For Honor’s Sake Read Free

itself about her tiny waist. “Ah, yer a toothsome morsel, me girl,” Hugo exclaimed as he pulled her roughly against his barrel-like chest. “The lads at the firehouse envy me. That they do,” he beamed.
    Hugo Kiley was a fireman. A job he proudly held for many years, boasting of his strength and agility despitehis advancing years. He was well known around the neighborhood and thought to be an upstanding citizen, even though his drinking was fast becoming a problem.
    “Please, Uncle Hugo, let me go,” cried Julie, twisting from his cruel grip. “What would Aunt Lavinia say if she saw you behaving toward me in such a shameful manner?”
    For a moment Hugo looked uncomfortable. Then his face split in a wide grin. “Yer aunt is dead, me girl, God rest her soul, but me, I’m alive. And so are ye. But go on with ye,” he said, giving her a shove toward the kitchen, “fix me breakfast. I’ll have ye yet, lass. Yer cherry belongs to me.” Her cheeks reddened by her uncle’s vulgar words and implication, Julie fled into the kitchen, certain it was no longer safe to remain under her uncle’s roof and living off his charity.
    Hugo Kiley chewed his food in thoughtful silence as Julie went about her chores. He thought the girl more beautiful and provocative than any woman he had ever known. Two years ago she had been placed in his charge by her fanciful father whose dreams of gold were likely his undoing. At sixteen Juliet Darcy had just begun to exhibit the beginnings of a great beauty she would one day possess. During the next two years Hugo watched her closely as her slim contours filled and molded into womanly proportions, her lush breasts and flaring hips swelling sensuously beneath her dress.
    But to Hugo, Julie’s face was the most arresting with her small pointed chin, delicate nose and full lips, red as ripe cherries. Long wavy hair the color of warm honey fell to her waist in a tangled mass of wayward curls. Dark brows arched above eyes the color of a clear blue sky thickly lashed with feathery spirals that some considered too long to be decent. Any man would be proud to call such a woman his. And Hugo intended to have her. He considered Lavinia’s unexpected death providential, proving that he was meant to have the lass.Even Father O’Neil had given his grudging blessing to Hugo’s plans. Now it was time for Julie to learn of them … and accept them.
    “Set ye down, lass, I would talk with ye,” Hugo smiled graciously, gesturing toward a chair.
    “Talk, Uncle Hugo? Whatever about?”
    “Yer future, lass, that’s what. With yer aunt gone and yer father probably dead, I’m yer legal guardian.” Julie remained silent, eyeing Hugo warily. “Have ye ever thought of marriage?” he asked her.
    “Marriage! Why, no,” Julie said truthfully. “How could I think of marriage when I know no men? No, uncle, I have no desire to marry. At least not until papa returns.”
    “Bah! How many times must I tell ye yer father is long dead by now. Not one word have ye heard from the man in two years.”
    “He’s not dead!” Julie insisted stubbornly. “I’d know if he were.”
    “Be that as it may, me girl, the fact still remains that I’m yer guardian. And it’s come to me ears that people are beginning to talk about us living alone here in this house, what with our not being blood kin and all. Even the good Father O’Neil spoke to me of it just yesterday.”
    “Father O’Neil?” questioned Julie dumbly. “I can’t believe a Godly man like him would think—”
    “It’s not him, lass,” interrupted Hugo impatiently, “tis others who are doing the talking. Father O’Neil just brought it to my attention. He suggested I do the right thing by ye.”
    “The right thing?” A finger of dread snaked its way up Julie’s spine as Hugo’s words took on sinister meaning.
    “I’m thinking the only way to stop the gossips is for us to get married,” announced Hugo grandly. “What do ye say to that, me