He was tall, lithe, and had hair that was almost the same shade as hers, although there were a few strands of white mixed in with the blond. His eyes were a brilliant shade of light blue, which went far to explain why her eyes were so unusual, a mix of her mother’s darker shade, blended with the lighter shade of her father’s.
Before she could think of a single thing to say, though, Georgette crossed her arms over her chest. “You’ve yet to tell me what you’re doing here.”
“I’m here to meet with Raymond Mason to discuss the terms of the purchase agreement he and I have been discussing.”
“Purchase agreement pertaining to Mason Mines?”
Douglas inclined his head as Georgette released a snort.
“You would have me believe you have the wherewithal to buy Mason Mines, one of the largest copper industries in the country?”
“I do.”
“Why would you want to buy it?”
Douglas smiled a smile that was so cold Georgette took a step back. “Because I thought it would be poetic, purchasing James Mason’s lifelong obsession, and using a fortune I acquired from that ten thousand dollar bank draft he gave me almost thirty years ago.”
Georgette’s face flamed with color. “You’re despicable, and I hope you don’t expect me to be impressed with your fortune. In fact, it sickens me, although I hope it was all worth it for you, taking his money and abandoning me in the process.”
The smile faded from Douglas’s face. “I have no idea what you’re going on about, Georgette. I remember quite clearly what transpired back then, and I certainly didn’t abandon you. You abandoned me.”
Georgette’s hand clenched into a fist. “I fear your memory is faulty because you left me with only a letter that told me in no uncertain terms why you were leaving me. It was a cowardly thing to do, Douglas. Did you ever take into consideration how devastated I’d be, learning the man I thought was the love of my life had decided he’d made a grave mistake? That having his allowance andtrust fund taken away and being cut out of the family will wasn’t worth having me as his wife?”
“I never left you any letter,” Douglas argued. “You left me one. But I only got to read that letter after I found myself abducted and thrown on a ship bound for the East Indies, compliments of your father.”
Georgette’s hand unclenched. “What are you talking about? Father told me you were taking the ten thousand dollars he offered you and heading off for a tour of Europe, wanting to put distance between us because you knew I wouldn’t react well after learning you’d left me.”
“I never left you.”
“You went out to fetch coffee and pastries for us and never returned, as your trip to the bakery was an excuse to get away after you’d met with my father the night before and he gave you money. He told me you were only too eager to accept it and he gloated for years about how right he’d been that you were a fortune hunter.” Georgette brushed a tear from her face. “For days afterward, I insisted on staying in that room we rented in that rather shabby house, knowing you’d come back, but ... you never did.”
“Because I was on a ship bound for the East Indies,” Douglas said. “Your father hired men to jump me as I left that bakery. I was then thrown into your father’s rented carriage, where he was waiting for me. He told me I was fortunate he’d merely decided to send me off on a little adventure instead of permanently keeping me away from you. He tucked a bank draft for ten thousand dollars into my jacket and told me he was doing me a favor. He actually felt he was being magnanimous when he suggested I look up a friend of his who worked for the East India Company. After that, he told me he’d make sure you got an annulment, then called for the carriage to stop, got out, and that’s the last I saw of him.”
Temper flashed through Douglas’s eyes. “At first, I thought for sure that your father would change his mind about his decision to send me off to the far regions of the earth. But as the ship I’d been thrown on began sailing away, I realized your father wasnothing more than a controlling tyrant who couldn’t accept that his daughter made a decision without his input. He misjudged me, though, because he thought I was a wastrel and lacked ambition, which wasn’t true. I proved that from the moment I reached the East Indies and decided I would look up that friend of your father’s instead of trying to make my way home. I’d been accused of being a fortune hunter and was devastated that the woman I loved had evidently convinced her father to get rid of me. I decided I had no reason to return to the States. Your father’s friend brought me into the East India Company, and I used the ten thousand your father gave me to make initial investments in that company. Those investments paid off, and I eventually returned to New York a good fifteen years later with a large fortune in hand. During my time away, my father and oldest brother had died, so I assumed the role as head of the family after I realized Stanley was unfit for normal life.” He tilted his head. “I’m now one of the wealthiest men in America, which means you could have been married to one of the wealthiest men in the country if you hadn’t decided to listen to your father.”
“I didn’t listen to my father.”
“That’s the impression I got from your letter.” He pulled out his billfold, flipped it open, and retrieved a folded-up paper that was well-worn. “Sad as this is to admit, I’ve carried this with me for twenty-nine years, a remembrance of the mistakes I made in my youth.”
“I never wrote you a letter.”
“Just read it.”
With hands that were trembling, Georgette unfolded the paper and bent her head, squinting at print that Eunice could see even from a distance was faded with age.
The library was completely silent as she read. A few minutes later, she lifted her head. “I know this looks like my handwriting, but I didn’t write this. I never changed my mind about marrying you, and I definitely never thought about getting our marriage annulled.”
“Your father told me he was going to make that happen the moment you got back to Montana.”
Georgette nodded. “And I believe he intended on doing just that but was thwarted from those intentions because of certain ... circumstances.”
“What circumstances?”
Eunice drew in a deep breath and stepped forward, her gaze settling on Douglas, whose face began leaking color the moment he clapped eyes on her.
“I believe the circumstances were because of me—your daughter.”
CHAPTER
