Chapters (73)
- Cover
- Dedication
- PART ONE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- PART TWO
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- PART THREE
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- PART FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- PART FIVE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- Keep Reading …
- About the Author
- Also by Barbara Taylor Bradford
- About the Publisher
‘More or less, and she certainly can’t buy the villa, which she wants to buy. Desperately so. As a home for her and the Frenchman.’
‘And we know all this from our private investigator in Zürich?’ Robert asked.
‘Yes. If I buy the villa next week, I will hand it over to you, and you then have a huge bargaining chip—’
‘I must pay you for the villa!’ Robert cut in peremptorily. Putting down the balloon of brandy, he got up and threw another log on the fire, pushed it around with the poker, then returned to his chair.
‘If you wish, of course,’ Adrian agreed. ‘She will be given the villa by you as a gift, if she returns to England, so that she can be served the appropriate divorce papers. This is what you have to relay to your solicitor on Monday morning. And she has to agree to a quiet divorce. And everything has to be done with great speed.’
Adrian sat back in the chair and propped his feet on the brass fender, brought the balloon to his nose and breathed in the cognac. ‘That’s your task next week.’
‘I will do everything you suggest, Addy. You have managed the situation so well,’ Robert murmured. ‘My only question is how do we get everything done with speed? I’m eager to marry Vanessa soon.’
‘As long as Lucinda does as she’s told, your divorce should be through in a few months.’
‘Are you sure?’ Robert said, doubt echoing in his voice. ‘How can you manage that?’ A worried look settled on his face.
‘Money talks,’ Adrian answered. ‘And in your case, you’ve got plenty of it. We shall use it wisely.’
Later, after wishing Adrian goodnight, Robert sat for a few moments staring into the embers of the dying fire. He could never have imagined when he stood on the terrace at Bolton Manor, preparing for this trip to town, how much his life would have altered in just a few short weeks. That he could have met Vanessa.
His boys were with their grandparents and his wife was in Switzerland. It was time to take the steps to reclaim Bolton Manor as his own, and to make a new life for himself.
PART FOUR
Good Fortune Finds Its Way
Yorkshire & London
1903–4
FORTY-FIVE
It had been a lovely day for late September. Not a drop of rain. Instead, a pale blue sky, scudding white clouds and sunshine.
Now, early in the evening, the weather was still nice, and there was a light breeze as Blackie O’Neill walked up Town Street.