INDISCRETIONS ~ Penelope Thomas ~1994 Harper Historical

HAUNTED HEARTS

When Edmund Llewelyn, master of Abbey House, warned Hilary Carewe that ghosts inhabited his elegant home, she was incredulous at first. Then the russet-haired orphan began to sense a profound chill of evil and sorrow locked in the corridor walls of the Dorset mansion. Her fears only increased when she learned of her enigmatic host's reputation as a heartless seducer.

Slowly, Hilary realized that the sinister pattern of events that had claimed the life of Edmund's stepmother was still unfolding, as scandals from an earlier generation came to light. Was she falling in love with a wronged man? Or was a dead woman's desire driving her into a murderer's arms?

Extract:

"JUST WHAT ARE YOU SUGGESTING?"

"I am thirty-two years of age, Miss Carewe. Unmarried. Excessively rich. And considered more than passably handsome."

I gaped at him. The utter arrogance of the man. Did he think I had such designs on him?

"I would sooner live out my life as a spinster than be forced to suffer your company one minute longer," I said.

"Be warned. If you use your wiles on me you will find yourself the loser".

With one quick pull, he brought me up against him. He cupped my chin with his hand and lifted my face to his. I gasped. He could not possibly mean to --

His mouth descended on mine. It was a hard kiss, not a lover's caress but a warning of what fate held for me if I dared cross him.