Free Heiress on the Run (Harlequin Romance) by Sophie Pembroke

although he couldn’t have said why it mattered to him so much.
    * * *
    Beresford Hall was beautiful, magnificent, a shining example of some sort of architecture or another, and everything else the guidebook said it would be. But all Faith could see was the shadow of Fowlmere Manor hanging over it, reminding her how hard she’d worked to get away from places like this. People like this.
    Sure, Fowlmere was maybe half the size of Beresford Hall, and there were far fewer people hanging around it these days, but the similarities caught her everywhere she turned, and she couldn’t shake the shiver that crept over her shoulders when she thought how close she’d come to being trapped somewhere like this her whole life.
    Dominic led them up the stone steps to the imposing front doors, hauling them open and holding one to let them pass into the main hall. It was early on a weekday, but there had been several coaches parked in the car park when they arrived and the hall already boasted three lines for tickets. This, Faith supposed, was where Fowlmere really differed. Even if her father had let them, what tourists would want to pay to visit a crumbling manor that had sold most of its heirlooms to pay gambling debts?
    Beresford Hall was often held up as an example of heritage done right. Open most days to the public, save one wing that was kept as family quarters, Dominic had put history on display for all to share and he’d done it in style.
    ‘Come on through, guys,’ he said, lifting a red tasselled rope to let them skip the queue. ‘I’ll give you the house tour myself, before we get a better look at the newer additions to the property.’
    Faith followed, remembering the horrible attempts to open Fowlmere to the public when she was a child. Only two days a year, her father had decreed, and he’d give the tours himself. Except, when it came down to it, it turned out he didn’t know much about the history of the house, or the family. And when her mother had stepped in to take over, Faith had realised she was already slurring her words at ten in the morning.
    Faith had learned everything she could about the Manor and her ancestry, to be ready for the next open day. But, in the end, her father had declared it a waste of time and shut the gates again.
    Not so at Beresford Hall.
    ‘This is the chamber prepared for Queen Victoria, when she visited the Hall.’ Dominic waited as they all took in the room, with its rich red walls and imposing four-poster bed. Gold accents glittered on everything, adding a shine to the faded history. ‘Beresford Hall has been host to five British monarchs, and we have memorabilia from each of their visits.’
    He was obviously proud of his family and his history, Faith thought. She wondered what that would be like. Whether she’d have stayed if her own family hadn’t been such a shambles. Who would she be if she’d grown up somewhere like Beresford, where her future was neatly mapped out for success, rather than finding buckets to catch drips from leaking roofs, or hiding bottles from her mother and lying to debt-collectors when they came looking for her father?
    But she wasn’t that girl. She was Faith Fowler now, and that was all she ever intended to be.
    With a sigh for things lost, Faith followed Dominic through the next doorway to a magnificent dining room, staring out of the window instead of listening to him talk. She was his employee, not his girlfriend. She didn’t have to hang on his every word. She didn’t have to care about this house, or its history. She didn’t have to learn which king stayed when.
    Because this wasn’t her world any more. And it never would be again.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    ‘W HAT ARE YOU frowning at?’ Sylvia asked.
    Dominic looked down at his sister, taking in her wrinkled up nose and exasperated eyes, and tried very hard to shake his bad mood. ‘Nothing. It’s all perfect. Thanks for setting this up for me.’
    Sylvia shrugged. ‘Just an ordinary day’s