The Rich Man's Bride. CATHERINE GEORGE

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СКАЧАТЬ courteously. ‘If that’s what you prefer, I’d be delighted to have your company, Anna. I’ll tell Martha. Your bathroom’s through that blue door. In the meantime, take it easy for a while. I’ll be back for you in an hour.’

      Anna felt grubby from mere contact with the clothes the intruder had handled. She would have liked a bath, but with no clean underwear at her disposal she contented herself with a vigorous wash before changing into the red sweater she’d packed. When Ryder came back for her she was sitting in a small blue armchair by the window, leafing through out-of-date magazines.

      ‘You look much better,’ he said in approval, then smiled as he noticed her reading matter. ‘We used to provide those for guests, but I haven’t done much entertaining since my father and Eddy died.’

      ‘Because you’re still grieving for them, Ryder?’ asked Anna, surprised to feel a pang of sympathy.

      ‘That’s certainly part of it. Losing them both in such a short space of time was pretty devastating. I needed time to myself to mourn them. I was also landed with a job I wasn’t trained for. Since the estate manager retired I’ve worked so damned hard I don’t have much inclination for socialising.’ He smiled wryly.

      ‘A lot different from life for you at one time,’ she commented.

      ‘Too true. In the old days in the City, juggling with other people’s millions, I burnt the candle at both ends, never imagining that one day I’d have to take over here. Eddy was the heir; I was just the spare.’ He smiled. ‘Dominic refers to himself as The Accident.’

      ‘During the very brief time we spent together,’ said Anna very deliberately, ‘Dominic told me he’s doing well at his auction house.’

      Ryder acknowledged her barb with a wry smile. ‘He’ll do even better after he marries the founder’s granddaughter.’

      ‘Plus the inheritance you thought I lusted after,’ she reminded him tartly. ‘Did you really believe I was after Dominic—of all people—for his money?’

      Ryder shrugged. ‘No point in lying. Until you put me right on the subject, I admit that I did, briefly. I couldn’t see what the attraction was otherwise in someone you’d known as a baby.’

      ‘At least you’re honest! Didn’t your aunt leave you anything?’

      ‘Aunt Augusta said I made too much money of my own to need hers. And she didn’t leave Eddy anything because he was the heir to the estate, so Dominic got the lot.’

      Anna eyed him searchingly. ‘Do you hanker after your old life, Ryder?’

      He shook his head. ‘Oddly enough, no. I enjoyed the cut and thrust of it at the time, not to mention the money that bought the smart flat and the sexy cars. But secretly I always envied Eddy. I would have exchanged it all in a flash to be in his shoes, running this place.’ Ryder smiled bitterly. ‘Then suddenly I was doing just that, in the last way I would have chosen. So, Anna Morton, the moral is to be careful what you wish for in case it’s granted.’

      ‘Amen to that,’ she said soberly as they went downstairs.

      ‘Mr Ryder won’t use the dining room these days,’ Mrs Carter apologised as Ryder seated Anna at a small table in the morning room.

      ‘This is much cosier,’ Anna assured her.

      ‘And much nearer the kitchen,’ added Ryder.

      They ate perfectly grilled trout with lemon, served with small buttered potatoes and a green salad. Mrs Carter eyed Anna’s empty plate with approval when she arrived with their pudding. ‘Mr Ryder tells me you’ve had pneumonia, of all things, a young girl like you, Anna, so you need plenty of good food inside you to make sure you get over it properly. I’ve put cheese on the side table so I’ll just take these plates and leave you in peace.’

      ‘Thank you for a delicious meal,’ said Anna warmly. ‘This tart looks wonderful.’

      ‘I froze the raspberries myself in the summer, dear, so you enjoy a nice big slice with some cream.’ Mrs Carter smiled, pleased, as she bore her tray out of the room.

      ‘You heard what Martha said,’ commented Ryder as he served Anna. ‘You need to eat.’

      ‘Not hard to do when food like this is put in front of me.’ She helped herself to cream.

      ‘I hope you appreciate the eco-friendly menu. The potatoes and raspberries are home-grown and I caught the trout myself last season. That’s a very odd look you’re giving me,’ he added.

      ‘I was just wondering—but it’s none of my business,’ she added hastily. ‘Let’s talk about something else.’

      He looked down his nose at her. ‘Are you wondering, by any chance, if the double death duties left me so stony broke I can’t afford to serve a decent meal?’

      ‘No, of course not.’ She bit her lip, flushing, wishing now she’d stayed at the cottage, broken window or not.

      ‘The simplicity of the menu,’ he said very deliberately, ‘is not due to lack of funds, Anna. It’s the kind of food we often eat. If I’d known it would worry you, I would have asked Martha to serve lobster and tournedos Rossini.’

      Anna put down her fork without tasting the tart. ‘Perhaps I should have had supper in my room after all. You know perfectly well I wasn’t criticising the menu. And your funds, lack of them or otherwise, don’t interest me in the slightest—Squire.’

      Ryder looked at her in silence for a moment. ‘I apologise for the cheap crack, Anna. Please eat the tart or Martha will be upset.’

      ‘I wouldn’t upset Mrs Carter for the world,’ said Anna pointedly and picked up her fork again.

      ‘Point taken,’ said Ryder. ‘But, just to put the record straight, I’m in a better position than some men who inherit this kind of place, due to the money I’d earned—and invested—in my banking days.’ He shrugged. ‘It’s good to have it as a cushion, I admit, but even without it I’m not destitute. I’m running the estate with the money left after the debts were settled, though I’m doing it rather differently from Eddy.’

      ‘In what way?’

      ‘By seeking new sources of revenue. When your grandfather retired, Eddy was all for selling off the shoots Hector used to organise, but there’s good money to be made in that area, so once I’ve hired a new gamekeeper I shall reinstate them. The facilities for catering are still in the barns and that kind of thing is pretty popular with jaded businessmen at weekends. I’ve also been approached by a television company to use the house as the setting for a period drama. Eddy would have hated that, but I jumped at the chance of more revenue for the estate.’

      Anna nodded. ‘Sounds like a good move. By the way, did you show my grandfather how to play the market?’

      ‘Guilty as charged,’ he admitted. ‘Not that he needed much teaching. He was a natural.’

      ‘Do you still do that kind of thing yourself, Ryder?’

      ‘Sometimes, when it’s a cast-iron certainty.’ He smiled reminiscently. ‘I used to worry about Hector, but he’d just smile that slow smile of his СКАЧАТЬ