Read Online Always Have Hope (Emerson Book 3) by Maureen Driscoll - Free Book Online

and will
know if you’ve disobeyed my directive. There are laws about obstructing an
investigation. And as you mentioned – twice – it is my job to prosecute
lawbreakers.”
    Mrs. Warren was livid as Alex took his leave. That
could be to his advantage. Mayhap he’d learn who their connections were if
Mrs. Warren complained about him. But Alex didn’t have time to ponder the
question. He had a long night of reading ahead of him.

CHAPTER FIVE
    Win awoke the next morning feeling more like herself. It
had been heaven spending time with James and getting to know Irene. She’d
sympathized that he’d lost his land in America, but, selfishly, she was
thrilled he would remain in England.
    She just hoped she lived long enough to enjoy it.
    Violet had given them a tour of Lynwood House, with
special emphasis on her bedchamber. She had asked James if it might be
possible for Anna and Letty to stay with her during their time in London. The
duchess had already declared that all of the Emersons, including Nick, should
stay at Lynwood House, since Win was unable to leave. That arrangement pleased
Win to no end.
    At three of the clock, two carriages pulled into the
Lynwood drive. From her sitting room window, Win recognized the Layton crest.
She was both thrilled and nervous. She knew she could not put off telling her
story for much longer, but she would soon see her family again. She just
prayed that her distance of the past six years had not turned them away from
her
    James looked out the window. “They must have started
out well before dawn. But I’m glad they’re here. May I escort you downstairs,
love?”
    She nodded, but then placed her hand at her bruised
rib. “Did you prepare them for what I look like?”
    “I said you’d been beaten,” said James, quietly.
    “I do not wish to frighten Letty or Anna with my
appearance.”
    “I daresay they are both stronger than that. They are
Emersons, after all. And I imagine Colin prepared them. Please, Win. They’ll
want to see you.”
    “I just need to catch my breath for a moment.”
    He reached for her hand and squeezed it. “Just let me
know when you’re ready.”
    *
    Colin Emerson had been beaten regularly as a child.
He knew very well what it was like. He knew the anticipation could be almost as
bad as the beating itself. James was two years his junior. And if there was
one thing worse than being beaten, it was watching it happen to his younger
brother. It had created a strong bond between them, even as their hatred of
their father had grown. The only thing that had prevented Colin from spending
his life as a bitter, angry young man was the love he felt for his brothers and
sisters.
    His heart had broken when he’d received James’s letter.
It had been sent first to Nick, since it was his servants and carriage who had
brought the news, along with a carriage from the Kellington family.
    They had arrived at Ridgeway later that night and Colin
had never seen his brother so upset. Once Colin read the note, he could
understand why. It had been short on details, revealing little more than Win
had been arrested for the murder of her bastard husband, but had been released
into Lynwood’s custody. That had been chilling enough. But then James had
added that she’d been beaten, and Colin and Nick should prepare themselves
accordingly.
    Colin had had many failures in his thirty years of
life. He’d been unable to stop his father from beating James until shortly
after Colin’s sixteenth birthday when he’d finally been able to fight back
successfully. He’d joined the Guards as soon as he was done with university,
but he’d been unable to save so many of the men under his command. Good men.
Ones with families who loved them.
    Then, after his father died, Colin had been unable to
save the family finances. Rose would not have a Season. If she weren’t so
skilled with needle and thread, neither she nor Letty would have clothes that
fit. As it was, they were far from