The Unknown Heir. Anne Herries

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      It was late when Lady Ireland called for her carriage to take them home. She had met several of her close friends that evening, and, seeing that her goddaughter was in good company, had lingered beyond her normal hour. She glanced at Hester in the dim light inside the carriage.

      ‘Did you enjoy yourself this evening, my dear?’

      ‘Yes, it was a pleasant evening,’ Hester replied. ‘I always enjoy myself when I stay with you. I met several friends.’

      ‘I saw you talking to Mr Carlton and Sir John Fraser,’ Lady Ireland said. ‘Sir John is such a pleasant gentleman, do you not think so?’

      ‘Yes, I do,’ Hester said. ‘But so are Mr Carlton and Lord Havers.’

      ‘Ah, yes, Lord Havers. The gossips say that he is about to propose to Miss Castle.’

      ‘Yes, I have heard that, but I do not know if it is true,’ Hester said. She glanced at her godmother in the poor light. ‘It matters little one way or the other, because I do not wish to be married.’

      ‘I have never understood that,’ Lady Ireland said. ‘Would you not enjoy being the mistress of your own home? Surely you must wish for a husband—and children?’

      ‘Perhaps, I am not sure,’ Hester told her and wrinkled her smooth brow. ‘Had I been asked when I was eighteen, I might have said yes, but I have become settled in my ways. Mama cannot be bothered with the running of a large house these days. Papa’s death left her feeling…delicate. Grandfather still orders the estate as much as he can, of course, but he leaves the house to me. It would be ungrateful of me to desert them, do you not agree?’

      ‘As it happens, I do not agree,’ her godmother told her. ‘Your grandfather has enough servants to see to his comfort—and your mama could well do her share if she tried.’

      ‘Yes, perhaps,’ Hester agreed and laughed softly. ‘But you see, I enjoy looking after them, and the house and the servants. It really isn’t a trouble to me.’ She glanced out of the window as they passed by a house from which a great deal of light was to be seen streaming into the street. It was, she supposed, one of the fashionable gaming houses that gentlemen liked to frequent. At that moment a gentleman was on the point of leaving, standing for a second or two in the full light of lanterns and a torch one of the links boys was holding aloft. She saw his face clearly, and noted the fact that he was fashionably dressed before the carriage swept by. ‘Was that—?’ She broke off as her godmother turned to her inquiringly. ‘Did you see that gentleman just now?’

      ‘Which particular gentleman?’ Lady Ireland asked. ‘We passed a rather noisy group of them a moment ago. Coming, I dare say, from that club we passed just now.’

      ‘I thought it was Mr Clinton,’ Hester said and frowned. ‘It was a little odd.’

      ‘He does look a little odd,’ Lady Ireland admitted. ‘But, as I said earlier, once you take him in hand he will do, Hester. I imagine he will pay for dressing.’

      ‘Yes,’ Hester agreed. She decided against telling her godmother that the man she had just seen needed no help from her. If it had been the heir—and she had seen him so briefly that she could not be certain—it meant that he was playing a deep game, as she had suspected. Was there something sinister about him? A shiver ran down her spine as she thought about the various accidents that had happened to the Sheldon family over the past few years. Supposing they were not accidents, but deliberate acts to bring about the situation that now existed? Could the American heir have been behind some of the accidents that had befallen her family?