To Love and Protect Read Online Free PDF

thought I wouldn’t help her, and as is the case with most women, she acted without thinking.”
    “Now Justin, I think that quite unfair of you,” Gertie complained never taking her eyes from passing scenery.   They had been searching for over half an hour for the elusive Clarissa.   One thing was certain, when she did not want to be found, she did a good job of it.  
    Justin opened the carriage window and called out to the driver, “Let’s try this street.”
    “Aye, sir.”   The unmarked carriage turned slowly onto the busy thoroughfare.   People were bustling to and fro, making purchases for the larger houses in London.   Street vendors were crowding every available space to try to sell their wares.   A woman stumbled in the midst of a crowd, but caught herself before falling.   No one seemed to notice her, they were so busy with their own errands.
    The carriage lumbered on down the street, and they passed the mail coach station, empty except for the ticket agent.   They traveled slowly both because of the people filling the streets and sidewalks and their meticulous search for Clarissa.   “Have you seen anything yet, Gertie?”
    “Other than Clarissa, I really don’t know what I’m looking for.”  
    Justin leaned out the window once more and gave instructions for the driver to turn around when he came to a good spot and go down the street the other direction.   When they were able, the coachman turned down a side street and made several more turns before once again, coming out onto the main street.   “Look for anyone you might think is Clarissa.”
    Silence permeated the coach.   He saw the same woman who had stumbled earlier.   Something about her looked familiar, but he could not quite put his finger on it.   She wore an old bonnet pulled low.   They passed by and Justin looked back once more, but she had disappeared.
    “It’s Franklin,” Gertie gripped Justin’s forearm to get his attention.
    “What?”
    “Franklin,” Gertrude pointed her finger at the carriage across the street.
    “Stop the coach,” he called to their driver.   “Gertie, I want you to stay in here, do you understand?”
    “Of course.”
    “We have to be ready to leave quickly.”
    “I understand, and you’re wasting time.”  
    Justin slipped out of the coach and had a quick word with the driver.   “Point the man out to me.”
    “He is at the mail coach station.”   Justin looked around the end of the coach and saw a blonde, fashionably dressed man talking with the booking agent.   He passed some notes to the man and then did a turn as he scanned the area.   Recognition gleamed in his eyes and across his face as he walked across the street.  
    Justin looked down the street and saw the woman he watched earlier slip into an alley.   He thought he recognized her, but the bonnet and servant’s clothes had thrown him off.   None of her silvery blonde hair showed from beneath the bonnet.   Justin watched as Franklin entered a shop, but never came back out.   He had just arrived at the alley entrance when he heard, “Come back here, you little bitch.”
    A soft, warm body ran into him, her eyes frightened and then relieved after she looked up and realized who had her now.
    “Get in the carriage,” Justin bit out.
    “But Franklin,” Clarissa tried to argue now that she knew she would be safe once more.
    “Go,” he growled cutting her off and turning into the alley.   Justin walked the dark alley, but saw no sign of the man Gertie had pointed out to him.   Franklin had wisely disappeared down one of the turns off the alley.   He gave directions to the coachman and climbed in, slamming the door shut.   The window across from him showed that the Duke of Hamilton’s carriage was still there and empty.   He would not risk Clarissa’s safety yet again to hunt for the man.   The coach lurched into action.
    Clarissa watched covertly from her corner of the carriage wondering why he did not