Liberty Hill (Western Tide Series) Read Online Free Page A

independence to a reckless, wild, and frivolous prat.
    She shut her eyes against the unfortunate reality. Indeed, her father must have had a good reason, but she could not see it then, and she could not see it now.
                “I want you to know that there is no other option for you,” Lucius told her. “This is the way of the world, and we all must accept it. We’re fortunate, I suppose, in some sense. There are young people married off every day. Much younger than us, too. But I have to be honest and tell you I have tried to fight this. My father would hear none of it, of course. There are conditions for his blessing, and they include new ships and new goods. He has big plans for us, you know. For the company. And he’ll be damned if I screw them up.”
                The room brightened as the sun rose. Lucius’ face was washed in a pale blue, his eyes luminescent in the slowly growing light.
                “However, I do have a plan,” he said then, his voice lowering to a soft whisper. Evelyn could barely hear him and struggled to watch the movement of his lips as they formed the words.
                “And unfortunately, it goes far beyond my da’s blessing. No doubt you have heard talk of the gold discovered in California?”
                Her eyes shifted slightly, telling him she had. The servants could be heard whispering about it from time to time, and every week the papers carried stories of young aristocrats heading west to seek adventure. But what on earth would induce Lucius to bring it up on the morning of their wedding?
    He stepped closer to his bride in the pending light. “Today you will be my wife,” he murmured, growing bolder as he spoke, the excitement of his plan giving him a new burst of confidence.
    The word wife caused Evelyn’s breath to catch in her throat.
    “And as such,” Lucius continued, “all your earthly possessions become mine.”
                So. That was it. Lucius had come to her for money. She flushed, her temper rising. The audacity of his brazenness rendered her speechless.
    She sat up a little straighter and narrowed her eyes at him.
                “We will have a fortune together,” he went on, “and with fortune comes the responsibility to invest. I have decided where we should place our money, and it is not with Flynn & Flynn. I want adventure , and I won’t find it here in New York or across the sea in Ireland. No, California has what I want, and I mean to take it for my own,” he concluded with a theatrical swipe at the air. 
                California! With her dowry! She should have known the moment he crossed the threshold that Lucius Flynn was motivated by some moronic idea or another. She had suspected he had found some cunning way out of their engagement, but she had given him far too much credit. Lucius Flynn was not that smart. Lucius Flynn just wanted to have a good time, even if it cost her inheritance.
                “You would have my father’s blood pay for your silly fool’s errand?” she spat at him. “You pompous greenhorn!”
                 She set her mouth in a straight line. The room was bright enough now for Lucius to see her fury.
                “Don’t pretend you don’t know what’s going on here,” he countered, offended. “Today Brennan money becomes Flynn money. All the coins go into one big pot, and my father wants everything that belonged to your da, Evelyn. Everything. If we don’t take that money now, he will spend every last dollar of your inheritance on new ships. You and I will not see a penny. Not a penny! And we will live the rest of our lives answering to him . Is that what you want?”
                “You stupid arse!” she replied. “You just want to run away, and that’s the truth of it! I will have nothing to do with this. Your father has never done any wrong by me