AllFreeNovel
Share Us
In the distance, the manor house was getting closer. It was surrounded by lush fields with sheep on one side and horses grazing peacefully on the other. All in all, it looked a damn sight better than the tenement house she’d been living in, where she’d been forced to share one small bedroom with three other girls.
They pulled up in front of the house and a man who looked like he’d stepped out of some Edwardian period drama came down the steps to open the car door for the social worker.
“Mr. Strode is waiting for you,” the man said in a posh accent as he guided them up the staircase and through the enormous double doors. “If you wouldn’t mind taking a seat, Mr. Strode would like to see the young lady alone.”
He turned his back and started down a corridor. Nora was intrigued by the confidence he showed—expecting the social worker to take a seat and for Nora just to follow him. Just because she wanted to see if he would notice and what he would do about it, she stopped in the middle of the hall and just stood.
It took him a few steps, but he stopped to turn and look at her. “Come on, girl, Mr. Strode is waiting for you.”
“Don’t call me ‘girl;’ I don’t like it. It was a long drive out here; the least you could have done was offer both of us refreshments.”
“I wouldn’t take that tone with Mr. Strode if I were you, girl.”
“Well then, I guess it’s a good thing that you aren’t me, then, isn’t it, dude?”
The man’s eyes narrowed. She hadn’t made any friends with this one, but if she was going to be living here, she might as well set things straight with him.
“You’re rather uppity, aren’t you? I could tell Mr. Strode you refused to leave your caretaker, so I sent you away.”
“You could,” said Nora, advancing toward him, “but what would happen if he found out you lied?”
“How would he do that?”
“Simple. I’d tell him.”
The butler/majordomo/chief stooge—whatever he was—paled. So, the officious jerk was afraid of his employer. Interesting.
“What would you prefer being called, miss?”
“Nora will do.”
“Very good, Miss Nora. If you would please follow me, Mr. Strode would very much like to meet you.”
Nora fell in behind the man and was ushered into her idea of heaven—a room with a view of an expansive patio and lawns on one side and three sides of floor-to-ceiling bookcases filled with books—none of them paperbacks—and one of those sliding library ladders. There was also a beautiful fireplace with an ornate mantle, an elegant screen, and a crackling fire, whose flames danced behind the ironwork. It was a marvelous, magical room that she could cheerfully spend the rest of her life in.
“Are all these books his?” Nora asked.
The man didn’t answer. Instead, he backed out of the room, closing the door behind him. Nora had been so gobsmacked by all of the beautiful leather-bound books, she’d failed to notice the man sitting in the leather wingback chair in front of the fire.
The man stood. He was impressive. Tall, dark and elegant. He was dressed in what she guessed was casual for him: flannel trousers with an elegant white shirt, with the cuffs turned back and loafers with tassels. There was something old-world and sophisticated about him.
Nora knew she should be intimidated by him, by the house, by his manservant and all the rest, but she wasn’t. She was more intrigued than anything else.
“To answer your question, yes, the books are all mine. You must be Nora Blake. I’m Abraham Strode.” The man offered her his hand and she took it, allowing him to shake hers as he offered her a chair. “I suspect someone of your intelligence and natural curiosity has questions.”
“What makes you think I’m curious?”
He smiled benignly. “You have the look of someone who is more curious than frightened.”
Nora nodded. “Let’s cut to the chase, shall we? Are you some kind of pervert or pedophile? The social worker said you weren’t, but…”
“But you don’t believe her.”
“Let’s just say as there is a bonus in it for her, I question her veracity. After all, I’m not anyone she cares about.”
“Given what you know of the system and that obviously your social worker has shared some information she probably shouldn’t have, I’ll level with you. I am neither a pedophile, nor a pervert. I am, however, a man of great wealth with no living relatives. I would like to see someone take my place when I am gone. I think you could be that someone.”
“What would I have to do?”
