Hold on to your Dreams Read Online Free PDF

emotion.
    When he turned his face was grey, anguish etched on every feature. He appeared to be incapable of speech. She reached out to touch him but he backed away. ‘Go to David. He’ll help you.’
    He shook his head and stood there, a picture of dejection. ‘How’s Father?’ he managed to say.
    ‘We don’t know yet. The doctor’s with him.’
    ‘I’m so sorry. Oh God, I’m so sorry …’ Tears tumbled down his face. ‘I’ll never gamble again for as long as I live. Somehow I’ll repay him. I swear it. Take care of Mother for me, Gertie.’
    He picked up his case and walked towards the door.
    ‘Tell me where you’re going,’ she pleaded. ‘Aunt Hanna will take you in.’
    ‘I am no longer a member of this family. And that is right, for I don’t deserve to be. Goodbye.’
    ‘Take care of yourself,’ she whispered as he closed the door behind him.
     
    Edward Melrose was under no illusions about the seriousness of the situation he had left his family to deal with. But no matter how bleak the outlook, he would not go to David or Hanna. He only had himself to blame. He found it unbelievable that he had allowed himself to be dragged into gambling. It had become an obsession and he hadn’t been able to stop. He must be a very weak man! His father’s words had cut him like a dagger and it had been as if a curtain had disintegrated before his eyes. He saw exactly what he had become, and that filled him with self-loathing and disgust. He hated himself. But if it took him the rest of his life, he would somehow right the terrible wrong he had done his family. Not only had he placed them in danger, but he’d also ruined them financially.
    He had been walking aimlessly for about an hour when it started to rain. He was hungry and wet, and shame weighed on him, making him stumble on the wet pavement. Stopping for a moment he saw that he was in a poorer part of town. Well, that was all right. It was where he belonged now. A notice in one of the windows offering rooms caught his attention. Without hesitation he knocked on the door and went inside. It was none tooclean, but it was cheap so he took a room for the night. This would give him time to rest, because tomorrow he would have to find work, and that wasn’t going to be easy. He had no skills, but he was strong and would dig ditches if he had to.
    Stretching out on the bed he ignored his hunger, allowing his mind to drift back over the last year. When Charles Hayworth had drawn him into their exclusive circle he had been flattered. At first the stakes had been low, but they’d slowly increased, and by then he’d been in too deep to back out. If he did win, which wasn’t often, it was when there was little on the table. He could see it all now. He won when they allowed him to, and that meant they had been manipulating the games. Charles always sat opposite his brother, Howard, so they could make eye contact. He recalled the coughs, fingers moving on the table, and other subtle signals. They must be cheats to keep winning like they did, but it would be impossible to prove. No one would be brave enough to speak out against them.
    Edward clenched his hands into tight fists. He had allowed their flattery and friendly attitude to blind him to what was really happening. What a weak, pathetic man he was!
    But no more. One day he would redeem himself in the eyes of his family. And that wasn’t an idle dream. From now on it would be the focus of his life.
     
    Gertrude stayed in her brother’s room while the doctor carried out his examination and they moved her fatherinto his bedroom. It was some time before her mother appeared in the doorway. Florence had aged in that short time.
    ‘Is Father all right?’
    ‘The doctor says he has cracked ribs and is badly bruised, but he will be fine after a long rest.’ Her mother gazed around the empty room, silent tears running down her cheeks. ‘I never got the chance to say goodbye. What is to become of him,