Rumours

Rumours
Freya North

Everybody’s talking - but what’s really going on?Rumour has it that Stella Hutton landed her new job thanks to family connections. She’s guarded about her past and private about her new life.Over in Long Dansbury, there’s always a rumour circulating about Xander – but the eligible bachelor shrugs off village gossip.Then a rumour starts that Longbridge Hall is up for sale. Home to the eccentric Fortescues, it has dominated Long Dansbury lives for centuries.Stella is summoned to sell the estate. But Xander grew up there. His secrets and memories are not for sale. He’ll do anything to stand in Stella’s way. Anything but fall in love.

Copyright

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the author or the publisher.

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2012

Copyright © Freya North 2012

Freya North asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Source ISBN: 9780007326709

Ebook Edition © June 2012 ISBN: 9780007326723

Version: 2017-11-28

FIRST EDITION

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

For Daddy

… to misquote Bobby – thank you for holding steady my ladder to the stars, for teaching me how to be righteous and true, for helping me to stand upright, to feel strong and to be courageous.

Thanks to you, my heart’s joyful – and it’s your song I’ll always sing.

Table of Contents

Title Page (#ud29a9f99-1a08-55de-821f-367cc759274e)

Copyright (#u6aa418fe-3ddf-579b-a71c-782d23cc363a)

Dedication (#u55e1a8d9-3b8c-5306-9bfc-e7da68888189)

Prologue: March 1790 (#uf072f946-7368-5fc3-845e-10d2b75749ef)

Chapter One (#u2f95f01d-a3ab-5f0f-a0da-ba6109d0b4b9)

Chapter Two (#ucc2f6c83-e5fa-5a07-b170-c3a98bcb28b2)

Chapter Three (#u6a983f2b-32c1-50b5-8e20-37c604578119)

Chapter Four (#uae039e57-f293-542c-856d-6bfbbf2665a5)

Chapter Five (#ue1147d45-c759-527d-9b1b-00d99ffcc6cc)

Chapter Six (#u8aef753d-62de-519b-a0ef-157b7c69aa7d)

Chapter Seven (#u0cb26c39-cc25-5305-9dea-8a7e2b4325a9)

Chapter Eight (#u35c37932-5939-5aa6-9a3e-381eaa241182)

Chapter Nine (#u1ef7679c-b411-5381-a368-c98264102e1c)

Chapter Ten (#u5f45657f-653a-5149-b276-e50a4093816c)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nineteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-One (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Two (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Three (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Four (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Seven (#litres_trial_promo)