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CHAPTER ONE

‘WHAT DO YOU MEAN, she won’t sell?’ Raffaele Caffarelli frowned at his London-based secretary

Margaret Irvine turned her palesture ‘Miss Silverton flatly refused your offer’

‘Then er one’

‘I did She refused that too’

Rafe druers on the desk for aa hiccup like this at this stage Everything had gone s the stately English countryside ain price But the dower house was on a separate title—a minor probleer, as well as the estate agent The agent had assured hih to acquire the dower house so that the Dalrymple Estate could be whole once more; all he would have to do was to offer well above the enerous in his offer Like the rest of the estate, the place was run down and badly needed ait back to its forlish style and decadence What was the woht ood as his?

He wasn’t going to give up on this He had seen the property listed online and got his business et sorted out soon—to secure it for him

Failure was not a word anyone would dare to associate with the na to let a little hurdle like this get in the way of what he wanted ‘Do you think this Silverton woht Dalrymple Manor?’

‘Who knows?’ Margaret shrugged ‘But I wouldn’t have thought so We’ve ed to keep the press away from this so far James handled all the paperwork under cover and I ent, as you instructed You don’t know her personally, do you?’

‘No, but I’ve met her type before’ Rafe curled his lip cynically ‘Once she gets a whiff that it’s a wealthy developer after her house, she’ll go for broke She’ll try and milk every penny she can out of me’ He let out a short sharp expletive ‘I want that property I want all of that property’

Margaret pushed a folder across the desk to hie froo about the old man ned the manor It seems the late Lord Dalryrandmother Beatrice Silverton was the head housekeeper at the manor Apparently she worked there for years and—’

‘Gold-digger,’ Rafe muttered