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

needed a clear conscience before beginning her new life. Confessing everything to Gregg was the only way.
    Yet she couldn’t.
    Remembering his tone of voice when he’d talked to her the last day they’d been together in London, and the look of pain and betrayal that had been in his eyes, broke her heart even more. The ache in her chest was as strong now as it had been back then.
    As a foolish young girl, she’d thought herself in love with her sister’s husband. Sixteen was too young to know her heart, and Madeline had wanted someone she couldn’t have. She had used Gregg to make her brother-in-law jealous, and while manipulating these two men, she discovered she and Gregg had a lot in common.
    More handsome than she dared to admit back then, she loved the way Gregg bantered with her. He was very much a gentleman, even when she gave him her virginity. His hands were so tender, so gentle in the way he stroked her and awakened passion inside her. Gregg’s kisses had mesmerized her and his charm seduced her. Afterward, he stepped up to do his duty by offering marriage.
    She didn’t want him, but another man she could never have. But now she knew she had never really loved her brother-in-law. It had all been a scheme to make her sister unhappy. Guilt from her past mistakes wrenched her heart. Why she did those awful things to Juliana and lied to her, she’d never know. Could jealousy have been the key back then? Jealousy because Juliana had a man and Madeline didn’t? She’d wanted all the attention back then, whether good or bad.
    She definitely got it when she had been kicked out of the house and sent on her way with very little funds. It was more than she’d deserved.
    Madeline swept her hand against her moist brow and hurried through her daily duties, trying everything she could to keep away from Gregg. But curiosity pulled her back, and she had to see how he fared.
    “Mr. Fielding?” When she bent and touched his arm, he jumped and grabbed her hand, making her inhale sharply. “Forgive me for startling you, it’s just me.”
    He scooted up in his bed and she helped by stuffing a few pillows behind him.
    “Who are you?” he asked. “You have not told me your name, but I recognize your voice from yesterday.”
    Now was certainly not the time to confess, either. Would God forgive her if she told a little white lie for now? “I’m…Sister Mary.”
    He tilted his head. He wore clean bandages today, and his skin didn’t appear so pallid. “Just Sister Mary?”
    “Yes.” That wasn’t exactly a lie, she convinced herself.
    His mouth pulled into a grin. “I understand. Your accent is different from the others. Are you from England?”
    “Yes, but my home is here in Scotland now.”
    “Very well then Sister Mary. I want to thank you for your care yesterday. Your presence was a great comfort when I needed it the most.”
    Her heart flipped. If only he knew the person to whom he spoke these kind words. “I was only doing what I felt needed to be done.”
    “The doctor told me about my friends.” His voice tightened and he scratched his head as if looking for something to keep his hand occupied.
    “I’m sorry to hear about them, too.”
    “Jonathan Black was one of my newer employees at the newspaper. He was so young, so eager to give his best. I’d worked with Harvey Westland since the opening of the newspaper. I’d never seen such great pictures before.” He shook his head. “I wish I knew what happened. We were traveling to meet a man who had served in the Crimean War. I didn’t think he wanted us dead.”
    She sat on the chair beside his bed. “I heard the Reverend Mother mention the man who fired the cannon was General McFadden who is retired and now a landowner. He mistook you and your friends for Russian soldiers.”
    “Impossible. How could that be? We were not wearing uniforms. Besides, McFadden is the one who invited us to his land. He was going to give us a story to put in the