Read Online Behind The Horseman (The Underwood Mysteries Book 3) by Suzanne Downes - Free Book Online

depth of sorrow he prayed he would never feel, “No mother ever entirely loses hope that her child will return to the path of righteousness, Mr. Underwood.  I know, only too well, what kind of a man Godfrey has become, but I still remember the sweet innocence of his babyhood.  The tiny, plump hand which grasped my finger, the wide blue eyes which had never seen evil, the little pink lips which had never tasted ought but a mother’s milk.  It is the hardest part of being a parent, Mr. Underwood, to watch that innocence drain away, little by little, year after year.  And the bitterest thing is that one can do nothing to stop it.  It is like Canute trying to hold back the waves, protecting your child from finally realizing what life actually holds for them.”
    It was a speech which one of Underwood’s character did not really need to hear; she could have said nothing more calculated to plunge him into melancholy introspection.  He barely noticed she had walked away.
    He was only roused from his reverie when Thornycroft’s wheeled chair came to rest beside him and the hearty tones of the invalid assailed his ears, “Good God, Underwood, has somebody died?”
    The one man who could have cheered him punched him gently on the arm, “Come on, man.  I need your help.  Elliott is determined to approach Miss Die-away-Knight.  You have to help us stop him.”
    Underwood managed a grin, “Dash it all, Jeremy, let the boy alone!  If he wants to make a fool of himself of the woman, it is surely his own affair."
    “Balderdash!  Where is your sense of allegiance to the male sex?  It is a matter of honour, to save our brother-men from matrimony.”
    “No one tried to save me – or you, for that matter.”
    “Ah, but we had found perfect women and didn’t need saving.”
    “Well, let Elliott find out the hard way.  He’ll be well-served for being so utterly lacking in taste and judgement.”
    “You’re a hard man, Underwood!”
    “Jeremy, you play cards with Godfrey Rogers, do you not?”  asked Underwood thoughtfully, having swiftly grown bored with the previous topic.
    “I do – and I keep swearing never to play with him again.”
    “Why, does he cheat?”
    “No, I don’t think so, but he brings an unpleasant atmosphere to the table.  Everything is life and death with him.  He’s damned rude when he loses and ungracious when he wins.  It seems we all play because we want to, but he plays because he has to.  It leeches all the amusement out of the game, let me tell you.”
    “Do you think he is in debt?”
    “Think it?  I know it!  If his mother succeeds in halting the sale of his estate, he’s going to find himself in Queer Street.”
    “She fully intends to try.  She thinks she would be saving him from himself.”
    “She’s probably right.”
    Having nothing else to do, Underwood allowed himself to be persuaded to join the other ‘Wablers’, who were all being vociferous in their condemnation of Elliott’s plans to woo Miss Knight.  He could, of course, have ended the discussion instantly by revealing the existence of Olivia’s married lover, but he would never break his word to Verity in so cavalier a manner, so he merely sat back with god-like omniscience and callously watched the fun.
    Elliott was quite determined, having drunk several brandies to give him courage, to approach Miss Knight and tell her of his devotion, and his friends were having to physically restrain him.  Underwood was amused to notice that though they
    Thought they were being terribly discreet, the level of noise rising from their corner of the Pump-rooms was attracting a great deal of attention.
    Suddenly Underwood became aware of a gaze which was resting exclusively upon himself, and not the ‘Wablers’.  He turned his head and found himself looking into a pair of blue eyes, in the depths of which any man would willingly drown.  She smiled slightly at him and he, almost against his will, returned the