One Penny Surprise (Saved By Desire 1) Read Free Page A

would demand to know how she intended to fund herself. The last thing she could do was tell him she had money put aside. If she did that, she had little doubt that he would bully her into handing it all over, and would then promptly spend it on his excesses. More and more of late she had been the one left to worry about where the food was coming from; how the butcher was going to get paid; and how they were going to survive the foreseeable future. Clarence, meantime, spent more and more of his time in his cups, oblivious to the world. He didn’t seem to care what happened to either of them today, tomorrow, next week, next month, or even next year.
    When he had arrived home the week before last, in his cups yet worried to the point of hysteria, Poppy had been horrified to learn that he had spent the night gambling as well as drinking. Unfamiliar with poker, he had quickly gambled away the family home and now owed someone a considerable amount of money too. She had been shocked to learn the amount Clarence now owed, but had been even more stunned to learn that they had to repay the creditor in London of all places.
    “We have to go to Peter,” Clarence had insisted at the time.
    “Your cousin hates you,” Poppy had immediately countered. At that moment she could fully appreciate why.
    “Yes, but I am not going to be the one to ask him. I wouldn’t ask that great buffoon for anything. You, however, will.” The calculating look in Clarence’s eye had warned her he knew exactly what he was doing, and that worried her.
    Poppy had snorted and taken to pacing backward and forward in front of the fire as she tried to figure out a way to get them out of the sticky mess without having to traipse to London to do it, or beg money from their cousin.
    “I am not going to do your dirty work for you,” she snapped, inwardly outraged at such a notion.
    “Well then, we are out of a home and have no money to feed ourselves with. I have a bit put aside for emergencies.” The shifty look that had swept over his face had warned her she wasn’t going to like what else was to come - and she hadn’t. “I have enough to get us to London. It will have to be cheap, but we can rent somewhere for a month; long enough for you to make the journey to see Peter and secure us the necessary funds to get this house back. Tell him I have been unwell and have no money coming in; or tell him you want to set out on your own. I don’t care what you tell him. We have to get our hands on that cash, and Peter is the one to give it to us.”
    Poppy hated to admit it but he was right. She detested the thought of having to go cap in hand to anyone, but had no choice if she wanted to continue to live in the house she had been born and raised in. If there was one consolation throughout all of their troubles it was that if she had to go and beg for money from anyone she would much prefer it to be Peter than anyone else.
    “So we go to London and ask Peter for some money,” Poppy repeated thoughtfully. “We don’t need to rent somewhere for a month though. We can stay at a coaching inn overnight. That should be considerably cheaper.”
    “No!” Clarence had all but shouted before he slumped back into his chair, clearly regretting his outburst.
    Poppy had turned to study him with a frown. Deep in her heart she knew there was something he wasn’t telling her but she wasn’t entirely sure that she wanted to know what it was.
    “We will rent a house for a month,” he had persisted.
    “But I don’t want to stay in London,” Poppy had protested.
    “You will do as I say, girl,” Clarence had snorted disparagingly, and then launched into a tirade of just how ungrateful and spoilt she was.
    That had been several days ago now. It had been with great reluctance that she had packed a few meagre belongings into a bag and left the home she loved to set out on a journey that had taken her straight into the very depths of Hell. The hovel was one step above living