page1 (1/2)
CHAPTER ONE
THE WOMAN IN the looking glass was beautiful Fair hair, drawn back into an elegant chignon frorey eyes enhanced with expensive cosmetics, lips outlined with subtle colour At the lobes of her ears and around her throat pearls shimmered
For several longThen abruptly she got to her feet and turned, the long skirts of her evening goishing as she headed to the bedrooer Nikos did not care to be kept waiting
Into her head, in the bleak reality of her life now, ca that was constantly there
‘“Take what you want,” says God “Take it and pay for it”’
She sed as she headed downstairs to her waiting husband Well, she had taken what she’d wanted And she was paying for it Oh, how she was paying for it
Six months previously
‘You do realise, Diana, that with probate now completed and your financial situation clearly impossible, you have no option but to sell’
Diana felt her hands clench in her lap, but did not reply
The St Clair family laent on ‘It won’t reach top price, obviously, because of its poor condition, but you should clear enough to enable you to live pretty decently I’ll contact the agents and set the wheels in motion’
Gerald Langley s
‘I suggest that you take a holiday I know it’s been a very difficult tiressive decline after his injuries—and then his death—’
He ht have saved his breath A stony expression had tautened Diana’s face ‘I’’
Gerald frowned at the obduracy in her voice ‘Diana, you must face facts,’ he retorted, his impatience audible ‘You may have sufficient income fro and maintenance costs of Greymont, or even to find the capital for the repairs your father thought were necessary, but this latest structural survey you coently needed—that cannot be deferred or delayed—are far more extensive than anyone realised You simply do not have the funds for it—not after death duties Let alone for the decorative work on the interior Nor are there any art randfather disposed of most of the else to pay his’
He drew a breath,
‘So, outside of an extremely unlikely lottery win,’ he said, and there was a trace of condescension now, ‘your only other option would be to find some extremely rich man with exceptionally deep pockets and marry him’
He let his bland gaze rest on her for a second, then resuinal thread
‘As I say, I will get in touch with the agents, and—’