Read Online To Tempt An Angel (Book 1 Douglas series) by Patricia; Grasso - Free Book Online Page B

buried three husbands? I needed them to marry me before I could bury them.”
    “And you wasted all your inheritances keeping us alive,” Angelica added.
    “Oh, pish, the money was well spent,” Aunt Roxie replied. “Once all of you are married, then you’ll take care of me.” She gave Angelica a puzzled look, asking, “If Robert seduced you this morning, why did you wait until tonight to fall on the floor and weep?”
    “I wasn’t weeping for Robert,” Angelica told them. “Papa pushed me out of his way and I landed on the floor. He stole the money Robert left for us.”
    “Oh, the man adores you,” Aunt Roxie exclaimed, clapping her hands together.
    “What about Papa?” Angelica asked.
    “I can do nothing for Graham,” Aunt Roxie said, losing her smile. “His fate was written before he was born.”
    “What do you mean?” Angelica asked.
    “I don’t know absolutely everything,” Aunt Roxie answered. “The good news is our visit with Mr. Lewis last night has gone undetected.” She smiled brightly at her three nieces, saying, “Let’s make supper, my darlings.”
    Two hours later, Angelica sat in front of the hearth and played her harp. Accompanying her were Samantha on the violin and Victoria on the flute.
    With her eyes closed in relaxation, Aunt Roxie sat on the settee and enjoyed the soothing bath of sound they created. Their serenade evoked a morning breeze, dancing wildflowers, rustling leaves.
    Angelica stopped playing when she heard the knock on the door. Aunt Roxie and her sisters looked at the door in surprise. No one ever visited them. Robert had left only a few hours earlier; he wouldn’t be returning this soon.
    “Don’t open the door,” Angelica ordered when her aunt rose from her chair.
    Aunt Roxie gave her a confused look “Why not, darling?”
    “I have a bad feeling,” Angelica answered. “Let’s pretend we aren’t home.”
    “We cannot change what will be.” Aunt Roxie opened the door and said, “Parson Butterfield, what a surprise.”
    Bull’s pizzle, Angelica thought flicking a glance at Samantha and Victoria. Her sisters’ indiscretion of the previous night had been discovered.
    “What is this?” Angelica heard her aunt saying.
    Parson Butterfield stepped inside the cottage and gestured to someone behind him. A moment later four men appeared, carrying an unconscious Graham Douglas.
    “Papa,” Angelica cried, hurrying across the room. “Bring him this way.”
    The four men placed her father on his bed and immediately left the room.
    While her sisters watched, Angelica lightly tapped her father’s face, saying, “Wake up, Papa. Wake up.” She looked up in confusion at the parson and asked, “What’s wrong with him?”
    “He’s dead.”
    “Dead?” Angelica cried.
    She glanced at her sisters. Their complexions had paled to a ghostly white. Her aunt, more experienced with loved ones dying, shook her head sadly.
    “Now my poor brother has what he’s wanted since the day your mother died,” Aunt Roxie said.
    Angelica felt torn. Though saddened by his unexpected passing, relief at being freed from the terrible burden of her father’s affliction shot through her. In the next instant, guilt replaced her relief.
    Angelica leaned close and kissed her father’s forehead. “One day soon, you and Mother will be buried on your own land,” she whispered. “I promise you that.”
    Turning to the parson, Angelica asked, “What happened?”
    “I don’t know,” Parson Butterfield told her, shaking his head. “He just dropped dead at my feet.”
    “How horrifying for you,” Aunt Roxie sympathized. “You will do the funeral in the morning?”
    Parson Butterfield nodded. “Is there anything else I can do?”
    “As a matter of fact, I need a favor,” Aunt Roxie said, casting the parson an ambiguous smile. She looped her arm through his and steered him toward the door. “An old friend of mine, a man of some importance, lives in London. Could you possibly