Stormhaven by Jordan L. Hawk

Author:Jordan L. Hawk [Hawk, Jordan L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781493759255
Google: IbA-nwEACAAJ
Amazon: 1493759256
Publisher: CreateSpace
Published: 2013-12-02T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

“Blast Griffin,” Christine exclaimed. “I can’t believe he’s so selfish as to put you through this ordeal!”

We had left the restaurant behind us and were well on our way to her boarding house. Christine strode determinedly along the sidewalk, scowling furiously at the fog which had crept in while we dined, turning the night murky and damp. Hansom cabs emerged from the gloom and faded back into it, the clop of horses’ hooves lingering long after I’d lost sight of them in the fog. A cloaked figure hurried past, hat drawn low over his face, and I politely looked away.

One of the electric lights made a strange sound and went out. I recalled reading in the papers about how often they failed, to the bafflement of the manufacturer, who swore the bulbs lasted five times longer in every other city in which they were installed. Yet another sign the blasted things were wrong for Widdershins, as far as I was concerned.

“You’re being unfair,” I told Christine.

“What isn’t fair is how he uses you.” Christine ground her teeth together. “Or Ruth Kerr. His parents believe there is a chance of a match, and instead of doing the honorable thing and putting an end to the matter, he allows them to continue in their assumptions. And Ruth! Right now, the poor woman is probably imagining a wedding which will allow her to move to Widdershins and escape whatever farming hell she’s trapped in.”

I stared down at the sidewalk, counting the cracks as we passed. “It’s different for him than for us. Or for me, anyway,” I added, since she’d spoken little of her own falling-out with her mother. Given Christine’s temper, it must have been spectacular. “My father never approved of me and never will. I had nothing to lose by walking out of Whyborne House and living my own life.”

Christine snorted. “Nothing to lose, except for a share of one of the largest fortunes in America.”

A chuckle escaped me. “I suppose. But it never brought me happiness in the first seventeen years of my life. Why expect it to bring any in the next seventeen, or in the years after? It’s different for Griffin. His family loves him and he them. You and I cannot imagine a normal life, but he can.”

“Is he certain of his parents’ reaction?” she asked hesitantly. “He mentioned a small indiscretion…”

“I don’t know the details, but in essence, the community ran him out of town.” I hated saying the words, but Christine deserved the truth. “His parents agreed it would be best if he left in haste. But later on they saved him from the asylum, so I can’t condemn them too harshly. As for Griffin, he feels he owes them his life twice over.”

“Oh.” She knew little of Griffin’s confinement, other than it had been unwarranted, but she surely guessed it had not been pleasant. “You don’t believe there is anything to this absurd charade with Miss Kerr, do you? That he might actually go through with it and marry her?”

We had come to her boarding house and paused on the sidewalk.

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