Chapters (53)
- Cover
- About Alison Stuart
- Also by Alison Stuart
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- 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
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Author’s Note
- Acknowledgements
- Preview of The Goldminer's Sister
Whatever he had thought she was going to say, it clearly had not been this. He stared at her, his grey eyes wide with shock. She struggled in his grasp but he drew her in to him, wrapping his arms around her. She rested her head on his chest, the beat of his heart reassuring and strong.
The tears of shame, humiliation, anger—so many emotions—welled up and she sank to the floor, bringing him with her. They sat with their backs to the day bed, Caleb’s arms around her while she sobbed into the large white handkerchief he handed her.
When she could cry no more, he said, ‘You don’t have to say any more. I can guess.’
She shook her head. ‘No. I need you to know the truth.’ She took a deep breath. ‘Richard was the younger son of one of my father’s business acquaintances. I would say friend, but my father had no friends, only people who could be of use to him. His sister and I knew each other and as I grew older, we would meet socially, but nothing more. To him I would have just been an annoying little girl. Father had ambitions for me and the man I would marry. He lavished money on my coming out year and no longer was I a child in the nursery but a young woman. A young woman with a fortune to her name. Richard paid me every attention and I, in my foolish romantic heart, believed myself to be in love.’ Her hands twisted in her lap. ‘It was the night of the Countess of Birmingham’s ball. Such a sumptuous affair. I’d had too much champagne and I was giddy from the lights, the music, the attention of all the young men. Richard was at my side, ever solicitous, and he suggested I clear my head in the conservatory. He kissed me and then we …’ She shuddered.
Caleb pulled her closer. ‘Don’t say any more, Adelaide.’
Adelaide lowered her head. ‘I had no idea what we were doing. No one ever told me … Afterwards, he promised he would ask my father for my hand, but first he had some business for his own father in Savannah. I didn’t see him for weeks and then he sent me a note to say he would be sailing the next day on one of my father’s ships.’