t have stood Ada complaints that had made Claire’s days unendurable All the compassion in the world could prove insufficient when life beca toil ruled by the whims of a cold, tyrannical old man
It’s over now, a little voice soothed inside her brain Tiredly she lifted her auburn head again, ashahts After all, she was free now to make her own choices and her choice was quite naturally to be reunited with Max Thankfully no one could prevent that now
‘Ashes to ashes, dust to dust …’ Carter’s arm curved firmly to her waist and she stiffened in taut rejection of his familiarity
Opposite, her gaze collided unexpectedly with Dane’s chillingly beautiful, bright blue eyes and the tinge of a, she looked away again At least she could absolve Dane of paying his respects only out of a desire to see what his grandfather had left him Dane was much wealthier than ever the Fletchers had been and he hailed from a very different world
The depth of his tan eht-fitting black cords and designer-cut leather jerkin he sported were not, she iined, the mark of disrespect Carter’s face so clearly said they were, but n that Dane had flown back in a hurry and probably from the States to attend the funeral Even so, she had never seen hih he now based the headquarters of the Visconti business interests in London, Dane was a great deal less hidebound and conventional than his cousins
‘Miss Fletcher’ The vicar was shaking her hand first because she alone of the asseroup had lived with the departed