Pirate's Golden Promise Read Online Free PDF

her father forever intervened and chastised her for her poor behavior towards her younger sister. “Wynter’s a baby,” she heard his words in her mind still. “You must be kind to her.” The image of his finger shaking in her face, the displeasure in his eyes, only reinforced her hatred of Wynter.
    Wynter always triumphed. It seemed to Lucy that a guardian angel watched over her. She remembered the night she had sneaked into Wynter’s room and silently made her way to the wardrobe where a new party gown hung which Lucy had coveted but which Wynter had received because the color suited her better. Lucy had taken a small knife and cut away the bottom of the gown until it hung in ragged edges, as if a rat had gnawed at it. Oh, she’d been most pleased with herself! But then that meddlesome Maddie had come into the room and dragged Lucy by the ear to Walter. Upon hearing of her transgression, he promptly marched his daughter back to her own room and forced her to use the little knife on her own best party dress. Needless to say, Lucy never destroyed another of Wynter’s possessions.
    â€œTrust me, Lucy. Before long, you shall wear the Somerset jewels about your neck, and Somerset will be your husband.”
    â€œWhat are you up to?” Lucy eyed her mother in suspicion. “Father won’t allow you to interfere in Wynter’s marriage.”
    â€œYes, he will … if he knows that I plan to tell the whole world that she isn’t my child, but the child of your father’s mistress, my dead sister, Sara.”
    Lucy’s pale complexion grew whiter. “Aunt Sara and father … Wynter was their…”
    â€œLove child,” Debra finished in disgust.
    â€œOh my! Father will be angry with you if you threaten blackmail.” Lucy didn’t think her mother could manage to change her father’s mind, but a sly smile hovered around her lips. “Somerset may call off the marriage if he learns the truth. Perhaps you won’t have to tell Father of your plans.”
    â€œI will!” Debra replied. “It’s about time his brat was put in her place.”
    Debra left Lucy and headed down the hall to Walter’s room and did the unpardonable by not knocking first. When she entered, she found him sitting in bed and sipping a glass of brandy. His mauve dressing gown was pulled around his massive shoulders, barely concealing his chest. Though she hadn’t slept with Walter since Lucy’s conception, he still had the power to disturb her. But Debra willed herself to forget that she had loved him once. She waited at the bottom of his bed, hands on hips.
    â€œReally, you should have knocked,” he said, quite perturbed. “What if I had been busy?”
    â€œBusy with a little kitchen maid? Well, you aren’t. I’m here because of Lucy.”
    â€œWhat about her?” He sipped his brandy.
    â€œYou agreed to Wynter’s marriage without consulting me.”
    â€œSo?”
    â€œLucy is in love with Somerset, and you’ve handed him to Wynter as if he were a trinket. You don’t care that Lucy is hurt.”
    â€œI care very much about Lucy, and if she hadn’t been filled with your hatred of me, she would realize it. But Somerset and Wynter are in love. There’s no need to make all three of them miserable. We both know how unhappy life can be with the wrong person.”
    Debra winced. If Walter had only allowed himself to love her, to overlook her shrewish tongue and hard ways, perhaps they could have been happy in their marriage. But he hadn’t. He’d been too bewitched by her sister. She said quite haughtily, “Lucy is your daughter, too. She should marry first, and marry Lord Somerset. I’m quite certain we can make a suitable match for your precious Wynter.”
    Walter sighed, knowing that Debra was not to be easily deterred from her goal. He dreaded the argument he felt sure would