Love Comes Blindly (book 5) (The Fielding Brothers Saga) Read Free

As for the other, I’m not certain what happened to him. Only you and the other two were brought in. I fear Mr. Westland probably didn’t survive the explosion, which is why he was not with you and the others.”
    Tears stung Gregg’s eyes. The heaviness in his chest multiplied. If he hadn’t traveled all this way for a great story for the newspaper, Jonathan and Harvey would still be alive. Guilt washed over Gregg, and he couldn’t breathe.
    He nodded. “Will you inform one of the nuns I wish her help with writing a letter? I need to inform Mr. Westland and Mr. Black’s families of their deaths.”
    “As you wish.”
    Gregg settled back in his bed, pulling the blanket around him tighter. His body had suddenly turned chilly. How could he possibly tell the families? They would blame him, and rightly so since Gregg had always been adventurous. What could he say that would ease their pain?
    As he waited for the nun, his life passed through his mind. He’d accomplished a lot over the past several years, and it wasn’t until he purchased the newspaper that he finally decided to make something out of himself. For years he’d been restless, and caused plenty of scandal with married women. He’d been considered an eligible rake at one time. Of course, that was before he was almost forced to marry.
    He shook his head. It was a good thing he had seen what kind of girl he was about to marry and called it off. Miss O’Neil was a whore in the worst way. True, he’d saved her from being attacked at her sister’s birthday ball, but Gregg’s way of comforting turned into passion, and before he knew it, he took the girl’s virginity, instead. But it wasn’t forced. In fact, she was the aggressor.
    Where was Maddie now? Last he’d heard she had left London, but her family hadn’t heard from her. Perhaps it was best. Maddie did nothing but cause problems for everyone. Even him. And he hadn’t really been in her life that long.
    After that scandal, he did a lot of thinking and decided to quit floundering. He, too, had deceived others to get what he wanted—like Maddie —but after knowing her, he decided he didn’t want to live that way. That’s when he bought the newspaper. Now his adventures were different, but exciting nonetheless. Yet now he didn’t have a lot of time to dally with bored, married women.
    He supposed he could thank Maddie for changing him.
    Gregg sighed and frowned. But he also wasn’t thinking of anybody else when he decided to take this trip to Scotland. If he had, he wouldn’t have taken his best friend and his newest employee and the newspaper’s best artist.
    The rustle of fabric sounded near him and the chair squeaked as someone sat next to his bed.
    “The doctor informed me that you wish to write a couple of letters?”
    The voice was older than the last nun to help him. He wished it had been the other woman. Her sweet, caring voice had encouraged him, and uplifted him if only in a small measure. But it was her soft touch he remembered, and the way she stroked his hand as she tried to ease his worries.
    As he dictated the letters, his voice broke a few times, his throat tight with emotion. It was his selfishness that caused two lives to be taken. When he ended the letters, he turned away from the nun, not wanting to speak anymore.
    His life had turned for the worse. Perhaps this was his punishment from God for living so recklessly. He definitely deserved it. Yet, thinking about being blind for the rest of his life was a nightmare. How could he run the paper this way? How could he be a normal man now?

 
    Chapter Two
     
    Madeline stayed away from Gregg’s bed until the next day when she delivered his breakfast. She wasn’t in the mood to talk and, thankfully, he didn’t seem to want to converse, either. Now that he was so close, uncertainty beat in her heart. Was it in God’s plan to bring Gregg here so she could apologize for the terrible way she’d treated him three years ago? She