A Clandestine Courtship Read Online Free PDF

intensified those contrasts. John returned harder; James, softer. John was devoted to wine, women, and gaming; James was fascinated by agricultural advances, inventions, and social reform.
    Until now. James had hardened, becoming more purposeful. Anger twisted his mouth into the same expression John had always worn. Yet she could still sense his moods. Something had been bothering him today. Estate problems? A grueling journey? He had to have just arrived, or she would have heard news of him in town.
    The years had broadened his character and sharpened his impact. He was no longer a man who could fade into the background. His presence now demanded attention. And that could be dangerous, reviving pain and shocking the populace.
    She smoothed her hair before heading for the study.
    Someone had murdered John. Most people believed that the culprit had been a chance-met vagrant, despite ample evidence to the contrary. She was not blind, but she now prayed the killer had followed John from elsewhere. If the man was local, what would he do when he encountered John’s replica?

 

CHAPTER THREE
     
    James sipped brandy as he faced Isaac Church across a broad desk. He had known the squire all his life, for Isaac was only one year his senior. They had played together as children, attended the same schools, even contemplated a joint investment. But their friendship had not survived James’s departure.
    Hurt and disillusioned over John’s claims and reeling from John’s threats, James had severed every tie with home. His only contact during his years abroad had been with his London man of business, who had promised to keep his location private. Even after returning, he had not visited his former friends. They were part of the past – a past he had not wished to revive.
    Thus he had avoided everyone he knew, settling in Lincolnshire, where he kept a low profile. And he had eschewed London society. Why tempt fate?
    It had seemed reasonable at the time, for he had never expected to see Shropshire again. But now that he was back, his abrupt departure and its attendant rumors stood between him and the local residents. Isaac had greeted him civilly, but with the same lack of warmth he would have accorded a pushy tradesman or a petty miscreant. If it had been another man, James would have ignored it, but he needed to regain at least some of their former ease, for Isaac was the magistrate in charge of investigating John’s murder.
    “I heard there was some confusion about why I left home,” he said, forcing the issue into the open.
    Isaac took snuff and sneezed three times before answering. “Since you had announced no plans to leave, that should not surprise you. The most popular tale describes how you killed your father.”
    “By causing his fit?”
    He nodded. “Though some claimed there was no fit. According to that theory, the family lied to cover the blow that struck him down.”
    “My God!” He shakily set his glass on the desk.
    “The fight supposedly occurred during an argument over crimes you had committed.”
    “Lies, though we did have a heated discussion over one incident. I was innocent of the charge.”
    He nodded gravely. “No need to be coy. We all know about Meg Price. And I never believed you guilty of it. Another rumor swore that you fled to avoid marriage, either via compromise or because you debauched a well-born maid.”
    Mary? She was the only girl he had flirted with before leaving. But she was not that well-born, so he didn’t ask. There was no truth to the speculation anyway.
    “The arguments raged for months,” continued Isaac. “Your father’s servants kept passions high – in part to retaliate against John for turning them off. They swore you were innocent of every charge, reminding folks that your argument had preceded your father’s attack by a full day, and that John had argued with him in the interim, but few accepted the claims.”
    No one could have done so, he realized. Not after John