Читаем A Dangerous Fortune (1994) полностью

"That's your trouble, dear. You're not sly, like Hugh."

"Hugh was very lucky in America."

"Of course he was. You would like to get married, wouldn't you?"

He sat beside her and took her hand. "Why should I, when I have you to take care of me?"

"But who will you have when I'm gone? Did you like that little Emily Maple? I thought she was charming."

"She told me that hunting is cruel to the fox," Edward said in a tone of disdain.

"Your father will settle at least a hundred thousand on you--perhaps more, perhaps a quarter of a million."

Edward was not impressed. "I have everything I want, and I like living with you," he said.

"And I like having you near me. But I want to see you happily married, with a lovely wife and your own fortune and a partnership at the bank. Say you'll think about it."

"I'll think about it." He kissed her cheek. "And now I really must go, Mama. I promised to meet some fellows half an hour ago."

"Go on, then."

He got up and went to the door. "Good night, Mama."

"Good night," she said. "Think about Emily!"

Section 3

KINGSBRIDGE MANOR was one of the largest houses in England. Maisie had stayed there three or four times and she still had not seen half of it. The house had twenty principal bedrooms, not counting the rooms of the fifty or so servants. It was heated by coal fires and lit by candles, and it had only one bathroom, but what it lacked in modern conveniences it made up for in old-fashioned luxury: four-poster beds curtained with heavy silk, delicious old wines from the vast underground cellars, horses and guns and books and games without end.

The young duke of Kingsbridge had once owned a hundred thousand acres of best Wiltshire farmland, but on Solly's advice he had sold half of it and bought a big chunk of South Kensington with the proceeds. Consequently the agricultural depression that had impoverished many great families had left "Kingo" untouched, and he was still able to entertain his friends in the grand style.