Straw in the Wind by Janet Woods Read Free Book Online Page B

could be at one with nature, leaving Alexander at Harbour House with his cousins.
    She’d go out on the heath, taking Seth’s stepson John with her if he was home, or so Nick had told him. She’d come back with armfuls of heather, pine needles in her hair, bare feet and a wide smile on her face.
    Marianne adored Nick and she adored her son, and seeing them all together made Erasmus realize what he’d missed out on by not marrying. Nick had been right when he’d stopped earning his living from sailing the oceans.
    Erasmus would have done the same for a woman he’d loved. But when Caroline Honeyman had died he’d lost his mind for a short time. He’d pushed himself, his crew and his ship almost beyond capacity in the mad turmoil of his grief until something brought him back to his senses . . . the fact that he had a nephew who needed his care and his guidance.
    Uneasily, he remembered that he’d promised Marianne that he’d try and find out the truth. If the girl born to Caroline Honeyman was alive – as Marianne suspected – and if she proved to be his daughter, then he would have done her a great injustice by not providing for her. But it wouldn’t be too late to redress that.
    What if she proved to be George Honeyman’s daughter?
    Erasmus remembered George’s voice as if he was standing next to him. The man had swallowed a skinful of brandy and had been swaying back and forth.
    â€˜You took the woman who belonged to me, and you killed her. The infant was a Thornton, there was no doubt about it. She couldn’t be allowed to live, so I waited until the midwife was gone then smothered her with a pillow.’
    Closing his eyes on the anguish he felt, Erasmus thought: I must have fathered the child. George wouldn’t have taken the life of his
own
child, and neither would he have taken her to the orphanage. George
must
have killed the infant. It had struck him then. Had George killed Caroline, too?
    The burden of that knowledge had been hard to bear – too hard for George, who’d spent the next few years drinking himself to death. Erasmus had to live with his remorse as well as his suspicion, that his love for another man’s wife had been the death of her, as well as their baby daughter.
    Even now he found it hard to think of George Honeyman committing such a hideous act, and he couldn’t bring himself to tell the sisters that their own father had confessed to killing the child. He doubted if Charlotte would believe it anyway.
    It had been a long time since he’d come to terms with it, and longer still before he’d allowed himself to be persuaded that the infant might be alive, and that George had left her at the orphanage – not only to keep them apart but to punish him as well. Erasmus had never repeated what George had said to anyone.
    When he opened his eyes it was to find that Adam Chapman had moved into his line of vision. There was the answer. The young man was a detective, and a very good one from what he’d heard. He’d try and get him alone and ask his advice.
    A burst of clapping brought Erasmus out of his reverie. The ribbons were cut and the band began to play. After the ceremony, the band struck up a lively march and his foot was trampled on by Miss Stanhope who nearly pushed him out of the way as the surge of shoppers headed into the various departments, where salesmen and women were on hand to relieve them of their cash.
    He cornered Adam Chapman and held out his hand. ‘My name is Erasmus Thornton. I’d like a private word if you’ve a moment, though it will have to be now because I need to get back to my ship.’
    â€˜My pleasure, Captain Thornton. I’ll walk back to the quay with you and we can talk on the way, then we won’t be interrupted. I’ll join you outside, after I’ve informed my sister of my whereabouts.’
    He didn’t keep Erasmus waiting long, saying when he