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

him aside to
explain, and until he took his dying breath his father continued to
remind him that breeding and decorum mattered. A man marries a
comfortable, pleasant and agreeable woman. He loves and finds
pleasure with a passionate one. Lust is for a mistress and never a
wife. To mix the two will ruin a home.
    Father’s passion and lust for Adele
had ruined their family and he would never forgive either of them
for that. Had there not been Julia, Clay may not have ever cared.
But from their ill-formed marriage, he had gained, then lost a
sister and that he lay at Adele’s feet. Had she kept to her place
all would be well.
    Then again, if she had, he would have
never had Rose as a mother. There was no sweeter, kinder woman on
earth. And, he wouldn’t have gained another sister in
Madeline.
    Rage rose within. He would find Adele
and make sure she never stepped foot in England again. He would not
have her ruining the life Rose and Madeline had in their family and
society. But first, he wanted answers. Why had father lied, and
what else had he kept from them?

    *

    Eleanor burst through the
front door of the home her family resided in. An hour ago an urgent
message had come from Leigh. Benjamin has
spots . He was only five, and had been ill
for the past four days with a slight fever, cough and had
complained of achiness.
    But spots? What if it was small pox?
People died from small pox and she could not loose
Benjamin.
    She rushed up the stairs, past her
brothers and sisters and stopped beside Benjamin’s bed. His smile
was weak, but he smiled none-the-less. Eleanor placed a hand
against his brow. Poor Ben was warm, but not hot like one suffered
when extremely ill.
    Eleanor didn’t see anything out of the
ordinary, other than a weak little boy with bloodshot eyes. Oh, she
should be staying here and taking care of him. Ben may have
recovered by now had she not be dancing the night away. “I don’t
see any bumps.” She pushed open the curtain to let sunlight in to
the room. Her brother scrunched his eyes closed, winced and turned
his head from the light.
    “ I am sorry, dearest.” She
quickly blocked out the light so Ben wasn’t further
disturbed.
    “ Look at his stomach and
back,” Leigh instructed from the doorway.
    Eleanor pulled down the wool blanket
and lifted his dressing gown. His poor body was covered in a rash.
Is this what small pox looked like? She had never seen a case
before and when someone came down with it back home their mother
had kept them away from the family until they were well
again.
    Mrs. Hartley came into the room. “I’ve
sent for the doctor.”
    Oh, dear, a
doctor . He would charge her for the visit.
Did she have the funds? It didn’t matter. She would find them
somehow. Benjamin needed a doctor. “Do you think it is small
pox?”
    Mrs. Hartley studied the boy. “Doesn’t
look like it to me.”
    “ Then what do you suppose
it is.”
    “ Measles.”
    Eleanor jumped at the sound of an
older man. When had he come into the room? But there he stood at
the foot of Benjamin’s bed looking at him.
    “ Are you sure?” She had
measles as a child, but couldn’t remember anything other than
aching and itching. Eleanor was relieved and distraught at the same
time. Small pox was the more serious of the diseases, or so she
believed. Fewer people seemed to die of Measles, but they still
did.
    The doctor stepped around her and went
about examining Ben from the top of his head to his toes. When he
was done he gently ruffled the boy’s head and straightened. “He is
a strong lad.”
    That was good, wasn’t it? “Then it
isn’t measles?”
    “ No, it is.”
    Her heart sank again and her eyes went
to her youngest sibling. “What can I do?”
    “ There isn’t much, I am
afraid. Keep the room dark and the boy comfortable. A mixture of a
grain of Dover’s Powder with a bit of syrup each night will help
him sleep comfortably.”
    “ And, he will be all
right?” Eleanor needed assurances.
    The