The Lady of Bolton Hill Read Online Free PDF Page B

turned to face him. “If you believed Alfred Forsythe had murdered your father, I think you might hold a grudge, too,” she pointed out.
    “It wasn’t murder, Clara; it was an accident.”
    “That was what the court said, too.” Which did not mean it was the truth. Alfred Forsythe had a cadre of lawyers to cover up the facts surrounding the explosion of that boiler, and Daniel had been a nineteen-year-old boy with no money and three little sisters to support. What chance did he have of proving his case in court?
    Clyde’s blade continued to make progress on his carving. “From what I hear, Tremain has made it his life mission to grind Alfred Forsythe and his company beneath the heel of his boot. That company employs more than seven thousand people, and they are all pawns in this private vendetta Tremain is waging.” Clyde folded the pocketknife and slipped it back into his coat. “You are a grown woman and free to make your own choices,” he said. “But I don’t want you getting in over your head with that man. You are too sweet-natured to handle a dynamo like Tremain.”
    Maybe Clyde was right. There was a time when she and Daniel could finish each other’s sentences, read each other’s minds. If ever there were two kindred spirits, it was she and Daniel.
    But twelve years had passed since she had seen him, and now he was a man in control of a vast fortune and on a crusade for vengeance. It was hard to believe he could have changed so drastically, but then again, Clara would never have believed he would have failed to write to her once she was in London.
    Did Daniel even remember her? He had been such a huge force in her life, an earthquake after which nothing was ever the same. Had she had that same importance to him?
    Clara drew a deep breath. It really did not matter. She had found her calling and her banishment was over. It was time to rebuild a new life in America.

Chapter 2

    I f looks could kill, Daniel would be a dead man.
    Lou Hammond, the company’s lead attorney, was having difficulty maintaining a calm voice as he stood in the gilded interior of the company’s private railcar as it rolled through the Pennsylvania countryside. “Mr. Tremain, your insistence on this bizarre licensing arrangement will cost too much money in sheer profit,” he said.
    Daniel quirked a brow. “We are not on our way to the poorhouse, are we?”
    A glance around the impressive private railcar was proof that Carr & Tremain Polytechnic was doing just fine. Some of the country’s finest craftsmen had provided the brass fittings and highly varnished teakwood moldings that lined the car’s interior. Velvet draperies framed the view of the rolling landscape of western Pennsylvania as they sped home from New York. It would have been quicker to travel on the stretch of railroad that linked Philadelphia and Baltimore, but it was well known that Daniel would never ride on a railroad controlled by Alfred Forsythe. He would return to Baltimore by donkey cart before paying a single dime into that man’s coffers.
    After this week’s round of meetings with bankers, lawyers, and judges, their company was on the verge of becoming a publicly traded corporation on the New York Stock Exchange. As soon as this deal closed, Daniel and his partner Ian Carr would be among the wealthiest men in the country.
    But only if Daniel permitted the deal to go through. “As long as I am in charge of this company,” Daniel said, “I will never permit any of my patents to be licensed to Alfred Forsythe. This is nonnegotiable. Everyone in this railcar knew that before we went to New York.”
    “But the company won’t be yours after it goes public,” his attorney said. “The company will belong to the shareholders. And any sort of decision that affects the value of the company will need to be disclosed to the public.”
    Daniel shrugged. “Then take out an advertisement in The New York Times and tell it to the world. It is no secret that I