Read Online Hope's Betrayal by Grace Elliot - Free Book Online Page B

retreating.
    With the
appearance of regret, he bowed.
    "So be it.
I see your mind is made up." He paced to the window and peered out.
"It seems the mist is thinning."
    "Indeed."
    "Then my
duty is discharged and I'd like to catch the falling tide. Miss Tyler, I'd be
grateful if your brother could pilot me out of the shallows."
    "Of course,
it's the least we can do."
    "Thank
you."
    "Father,
where did Tom go?"
    "Mending
nets with Vinny, at his yard."
    "I won’t be
long."
    She slipped from
the room, leaving Huntley feeling as if a piece of him had gone missing. As
soon as the heard the front door open and close, he pulled a chair close to
William Tyler.
    "Quick man,
we haven't much time. Answer me truthfully."
    "Captain?"
Tyler's rheumy eyes opened wide.
    "If Hope
continues to smuggle, it's only a matter of time before she's caught again.
Truly, do you want her to hang?"
    "No, of
course not."
    "Don't you
see? She feels duty bound to stay. She will never go if she has to make the
decision herself, guilt keeps her here." Huntley sucked in a deep breath.
"I'm sorry, but if you want to save her, you must make her leave."
    "I don't
see how."
    "Tell her
to go! Order her! Do anything it takes to convince her she's not needed…or
wanted here."
    "She can be
very stubborn." Tyler’s brow furrowed. “I’m not sure it will work.”
    “It has
to!" Huntley pulled a fistful of coins from his pocket. “Here, call this
an advance on her wages. Ensure Hope comes back with me and there’ll be more.
Use it to buy food, get a woman in to clean the house—but don’t let Hope stay
here and perish.”
    Tyler brightened. “I’ve an idea. How about you give me the money and Hope
stays anyway.”
    Huntley glared
at him darkly. “Are you asking for charity, Mr Tyler?”
    His host looked
dubious. “Not exactly, but with improved circumstances, Hope will make a good
match and her husband would keep her safe.”
    “Marriage?"
Huntley felt a little giddy.
     “Aye. There’s
many a lad hereabouts has their eye on Hope but she lacks a dowry.”
    Huntley turned
to the fireplace to hide his disgust. The thought of anyone pawing Hope made
him feel queasy.
    “No. Your
daughter earns an honest wage or the deals off.” With a resolution he didn’t
feel, Huntley called Tyler’s bluff. “Make no mistake, it's no odds to me. She
can swing for all I care." He lied, "But make your mind up now—I hear
footsteps, she’s back.”
    Hope entered
with a sturdy young man at her side. A head shorter than his sister, Tom
glowered at the visitor. His skin prematurely lined by sun and wind, bags
beneath his eyes and a deep furrow between his eyebrows, he put Huntley in mind
of a bulldog.
    “Captain
Huntley, this is my stepbrother Thomas. He will aid you back into open water.”
    “Much obliged.”
Huntley glared at Tyler, urging him to speak.
    William Tyler
cleared his throat. “An' why would the Captain need Tom, when you can show him
the way yourself?”
    Hope’s eyes
narrowed, as she glanced from one man to the other. “I don’t know what’s been
said, but I’m staying here.”
    “It came as a
shock, that was all. Now I've had a think, I say you should go.”
    “No, Father, you
need me here.”
    “An’ I say I
don’t.”
    “Not five
minutes since, you wanted me to stay.”
    “Well, I've
changed me mind. We’ve managed this past month, haven't we, Tom and I? What
makes you think we won’t manage again?”
    "Because,
look at the dust, and the mud in the hall. The garden's a mess and…"
    "Hope,
child, I don’t want you here."
    Hope grew pale
and she rounded on the Captain. "What have you said? This is your
doing."
    Defensively,
Huntley held up his hands. "Listen to your father."
    "I've had a
chance to think, and by my reckoning, Lady Ryevale offering you a position is
too good a chance to miss."
    "Well, you
might think so but I don’t."
    Tyler floundered so Huntley stepped in.
    "An honest
day's work, I thought that's what you wanted? And