Read Online From This Day Forward by Margaret Daley - Free Book Online

house.
    The brief longing she glimpsed in his eyes formed a bond between them. She wanted to go back home to Mansfield Manor, to talk with her mother about Faith, to feel her love, to listen to her advice about child rearing. But that was not going to happen. When Nathan returned his attention to her, all evidence of that look vanished, to be replaced with a stern one. “It didn’t go well with your grandfather?”
    “If you enjoy wrestling a bear, then everything went fine. The first word out of his mouth to me was ‘leave.’” Although Nathan scowled, his tone conveyed more hurt than anger.
    She laid her hand on his arm. “I am sorry about that. Obviously he changed his mind. You are here.”
    “Only because he didn’t have the strength to personally kick me off his land.”
    “Is he letting you tend to him?”
    “Yes. Barely. Fighting me as much as he can.”
    “Which is what concerns you?”
    “He’s not the man I saw six months ago.”
    “Perhaps your grandfather is like my papa. He is the worst patient. He does not want anyone to know if he isn’t feeling well. He sees sickness as a sign of weakness.”
    “The same. Grandfather has never understood why healing people is important to me, and yet when a horse or one of his dogs becomes ill, he tends to them personally until they recover.”
    “Probably because you are not doing what he wanted.” The same reason she was in this predicament right now. She refused to follow her father’s plan for her future. She thought she knew best.
    “Probably.” He turned toward the front door still standing open. “Let’s go in. I know it has been a long day for the both of us.”
    When she entered the house, the foyer spoke of the Stuart family’s wealth. Highly polished wood gleamed in the soft lighting of the interior. The richly ornate carpet beneath her feet matched some of the ones she had seen in the houses of the peers of the realm. Portraits in gilded frames adorned the walls as she climbed the curving staircase to the second floor.
    Nathan gestured toward the last picture at the top. “That’s my father.”
    She paused and studied it for a moment. The young man had blond hair like Nathan’s brother and sister and the same kind, dark brown eyes as well. His smile made her feel welcomed to Pinecrest. She looked to the right at the one before his father’s. “Is this your grandfather?”
    “Yes.”
    The same kind eyes as his son’s contradicted what she had heard about the man. What happened to change him? “When was this painted?”
    “Each one was done when the eldest son was about thirty.”
    “How old are you?”
    “Thirty-five.”
    “So yours should be up there.”
    “It had been commissioned when”—Nathan swallowed hard—“when my father died and everything changed.”
    The heaviness in her heart swelled into her throat. “It was not done?”
    “No. I understand from Patrick that Grandfather has an artist coming next month to do his portrait. Patrick is now considered the eldest son.” The sense it did not matter to him didn’t carry over into the expression in his dark blue eyes.
    “All you can do is offer your forgiveness. Perhaps, in time, he will see the wisdom in forgiving you.”
    “It has been nearly five years. I don’t think time will make a difference, nor the fact that I forgave him years ago. He’s a hard man who does not bend to anyone.”
    “Now you see why I cannot go home. My father and your grandfather have a lot in common.”
    “Come. You need your rest.”
    “You do not have lessons for me tomorrow, do you?” She infused humor into her voice, needing to lighten the mood.
    “We may be home by afternoon.” He started down a long hallway, decreasing his pace in front of a door as he threw a glance toward it then picking his step back up. When he came to a halt at the far end, he faced her. “This is your room. I will be staying for the time being in my grandfather’s.” He gestured toward the door.