Penny Jordan Collection(8)

                But now that cousin was dead and he, Ran, was Haverton’s owner,                     or at least he had been until a week or so ago, when he had finally and                     thankfully signed the papers which would convey legal ownership of Haverton and                     all the problems that went with it into the hands of Lloyd Kelmer.

                His initial reaction when he had unexpectedly and unwontedly                     inherited the place had been to make enquiries to see if any of the British                     trusts could be persuaded to take it over, but, as their representatives had                     quickly and wryly explained, the trusts were awash with unwanted properties and                     deluged with despairing owners wanting them to take on even more.

                Faced with the prospect of having to stand aside and watch as                     the house and its lands fell into an even greater state of decay, Ran hadn’t                     known what on earth he was going to do—his inheritance had been the house and                     the land; there hadn’t been any money to leave for its upkeep—and then Alex had                     happened to mention the existence of an eccentric American billionaire whose                     main vocation and purpose in life was the buying up and restoring of old                     properties which he then opened to the public, and Ran had lost no time in                     getting in touch with him.

                To his relief Lloyd had flown over to England to view the house                     and promptly declared that he loved it.

                That relief had turned to something very different, though,                     when he had received a fax from Lloyd advising him that his assistant, Ms Sylvie                     Bennett, would be flying over to Britain to act as his representative over the                     repair and renovation of the property. He could, of course, have simply chosen                     to turn his back, walk away, and leave someone else to liaise with Sylvie, but                     Ran wasn’t like that. If he had a job to do he preferred to see it through for                     himself, no matter how unwanted or potentially problematic that task might                     be.

                Potentially problematic! A bitter                     half-smile curled his mouth. There was nothing potential about the problems that Sylvie was likely to cause him...                     Nothing potential at all.

                He had heard scraps of news about her over the years, of                     course, mainly from Alex and Mollie. Sylvie had completed her degree course and                     majored summa cum laude... Sylvie was living in New York and looking for a                     job... Sylvie had got a job... Sylvie was working in Venice... In Rome... In                     Prague... Sylvie... Sylvie... Sylvie...