Worth Any Price Read Online Free

you leave, if you like.”
    Stunned, Nick stood immobile as she drifted into the bedroom and closed it with a firm click. “Jesus,” he muttered. An incredulous laugh escaped him at having been so lightly dispensed with after all they had done together. Yet he couldn’t summon any anger. Gemma had been too generous, too kind, for him to feel anything but gratitude.
    Go find another woman , he thought numbly. It seemed an impossible task. Oh, there were women everywhere, cultured, common, plump, lean, dark, fair, tall, short, and he found something to appreciate in all of them. But Gemma had been the only one with whom he had ever dared to unleash his sexuality. He could not imagine how it would be with someone else.
    Make someone love him? Nick smiled bitterly, thinking for the first time that Gemma didn’t know what the hell she was talking about. No woman could love him…and if one ever did, she would be the greatest fool alive.

Chapter Two
    She was here. He was certain of it.
    Nick surveyed the party guests intently as they milled in the gardens behind Stony Cross Park. His hand slid into the pocket of his coat, finding the miniature case that contained Charlotte Howard’s portrait. Slowly his thumb caressed the glossy enameled side of the case while he continued to gaze at the crowd.
    His two-month search for Charlotte had led him to Hampshire, a place of heather-carpeted hills, ancient hunting forests, and treacherous valley bogs. The western county was prosperous, its twenty market towns abundantly filled with wool, timber, dairy products, honey, and bacon. Among the Hampshire’s renowned estates, Stony Cross Park was considered to be the finest. The manor house and private lake were situated in the fertile Itchen Rivervalley. Not a bad place to hide, Nick thought wryly. If his suspicions proved to be correct, Charlotte had found employment in the earl of Westcliff’s household, serving as a companion to his mother.
    In his pursuit of Charlotte, Nick had learned everything he could about her, trying to understand how she thought and felt, how others perceived her. Interestingly, the accounts of Charlotte had been so contradictory that Nick had wondered if her friends and family were describing the same girl.
    To her parents, Charlotte had been an obedient daughter, eager to please, fearful of disapproval. Her disappearance had been a staggering surprise, as they had believed that she was resigned to the fate of becoming Lord Radnor’s bride. Charlotte had known since early childhood that the well-being of her family depended on it. The Howards had made a bargain with the devil, trading their daughter’s future for the financial benefits Radnor could provide. They had enjoyed his patronage for over a decade. But just as it had come time to give the devil his due, Charlotte had fled. The Howards had made it clear to Nick that they wanted Charlotte found and given to Radnor without delay. They did not understand what had prompted her to run, as they believed she would be well served as Lady Radnor.
    Apparently Charlotte had not shared their views. Her friends at Maidstone’s, the upper-crust boarding school Charlotte had attended, most of them now married, had reluctantly described a girl who had become increasingly resentful of the way Radnorsupervised every aspect of her existence. Apparently the school staff, desirous of the generous financial endowments Radnor provided, had been happy to enforce his wishes. Charlotte’s curriculum had differed from everyone else’s; Radnor had chosen the subjects for her to study. He had mandated that she was to retire to bed an hour earlier than the other students. He had even determined how much food she should be allotted, after observing during one of her visits home that she had gained weight and needed slimming.
    Although Nick understood Charlotte’s rebellion, he felt no sympathy. He had no sympathy for anyone. Long ago he had accepted the unfairness of life, the