The Paradise Will Read Online Free

they sat in the morning-room of Eastcombe House. Giles had been provokingly reticent since his return from London so she had travelled to his estate this morning to discover the details of the will for herself. Having heard them, Caroline expressed her contempt roundly.
    ‘The most vexatious thing I ever heard! General Paradise must have been mad!’ was her curt observation. ‘Don’t you agree, Mama?’
    ‘Of course, my dear – quite mad,’ said Mrs Nash, nodding; it was her invariable habit to agree with her daughter.
    ‘What do you think, Giles?’
    ‘Oh, Tom possessed all his wits,’ he replied with a smile, ‘but I admit his will is unusual and I cannot see why he chose this route.’
    ‘But this passes what might be considered merely eccentric,’ she complained. ‘To every person of sense, it is a preposterous document.’
    ‘Tom always was a mischievous rogue.’
    ‘Yes, and I did not like him,’ said Caroline, bluntly.
    Gil’s smile died away and his brows rose.
    ‘Indeed?’ he said, in a clipped voice. ‘Have you grounds for this opinion? You never mentioned your dislike before.’
    ‘One has to be polite to one’s neighbours, naturally, but I thought he looked at me in a disparaging way. And he had too much levity.’ She sniffed disapprovingly . ‘A general should have had more decorum than to laugh when Mrs Cumbernatch lost her hat after Sunday service. The wind took it into a puddle and it was quite ruined, yet all General Paradise could do was snigger.’
    ‘It was a large hat,’ observed her mother, recalling the ornate confection that Mrs Cumbernatch had worn to impress her fellow churchgoers, ‘and one I thought very handsome, but she should have used more hat pins.’
    ‘She should have had more sense than wear that cornucopia of ribbon, fruit and flowers on a windy day,’ retorted Gil in disgust. ‘Mrs Cumbernatch was well-served for her vanity and I understand why Tom found the incident amusing,’ he continued, adding defiantly, ‘I did too.’
    ‘But you did not demean yourself by laughing as the general did; it was most unseemly.’
    ‘Most unseemly,’ echoed Mrs Nash.
    ‘Are you never tempted to behave in an unseemly manner, Caroline?’ he asked, giving her an odd look.
    She gave a trill of incredulous laughter. ‘Never!’
    ‘I thought not.’
    ‘Caroline always behaves with propriety, Sir Giles,’ commented Mrs Nash.
    ‘I would not dine alone with a strange gentleman,’ declared her daughter virtuously. ‘Surely you will not accede to these ridiculous dinner engagements, Giles?’
    He shrugged. ‘I must. It was Tom’s wish and I have given my word; this way, at least I obtain the water rights. And society would think me a poor sort of gentleman if I took pecuniary advantage of Miss Paradise.’
    ‘But is there no way it can be avoided?’
    ‘None. As you might expect, I explored the possibility with the lawyer as I considered the idea insupportable when I first heard it.’
    ‘I’m sure you did. Miss Paradise, on the other hand, must be brazen to agree without demur.’
    ‘The very same thing occurred to me, my dear,’ agreed her mother, with relish.
    ‘You are mistaken,’ he said sharply, ‘she found the clause equally provoking, and certainly is not brazen.’
    ‘Then what sort of person is she?’
    ‘I found her to be …’ he hesitated and, after a thoughtful pause, added, ‘not at all what I expected.’
    ‘Pray, do not be obtuse,’ urged Mrs Nash, putting her cup down on her saucer and leaning forward eagerly. ‘What do you mean?’
    A slight smile touched his lips. ‘Oh, simply that I expected a shy miss but was confronted by a self-possessed young woman who did not mince her words. Of course, it was extremely awkward; I disliked being in a situation over which I had no control and Miss Paradise was similarly annoyed. I’m afraid I engaged in verbal sparring with the general’s niece.’ His smile widened as he recalled their