The Inevitable End — Denise Robins

Billie Carden is one of the new breed of women: tomboyish and defiantly independent, she has no use for men and no desire to marry. Nor does she need to - for she is the lucky heiress to the fortune of her American uncle Silas. But Billie's life takes a whole new direction when two events - at first unconnected - conspire to thwart her plans; an encounter with the impoverished Richard Bromley, and a dramatic ultimatum from her uncle.