Undaunted Love (PART ONE): Banished Saga, Book 3 by Ramona Flightner Read Free Book Online Page B

arrived. Delivered by a maid.”
    “A maid? Who do we know with a maid?” he asked in confusion before whispering, “Savannah,” and grabbing the letter out of Florence’s hand.
    Dear Florence,
    Please forgive my presumption in writing you. I have no one else whom I can trust.
    Oh, what to say! I fear for my safety. I fear that Jonas will finally make good on his threats and harm me irreparably. He was very angry with me tonight for being away from the house, although he thought I’d only visited my parents.
    Please forgive me for writing. I know there is nothing anyone can do for me. I married him and must accept this fate. If I am absent for a while, I wanted you to know it is due to my husband’s dictates.
    Savannah
    Jeremy lowered the letter, staring at Florence in horror. “What in God’s name does she mean by saying she fears for her safety? She fears he will harm her irreparably?”
    “I don’t know, Jeremy. I didn’t know what to do when I read that letter. I couldn’t sit at home, waiting for you and Richard to return tonight, and I know Richard’s new foreman has little patience for wives when they visit.”
    “We must go to her,” Jeremy said.
    “Like this?” Florence asked, waving at her ratty dress and Jeremy’s dusty, worn clothes. “We have no business in the Back Bay.”
    Jeremy paced, picking up pieces of wood and setting them down again. “She can’t be forced to live in a place where all she knows is fear.” The anguish in his voice tore at Florence.
    “Jeremy, it isn’t up to us to save her.”
    “Isn’t that what she is asking us to do?” he asked as he twirled away from the workbench to face Florence. “Isn’t she begging, in her aristocratic, so-sorry-to-bother-you way, for help?”
    Florence nodded reluctantly. “But what are we to do?”
    “Have you ever met him?” At Florence’s blank stare, Jeremy said, “The bastard husband. Have you ever met him?”
    “No, I don’t believe I have.”
    “I’ve only met Cameron. Not this Jonas. He wouldn’t know who we are.”
    “Although we couldn’t use the McLeod name. He’d recognize that after Clarissa’s scandal.”
    Jeremy began to pace. “We’ll use my mother’s maiden name, Sanders. He won’t have heard that in relation to Clarissa. Let’s go home, clean up and go to her house.”
    “We don’t know where she lives, Jeremy.”
    “There can only be so many Jonas Montgomerys who live in the Back Bay. Someone will tell us.”

CHAPTER 6
    SAVANNAH SAT IN A DAZE in her upstairs sitting room after Sophronia left. She had never imagined such a woman would come to her aid. Could she really leave Jonas? Savannah glanced around the room, taking in the large mirror, the pale-gray silk-covered walls with filigree highlights and the sumptuous furniture. She closed her eyes as she imagined walking away from this luxury. It was everything she had been taught to value. And yet, as she opened her eyes to take in the room again, she could not remember one moment’s worth of happiness in this room. Not until Sophronia presented her card, offering her freedom.
    There was a moment’s warning before her sitting room door was flung open. “Jonas!” Savannah sputtered as she took in his enraged countenance. “Have your meetings for the afternoon concluded?”
    “I canceled the rest. I found that I needed to deal with a pesky domestic issue.”
    “Has one of the maids spilled claret on the rug again?” Savannah asked. She kept her voice calm and refrained from gripping her hands together, although she was unable to prevent tensing involuntarily as he stalked toward her.
    “No, my sweet, it has to do with an errant wife and her unfortunate liaisons. How dare you have a friend such as Mrs. Chickering? She is an abomination to womanhood, and I am ashamed to learn my mother associated with her. It makes her no better than your cousin, Clarissa.”
    “Jonas, I did not know her before today. I had no idea she would