Free The Granville Sisters by Una-Mary Parker

had been rather a shock. Coldberry turned out to be not just a crumbling castle, but a derelict ruin with a dungeon, the main building having collapsed around 1919.
    Nevertheless … Rosie selected a silvery-green dress that she knew Charles liked, and decided to ask Mummy if she could borrow some jewellery.
    To have someone who cared, Rosie decided, was better than having no one at all; especially as Juliet had
someone
.
    Juliet, having bought herself an exquisite chiffon dress that matched her eyes and clung to her body like a second skin, was walking briskly home, when a familiar figure of a young man waved at her and, risking life and limb, sprinted across the road, to say hello. It was Edward Courtney.
    ‘Juliet!’ he exclaimed, grinning engagingly at her. ‘How are you?’ He raised his Homburg hat. ‘It’s yonks since I’ve seen you; I’ve been in America. How was your summer?’
    Her eyes danced mischievously. ‘Over, thank God. We returned to London yesterday.’
    ‘You certainly look well, but then you always do, sweetie.’
    He leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek. ‘When am I going to see you again?’
    ‘Are you going to the Buckinghams’ tonight?’
    ‘Sure thing! Let’s have a dance. So what’s happening in your life? Proposals by the dozen, no doubt?’
    She laughed. Edward was such fun to be with, and she wished he were more eligible. ‘Well …’ She cocked her head to one side. ‘Between you and me, Alastair Slaidburn is hot on the trail.’
    ‘Alastair Slaidburn?’ Edward raised his eyebrows in surprise. Then his brow furrowed. ‘I introduced you, didn’t I?’ He hesitated for a moment before continuing, ‘Lovely chap, but do be careful. He’s got no money, you know. His reputation as a fortune-hunter has overshadowed every deb season for as long as I can remember.’ Then he laughed. ‘But you’re far too shrewd to be taken in by someone like that, aren’t you, sweetie? Listen, I must dash; got to meet my mother at Gunter’s, but I’ll see you tonight? Don’t forget to save a dance for me, will you?’
    Juliet walked slowly back to Green Street, feeling sick.
    How could Alastair have no money? He owned Ashbourne Court for a start, and thousands of acres of surrounding land.
    Edward must have got it wrong.
    Once home, she rushed up to her mother’s sitting room, where Liza was writing letters.
    ‘Oh,
no
! That can’t be right,’ Liza exclaimed, when Juliet told her what she’d heard.
    ‘Edward wouldn’t lie about a thing like that.’
    ‘But maybe he’s sweet on you himself, and is trying to put you off Alastair?’
    Juliet removed her hat and shook out her hair. ‘No. Edward and I are just great friends. What am I going to do now?’
    Liz reached for her phone. ‘I’m going to ring Daddy. He has contacts everywhere who will know if it’s true. The Slaidburns certainly used to be rich. I can’t understand it.’
    Juliet made a late entrance at the Buckinghams’ dance, where the ballroom was banked by pyramids of white flowers, the band was blasting out ‘Let’s do It (Let’s Fall in Love)’ and the party was already in full swing.
    She spotted Alastair at once, sitting with a group of friends. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him jump up as soon as he saw her, so, pretending she hadn’t noticed him, she walked casually in the opposite direction, thankful she knew nearly everyone at the party.
    As usual, she was immediately surrounded, her willowy figure enveloped by dinner-jacketed swains.
    ‘Darling!’ exclaimed Colin Armstrong.
    ‘Darling,’ she replied, clinging coquettishly to his arm. ‘God, it’s been a long summer without seeing you.’
    ‘It’s been
forever
without seeing
you
,’ he retorted, giving her a swift kiss on the side of her neck.
    ‘Where shall we go tonight?’ she whispered provocatively. ‘Are there any good parties we can crash?’
    ‘What a girl you are!’ he laughed, slipping his arm around her waist.
    She