The Sinner's Gamble (The Perdition Club) by Merry Farmer

Author:Merry Farmer [Farmer, Merry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-06-07T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

A thousand conflicting thoughts and emotions passed through George’s mind and heart as the morning wore on and he and Caesar continued with their mission to feed and tend to the poor. So much needed to be done, from distributing food that Caesar had paid for to visiting the elderly and infirm to determine whether they needed more care than two young men could give them.

Caesar was extraordinarily free with his money—of which he’d brought quite a bit with him—and his touch. George didn’t think much of it at first, but after witnessing his captor holding gnarled hands while listening to older men and women who probably rarely received calls, embracing children who appeared in dire need of affection, and kissing the cheeks of several downtrodden mothers who were too exhausted to do more than smile in thanks, George could see that touch was as precious an offering as coins.

His own father would rather have died than touch any of the beggars he preached to on streetcorners, or even the wealthy members of the aristocracy whom he was always chasing after for patronage. George couldn’t imagine the man fetching a handkerchief to hold for the ill to cough into or allowing a colicky baby to spit up on his shoulder. In fact, George couldn’t imagine his father doing even the meanest of tasks that he and Caesar dove into with vigor throughout the morning.

“You seem subdued,” Caesar commented as the two of them waited on the doorstep of that first house, where Nancy and Caesar’s mother lived, as their horses were fetched to take them back to St. James’s. When George glanced distractedly at him, Caesar grinned and said, “Have I unsettled you?”

George opened his mouth to reply, but thought about his words instead. Yes, Caesar had most definitely unsettled him. In so many ways that George had lost count.

Instead of admitting as much, he said, “My father has always expounded on the necessity of living a Christian life, of humbling oneself before God and viewing oneself as a vice-ridden worm in need of repentance. His entire theology is built around exhorting sinners to repent and live a holy life so that they might be rewarded by Paradise.”

He paused, knowing in his heart how to finish his thoughts, but the words wouldn’t pass his lips for some reason.

Caesar said nothing. The gorgeous, infuriating, paradoxical man merely grinned at him with a knowing flash in his eyes. He knew precisely what George was thinking, which came as a surprise relief. George wouldn’t have to admit to the deep, painful thought that had been tearing his heart in twain through the entire morning.

He had been wrong. He had been so very wrong. Not only about Caesar, but about what it meant to lead a good life and to do God’s work. The truth upended his entire world.

“Come along,” Caesar said, his grin turning sympathetic as he pushed away from the wall where he’d been leaning. “The boys are here with the horses.

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