Anne Mather - Duelling Fire

Mills & Boon is proud to present a fabulous

collection of fantastic novels by

bestselling, much loved author

ANNE MATHER

Anne has a stellar record of achievement within the

publishing industry, having written over one hundred

and sixty books, with worldwide sales of more than

forty-eight MILLION copies in multiple languages.

This amazing collection of classic stories offers a chance

for readers to recapture the pleasure Anne’s powerful,

passionate writing has given.

We are sure you will love them all!

I’ve always wanted to write—which is not to say I’ve always wanted to be a professional writer. On the contrary, for years I only wrote for my own pleasure and it wasn’t until my husband suggested sending one of my stories to a publisher that we put several publishers’ names into a hat and pulled one out. The rest, as they say, is history. And now, one hundred and sixty-two books later, I’m literally—excuse the pun— staggered by what’s happened.

I had written all through my infant and junior years and on into my teens, the stories changing from children’s adventures to torrid gypsy passions. My mother used to gather these manuscripts up from time to time, when my bedroom became too untidy, and dispose of them! In those days, I used not to finish any of the stories and Caroline , my first published novel, was the first I’d ever completed. I was newly married then and my daughter was just a baby, and it was quite a job juggling my household chores and scribbling away in exercise books every chance I got. Not very professional, as you can imagine, but that’s the way it was.

These days, I have a bit more time to devote to my work, but that first love of writing has never changed. I can’t imagine not having a current book on the typewriter—yes, it’s my husband who transcribes everything on to the computer. He’s my partner in both life and work and I depend on his good sense more than I care to admit.

We have two grown-up children, a son and a daughter, and two almost grown-up grandchildren, Abi and Ben. My e-mail address is mystic-am@msn.comand I’d be happy to hear from any of my wonderful readers.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Cover

About the Author Mills & Boon is proud to present a fabulous collection of fantastic novels by bestselling, much loved author ANNE MATHER Anne has a stellar record of achievement within the publishing industry, having written over one hundred and sixty books, with worldwide sales of more than forty-eight MILLION copies in multiple languages. This amazing collection of classic stories offers a chance for readers to recapture the pleasure Anne’s powerful, passionate writing has given. We are sure you will love them all!

Title Page Duelling Fire Anne Mather www.millsandboon.co.uk

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

Copyright

‘AND are you going to accept?’

The speaker was a short plump girl, in her middle twenties, with a round good-natured face and curly dark hair. She was lounging comfortably on a couch, lazily picking the soft centres from a box of chocolates open beside her, and flicking casually through the pages of a fashion magazine.

The girl with her was her complete opposite. Tall and slim and blonde, her straight silvery hair confined at her nape with a leather thong, Sara Shelley was presently coiled on the floor, examining her profile from the lotus position. She had been sitting like that for some time now, and her friend and companion, Laura Russell, was getting tired of waiting for her reply.

‘Oh, I don’t know.’ Sara uncoiled herself at last, and sat cross-legged looking up at her friend. ‘Beggars can’t be choosers, isn’t that the truth? And believe me, Laura, that’s what I am.’

‘Rubbish!’ Laura swung her feet to the floor and faced the other girl impatiently. ‘You know you could always get a job here. You don’t have to accept this woman’s charity!’

‘But it is a job, don’t you see?’ exclaimed Sara wryly. ‘A job I’m singularly well qualified to accept. And it’s all right for you to talk casually of employment, with the security of a degree behind you!’

‘You’re not without qualifications,’ Laura protested. ‘You had a good education.’

‘Until I was sixteen,’ Sara reminded her flatly. ‘When Daddy decided I could learn more from the university of life.’ She sighed. ‘Not that I objected at the time.’ She shook her head. ‘I couldn’t wait to leave school and be with him. But—–’ Her voice broke with sudden emotion, ‘how was I to know he’d walk out on me, before I was twenty-one?’

Laura’s face registered her sympathy. ‘Sara, he didn’t walk out on you—–’

‘Well, what would you call it?’ Sara’s eyes shone with unshed tears. ‘I think taking your own life is such a cowardly thing to do. Just because he believed he was a loser!’

‘He did owe over thirty thousand pounds,’ Laura reminded her gently. ‘Oh, I’m not saying that excuses him, and abandoning you—well, I can understand how betrayed you must feel. But, darling, can you imagine how he must have felt before he—well—–’

‘—–swallowed the overdose?’ Sara completed the sentence ironically, and then got lithely to her feet, a slim tragic figure in a black track suit, her feet bare. ‘Don’t worry, Laura. It’s two months since he died. I’ve come to terms with the finality of his death, and I can take it.’

Laura sighed. She felt so helpless. If only there was some way she could be of some use!

‘Cheer up!’ Sara was speaking again, forcing a bright smile to her generous mouth. ‘Don’t feel sorry for me. I don’t feel sorry for myself—at least, only occasionally. And Aunt Harriet’s invitation is a godsend!’

‘Is it?’ Laura was not so sure. ‘Sara, what do you know about this woman, really know, I mean? Why, she’s not even your aunt, not any real relation at all. Just a cousin of your father’s.’

Sara shrugged, putting up her hands to lift the heavy weight of her hair from her shoulders. Watching her, Laura wondered if she had any idea how vulnerable she was. For twenty—almost twenty-one years—Sara had enjoyed the privilege of her father’s protection, first at boarding school, and later, as Sara herself had said, accompanying him on his travels about the world. Charles Shelley had been a freelance journalist, but freelance gambler would have suited him better, Laura decided ruefully. He was good at his job, very good, but as soon as he had any money, he couldn’t wait to spend it. Having known her since she was born, Laura’s own mother having acted as nanny to the baby Sara, Laura felt an especial sense of responsibility for her friend, and the fact that Sara had led what many people would have regarded as a very sophisticated life seemed in no way to have equipped her for the vagaries of this world. She had always enjoyed her father’s protection, he had idolised the girl—which made her lack of affectation that much more remarkable—and Laura sometimes wondered whether Charles Shelley had really intended to kill himself and leave Sara to fend for herself.