Page 118 (1/2)

CHAPTER ONE

SLOANE SQUARE WAS not the finest neighborhood in London, but it was respectable and comfortably situated next to the more fashionable areas As a rule it was occupied by es of society, or those who preferred to avoid the bustle that spilled throughout Mayfair

And then there was Mr Silas Dobson

Claiest mansion on a corner lot, Mr Dobson as delicately known as an “upstart” Or for those less kindly disposed, as an ill-bred mushroom who reeked of the shop despite his fortune

He iven for his unwelco to fade quietly into the background and accept that he would always be inferior to those born into the aristocracy

Silas, however, was not the sort of round

As large as an ox, with a barrel chest and meaty face that was ruddy from the sun, he was as loud and crass as any of the hundreds of hout the city Even worse, he utters to est of twelve children, he had started as a dockhand before beginning to invest in high-risk cargos and eventually purchasing a number of properties that were rented out at an exorbitant fee to various shipping companies

He was a bully without ed to insult nearly every resident in Sloane Square at least a dozen times over the past ten years

And while he wasn’t stupid enough to believe he could ever pass as a gentle to use his obscene wealth to foist his only child onto society

An i to endear him to members of the ton

Of course, their ruffled feathers were soe that, for all of Dobson’s wealth and bluster, he couldn’t hter a success

Oh, she was pretty enough with large emerald eyes set in a perfect oval face with a delicate nose and full, rose-kissed lips But there was soypsy curves and unruly raven curls

It was, however, her aard lack of charm that ensured that she would remain a wallflower

After all, there were always those gentle a member of nobility was an expensive business, especially if one was a younger sibling without the benefit of large estates to offset the cost of being fashionable

With a doell over a hundred thousand pounds, Talia should have been snatched off the e mart her first season, even with a boorish father who promised to be a yoke of embarrassment around the neck of his prospective son-in-law

But, when a man added in the fact that the fe who could barely be induced to speak a word in public, let alone dazzle a gentleman with practiced flirtations, it all combined to leave her a source of aue

Society ly assured themselves it would be a blow to the odious Mr Dobson and an exaht they could buy a place a the aristocracy

Theyhad they known Silas Dobson as well as his daughter did

The son of a mere butcher did not acquire a small financial empire unless he possessed the unbridled determination to overcome any obstacle No matter what the sacrifice

Well aware of Silas Dobson’s ruthless willpower, Talia shuddered at the sound of her father’s bellow as it echoed through the vaulted rooant house

“Talia Talia, answer me Damned, where is the child?”

There was theto provide the master of the house with the inforh Talia set aside the book on China she had been studying and cast a rueful glance about her temporary haven of peace

Arched s overlooked the sunken rose garden and a ht Heavy shelves filled with leather-bound books lined the walls, and the coved ceiling high above was painted with an ie of Apollo in his chariot At one end a walnut desk was set near the carved marble fireplace that was flanked by two leather chairs And the floor was covered by an Oriental carpet that gloith rich crimson and sapphire

It was a beautiful library

Rising from one of the chairs, Talia soishing she had changed into one of the fine silk dresses that her father preferred