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
So cold, so formal. Even as he said the words, the hand around Adelaide’s heart clenched tighter. After her revelations, she could hardly blame him for his reserve. Surely, to Caleb Hunt, she would now forever be a fallen woman, whose life had been built on a lie and a veneer of respectability to which she had no right.
Whatever thread of friendship and attraction had drawn them together had snapped.
As the door shut behind him, she sank into the chair at the table, staring at the note that changed everything.
Thirty
Thirty
14 February 1872
Adelaide ensured Netty and Daniel were not at home when Richard arrived on Tuesday evening for the evening meal. She opened the door to him, her heart hammering beneath her stays. This would not be an easy conversation but she had to know the truth.
She did not invite him to sit down so they stood facing each other.
He spun his hat in his hands as he looked around the quiet room. ‘Just us, Addy?’
‘Just us. There is an important matter we need to discuss, Richard.’ Adelaide took a breath, steadying herself with a hand on the edge of the table. ‘I would like you to answer a question.’
‘Of course. Anything.’ Richard’s eagerness was palpable, almost too eager.
‘I’ve asked this before but I will ask again. What are the terms of my father’s will?’
The hat stilled in his hands and his gaze fixed on a point above her right shoulder. ‘I told you, I’m unaware of the details. As things stood between you and your father, I can only assume the estate has gone to your cousin.’
‘I think it is important that I know,’ Adelaide persisted, watching Richard’s face, seeing the lies in it.
‘Why? As far as you were concerned, your father considered you dead.’ He tossed his hat on the day bed and took a step towards her. ‘You know I would take you just as you are, Addy. Money is not important. I have sufficient to keep you and the boy. You need never concern yourself with the question of money again.’
This time he met her gaze and she stared into his blue eyes. The eyes of a liar, and a bad liar at that. She saw him now as she had never seen him before. A chill ran down her spine.
‘If I were to find that my father had, in fact, made provision for Danny and I, that in no way would affect your feelings for me?’ she said, choosing each word with deliberate care.
He took her hand and pressed it to his cheek. ‘Of course not, Addy. I have loved you since you were seventeen.’