Read Tenacious Trents 01 - A Misguided Lord for Free Online Page A

four years ago. If
Miss Westin had it her way, she would still be in the country with
her family but as her guardian, Stanhope forced her to London to
find a husband.”
    Admiration for Miss Westin sparked in
his chest and Clay turned to study the crowd until his eyes found
her.
    Jordan came over to stand beside him.
“In fact, Miss Westin prefers the country.”
    Prefers the
country . Perhaps he had been hasty in his
judgment of her after all. Just because she seemed happy, laughed
and ran through parks didn’t mean she would make a poor wife. And,
a woman who preferred to take care of younger siblings instead of
partaking in a Season spoke well of her character.

    And, she was far more interesting and
prettier than Lady Anne. Perhaps he should reconsider the matter
and Miss Westin.

Chapter 4

    They didn’t
die . Clayton re-read the papers he found
stashed in the back of his father’s desk in their London home. Why
had Father lied to them? Why hadn’t he simply said Adele took Julia
and left?
    Sick dread filled him. If society knew
Adele still lived, or at least she had been alive three years ago,
then Father could not have married Rose Chambers a year after
Adele’s supposed death. And, even though the marriage had taken
place, with society looking on, it didn’t make Madeline any less a
bastard.
    Clay tossed the papers on the desk and
leaned back. Nobody must ever learn, ever. This would crush Rose
and ruin Madeline. Neither deserved the consequences of what could
happen. As it was, Clay wasn’t even sure he would tell his
brothers, though he was curious as to their thoughts on the
matter.
    No. He shook his head and stood before
he walked to the sideboard and poured a glass of whiskey. He needed
to figure out what he was going to do before he mentioned this to
anyone. He settled back behind the desk and reviewed the documents
and the ledger once again. Until six years ago his father had sent
funds to an address in Paris. Is that where Adele and Julia lived?
Did they live there now?
    There was only one way to get his
answers. Clay stood and strode for the door. Higgins, the butler
appeared. “Send for the solicitor. I need to see him
immediately.”
    Clay slammed the door before the man
could respond and returned to his desk. Too agitated to sit, he
paced the room. Why had father lied? What had become of Adele and
Julia? Where were they now? For years he had been torn between the
feelings of hatred and pain, because that woman had abandoned him,
taking his precious sister with him. Julia was supposed to be his
to protect and watch over. That had been his promise to her on the
day she was born. Then that woman ripped her out of his arms when
she was only two.
    Clay pushed his fingers through his
hair. Of course, he now knew they were only humoring a child and he
could have no more protected Julia than a puppy, but at the time,
he took the responsibility with all the seriousness of any young
boy wanting to prove himself to his father.
    At first he had been hurt by her
abandonment, betrayed. Over the years his feelings turned to
hatred, all fueled by his father. But, if his father had lied about
them being dead, what else had he lied about? According to Father,
Adele had everything a wife could hope for, but she was never
happy. Nothing could please her and it was her fault the family had
been torn apart. Resentment grew and that was all Clay felt
anymore.
    He and Jordan had argued over Adele
for years until they agreed never to discuss it again. Jordan
insisted Clay was remembering wrong and that it was father who
drove Adele away. Was Jordan right? He rubbed his face, wishing his
father were alive simply so he could demand answers.
    Father always insisted that he should
have never married Adele. He should have bedded her and left her
alone. It used to sicken him with how his father went on. When Clay
became aware of women, and the comfort and desire one could find in
their arms or between their legs, his father took