The Unknown Heir by Anne Herries

Author:Anne Herries
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2008-07-14T16:00:00+00:00

Jared had already begun to calm down and to realise that he had been unfair to Hester. His disgust at the way a family like this had squandered their wealth and allowed their land and property to fall into neglect had made him so angry that he had poured it all into her ears. She had been struggling to keep the family above water for months, and she had done what she could for a few tenants. He frowned as he changed out of his riding breeches and stripped down so that he could wash the stink of the stables from his body. Anyone seeing him now would be aware of the strength of the man, his muscles toned and hardened, his skin slightly tanned by the sun. He looked powerful and confident, a man in his prime.

Jared’s fury eased as he dressed. It wasn’t Hester’s fault things had come to this pass. It had taken years of careless management and reckless gambling to bring a once-proud family to this. He knew that he had been wrong to blame her as she had undoubtedly done what she could and it was not she who had brought the Shelbourne family to this precarious state.

He had intended to walk away once he’d set work in hand at the house, to cut and run before he was sucked in, held by tenuous bonds that were growing tighter with every hour he spent here. He groaned as he began to pull on clean linen and the clothes one of the servants had set out for the evening. A young footman was waiting on him, and he was pleased by the man’s choice. Frederick would make an excellent gentleman’s gentleman, and he would need one if he decided to make his home here in England. At home he had often dressed carelessly, enjoying the freedom to work with his hands or ride out where he pleased without bothering about what he wore. It would be different if he stayed here, became the man this family needed.

Was he really considering it? Jared frowned at himself in the shield-shaped mahogany dressing-mirror. The furnishings in his apartment were adequate, but he would want to make changes. He could send for his furniture from his home in New Orleans, instruct Red to sell everything there, because he doubted that he would live there again—though he would keep some of his property in France.

Was he mad? Jared stopped in the act of brushing his hair. Why should he contemplate spending a fortune on this house? Why should he sink thousands of dollars into the estate of the man who had not even bothered to find out anything about his American grandson until he had no other choice?

Because his mother would have wanted him to rescue her family from the pit they had worked themselves into! The answer came to him like a blinding flash. It was the reason he had been drawn here against his will. He had fought it,

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