For the Roses by Julie Garwood

Author:Julie Garwood
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Published: 2010-06-06T04:00:00+00:00

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August 23, 1866

Dear Mama Rose,

I played with Cole's gun. I was just having fun, but he still yelled at me real good. He said he was going to spank my behind too. Then I cried real good and he changed his mind. Guns are bad, Mama. Adam said so. I won't play with guns no more. Not ever. Will you tell Cole not to yell at me? I am a good girl. Adam said so.

I love you,

Your good girl Mary Rose

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Chapter 12

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They didn't want to believe him. Cole was emphatic in his denial. Mary Rose wasn't Victoria. She couldn't be. Adam was more reasonable. He asked questions trying to find an inconsistency. Travis tore apart every explanation Harrison gave. Douglas remained unusually silent. He kept his gaze on his glass and shook his head every once in a while. He appeared to be too stunned to speak.

"Coincidence," Cole said. He pounded his fist down on the tabletop to stress his point.

"When was Victoria born?" Adam asked in a voice shaking with emotion.

Harrison had already answered the question three times. He patiently gave the date once again. "January second, 1860."

"Holy Mother of God," Adam whispered.

"Lots of people were born on January second," Travis argued.

"Be reasonable," Harrison requested.

"Explain how you came to your conclusion that our Mary Rose was the woman you were searching for."

"Travis, I've already explained."

"I don't give a damn, Harrison. Explain it again."

"Fine," he agreed. "The woman who saw Mary Rose at the boarding school reported the incident to Elliott's people. I happened to be in Chicago at the time on business. The woman lived a short train ride away, and so I went to her home to talk to her."

"How did you hear about the woman? Does Elliott have people working for him in America?" Travis asked.

"Yes, but that isn't how I found out. I received a wire from London. I had requested to be kept informed. Elliott had given up."

"But you hadn't," Travis remarked. He sounded angry about Harrison's tenacity.

"No, I hadn't given up, and neither had his staff. They notified me. I hired an attorney in St. Louis to interview Mary Rose."

"Lawyers stick together like fleas and leeches, don't they?" Cole said.

Harrison didn't respond to the insult. "What the attorney found out made me more curious."

"She didn't tell him anything," Cole argued. "She wouldn't have."

"You're right. She didn't tell him anything. It's what the attorney couldn't find out that intrigued me. The headmistress said Mary Rose's mother lived in the south. I wondered why, of course, but I didn't find it unusual enough to pursue. Sisters boast about their brothers, or complain about them. At least I thought they did, but Mary Rose wouldn't say a word about the four of you. The attorney reported she'd been on her guard and seemed afraid and somewhat agitated."

"She distrusts lawyers as much as we do," Travis told him.

"Yes, I understand," Harrison said. "Your reaction when you found out what I did for a living was another clue that one of you might be in trouble.

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