Read Online The Paradise Will by Elizabeth Hanbury - Free Book Online Page A

not have the opportunity when you first called. Alyssa has described you, of course.’
    ‘I dare say Miss Paradise’s description would be intriguing,’ he said, with an amused glance at Alyssa, ‘and Mr Brook’s. Does he stay long?’
    ‘Charles has business which has taken him back to London: he will not return for some time,’ explained Alyssa.
    ‘I see,’ he murmured.
    With a studied lack of tact, Letty said, ‘Thank goodness he has gone; Charles was utterly miserable and making Lyssa the same!’
    ‘Indeed? I gathered Mr Brook’s mood was not a convivial one,’ he said, smiling wryly.
    Alyssa eyed him uncertainly. ‘He was concerned for my welfare.’
    ‘I have no quarrel with that, but why he must be in such high dudgeon, I can’t imagine.’ He raised his brows. ‘Perhaps he ate something which disagreed with him?’ he said solemnly.
    ‘No, he did not,’ replied Alyssa, biting her lip.
    ‘So Friday-faced is his normal appearance then?’ asked Gil, in an artless tone.
    ‘N-No,’ she faltered.
    ‘Yes!’ said Letty, simultaneously.
    He executed a small bow and said, his smile lurking, ‘I defer to your greater knowledge and trust it was not the Dorset air which affected his constitution, or his temper.’
    ‘I-I believe something in particular annoyed him!’ declared Alyssa with twinkling eyes.
    He grinned. ‘Ah, now I understand! Then perhaps a spell in London will restore his good humour.’
    ‘Oh, I wouldn’t depend upon it,’ said Letty, cheerfully, ‘Charles enjoys being gloomy.’
    Any further observations were cut short by the news the clerk had arrived and Alyssa went out to find the dapper, smartly dressed Mr Forde already seated in an alcove outside the diningroom. She begged he make himself comfortable and enjoy the refreshments provided, to which Mr Forde, who silently considered this the easiest commission he had ever been asked to undertake, readily agreed.
    The diningroom had been laid out in accordance with Alyssa’s instructions: places had been set opposite each other at the oak table and candles placed along its length; the magnificent silver epergne decorated with fruit was at the centre; a fire crackled in the hearth, and spring blooms, their distinctive scent filling the air, had been situated about the room.
    Alyssa sat across the table from Sir Giles and, as she waited for Rowberry to serve the soup, she glanced at the portrait of Uncle Tom above the fireplace. It had always been her favourite, the artist having captured the essence of his character as well as his physical likeness. Dressed in scarlet regimentals, General Paradise gazed down from his lofty position with the hint of devilment in his eyes she knew so well. She suddenly felt his presence keenly and looked again at the portrait; she was ready to swear his mouth was turned up in amusement!
    For Alyssa, the scene was almost dreamlike. She was dining alone with a man who was practically a stranger and yet the setting felt curiously intimate, cocooned away from the world. She looked away from her uncle’s image only to find Sir Giles regarding her steadily, and she could not suppress a shiver at his searching gaze.
    ‘How strange,’ she observed, ‘when I looked a moment ago, I could have sworn Uncle Tom was watching us. He would be pleased we have met his wishes – thus far at least.’
    ‘Amused too, I’d venture,’ he said. ‘I admired his sense of humour as well as his spirit.’ He glanced at the portrait and then back to her face. ‘I detect aspects of his features in you, Miss Paradise.’
    ‘Not his side whiskers and grey flowing locks, I hope!’
    ‘No,’ he replied, smiling, ‘perhaps a certain sweep to your cheekbones. More particularly, you have the same glint of amusement in your eyes that Tom possessed – there the resemblance is uncanny.’
    ‘Our personalities are also similar.’
    ‘So I am discovering. When we first met, however, you were not at all what I