Brenda Joyce - [Francesca Cahil 03] by Deadly Affairs Read Free Book Online Page A

me as if I were a child? Especially as nothing happened, in the end.” She looked at her mother.
    “I have never been so angry,” Julia said.
    Her heart sank like a rock. “My entire life has been devoted to the unfortunate. How could not I help in this instance? I solved the case. I found the killer,” she tried.
    “To make matters even worse, I understand you better than anyone,” Julia continued. “Do you think I am a fool, Francesca? I know you are a woman of extreme passion and just as much determination. You have decided, I believe, that you are a detective of sorts. And you have sunk your teeth into this new passion of yours the way you have done with reform. Oh, I do understand.”
    Francesca could not look away from her mother’s gaze. Julia did understand, she thought with dismay, and no good could come of it.
    “What I understand is that you disposed of the newspapersbefore I or your mother saw them,” Andrew cried, his voice raised. “So now you are dissembling—deceiving us?
Lying?”
    “Papa! You know I do not lie,” she cried in return, but in a way, he was right. She had become adept at avoidance and dissembling in order to carry on with her new profession. Thank God they had not seen her calling cards. “Perhaps I have omitted facts here and there. But only because I knew you both would be upset. My intentions were good. I meant to help, not hurt anyone,” Francesca tried.
    Andrew stared. Julia’s arms were crossed firmly over her chest. “Andrew, I told you this would be her reaction.”
    Andrew said, “Your mother is right. It is time to find you a husband.”
    Her heart felt as if it had dropped to the floor at her feet. She stared at him, suddenly ill. In this cause—her cause to remain single, a bluestocking and a reformer—her father had always been her ally. Until this actual moment in time, he had been in no rush to see her wed and out of the house. In fact, Francesca believed that Andrew did not want to see her go to a home of her own. “Papa, you don’t mean it.”
    “He does mean it,” Julia said. “We were up half the night, talking about you. I will not have my daughter running about the worst wards, consorting with crooks and con men, and chasing killers.”
    “Perhaps the right man will have a quieting effect on you, Francesca,” Andrew added. “Ever since Bragg was appointed police commissioner, ever since he came to town, you have been carrying on like a detective.”
    She stood motionless now. There was only one man who was right for her, and he was Bragg. She was not marrying anyone else. “Surely you do not blame Bragg for this.” She wet her lips and looked at Julia. “He had nothing to do with this, Mama. In fact, he has tried to dissuade me from investigative work, time and again.”
    “I am not blind, Francesca,” Julia said, but with some kindness.
    Desperation overcame her. And with it came fear. What did Julia mean? Had she guessed Francesca’s feelings? “We are friends. That is all.”
    “And that is as it should be, of course. Andrew recently told me he has a wife. In any case, I shall begin a serious search for a proper husband for you.”
    Francesca was disbelieving. She turned her gaze upon her father. “Papa, surely you disagree! Besides, I cannot be forced to the altar. You could not force me to wed.”
    Andrew hesitated. Francesca saw an opening and seized it. “Papa, you know that one day I shall marry, but it must be the right man. And one cannot summon that man up as if one were a magician.”
    Julia cut in, also sensing that Andrew was wavering. “I shall do my best to find you the right man, Francesca. And until then, there shall be no more investigative work.” She looked at Andrew. “You may speak with Bragg. I am certain he has not approved of Francesca’s interference in police affairs. Tell him how concerned we are.”
    “I intend to do just that,” Andrew said stoutly.
    Her father and Bragg were both reformers,