"Glad, Judith B. - Anonymous Amanuensis" - читать интересную книгу автора (Glad Judith B)

NBI
NovelBooks, Inc.
Douglas, Massachusetts



This is a work of fiction. While reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the characters, incidents, and dialogs are products of the authorТs imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2001 by Judith B. Glad
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and review. For information, address NovelBooks, Inc., P.O. Box 661,
Douglas, MA 01516 or email [email protected]
NBI
Published by
NovelBooks, Inc.
P.O. Box 661
Douglas, MA 01516
NovelBooks Inc. publishes books online and through print-on-demand.
For more information, check our website:www.novelbooksinc.com or email [email protected]
Produced in the United States of America.
Cover illustration by Judith B. Glad
Edited by Sheri Fentress
ISBN 1-931696-09-8 for electronic version
ISBN 1-931696-90-x for POD version



For Katand StarЧ
YouТre simply the best daughters
anyone could wish forЕ

And for Neil, as usual.




PROLOGUE
Elmwood, Yorkshire. October
"Damn it, Eve, but you are stubborn!"
Evelyn Dixon smiled into her uncleТs angry face. "I am not being stubborn, Chas, merely practical. After all, I said I am willing to look for a position as an instructor of languages in some proper school for young ladies. I have not promised to find one."
"But youТll not try very hard, if I know you." The tall, weathered gentleman threw himself into a chair and glared at her. "YouТve this wild idea of being a secretary and youТll spend all your energies seeking a position with some rummy Cit, rather than in a school where you will at least be among people of your own sort."
"Well, and I tell you that I will not! Any Cit with whom I accept a position will be a model of sobriety. Rummy, indeed!"
"You know what I meant, Eve. IТd have thought that your experience with Alfred, and my father before him, would have shown you how grim a life you would have as a secretary."
"Oh, believe me, it has. But Grandfather and Uncle Alfred are, I sincerely hope, not typical employers. If they were, there would be no secretaries, for who would accept employment with such curmudgeons?"
Eve smiled wryly. "Chas, I have not enjoyed working for either of them, but it has shown me that I have a bent for performing secretarial duties, where I know that I do not for teaching. I have not yet succeeded in teaching Lisabet and young Wilfred a single fact, try as I might," she said with regret.
"Ha! How anyone could teach those two wretched brats anything is beyond me. Charlotte has them so spoiled that they pay no mind to anything that does not give them pleasure."
Her uncle rose and began pacing about the office, where Eve sat behind a desk littered with papers and account books. The desk and chair covered most of the floor, so his pacing was necessarily confined to a small space before the desk.
"Be that as it may," he said, leaning across the desk after a few moments, "you must know that acting as a secretary to some merchant is not the sort of life for a gently bred young woman."
"But I am not a Сgently bred young woman.Т As my uncle is so fond of reminding me, my mother was a peasant. And as Charlotte keeps me aware of, I am only here on sufferance, for my inheritance is barely enough to keep clothes on my back and food in my mouth." She grimaced. "Oh, Chas, can you not see that I must be away from here? I cannot stand much more of AlfredТs reminders of my fatherТs improvidence, nor of CharlotteТs whining that I do not earn my keep."
"Yes, yes. You are miserable here, I can see. But that is no excuse for haring off to London to seek employment." Chas sat on the corner of her desk and took her chin in his hand, forcing her to meet his eyes. "Come, my dear, do not ask me to do this."
"I must. With a letter from you, telling how well I performed my duties, I have a much better chance of finding the sort of employment for which I am suited. Please, Chas. Write the letter."