For the Roses by Julie Garwood

reputation for being a champion of the less fortunate in London's slums. He hadn't set out to become anyone's champion, of course, and if anyone had told him at school that he would eventually become a criminal lawyer, even on a part-time basis, Harrison would have thought he was out of his mind.
    The unsought distinction had cost him his engagement to Lady Edwina Horner, who informed him in a letter that she couldn't abide being married to a scandal-setter, whatever in God's name that meant. Men who still called themselves his friend tried to warn him that he had to get over his ridiculous notion that the poor in England should be entitled to the same rights as the rich. Harrison, however, refused to accept such an elitist, self-serving view.
    "Maybe them laws in England are different from our laws," Ghost suggested. He strolled back across the room and gave Harrison a hopeful look. "I'm thinking that maybe I wouldn't get hanged, if I stole the horse, because Lloyd started the dirt first."
    Harrison shook his head. Ghost, it appeared, wasn't ready to give up his plan.
    "I've studied enough American law to know you'll still be found guilty."
    "Even though he wasn't on the square and he started the dirt first?" While Harrison wasn't familiar with either of those odd expressions, he still felt he was giving sound advice. "Even so."
    Another round of questions followed. All the curious who'd started out watching him from across the saloon had filed over to Harrison's table and now formed a half circle. None of them seemed to be in any particular hurry to get on with their day.
    The doors to the saloon suddenly flew open. "Miss Mary's coming. Cole's riding behind her." The man who shouted the announcement bounded off at a trot down the walkway. The reaction to the news was astonishing to witness. Every single one of the men jumped to his feet and
    ran outside. Dooley was almost knocked to his knees in the stampede. He eventually regained his balance and turned back to Harrison.
    "Ain't you coming along? You ought to at least take a peek at our Miss Mary. She's worth your time." Because Dooley might have thought it peculiar if Harrison hadn't shown an interest, he got up from the table and followed the old man out the doorway. Harrison wasn't in any hurry to meet the young woman, however, and Dooley was already down the block and halfway across the street before Harrison reached the hitching post in front of the corner building.
    His hunt could very well end in just a few minutes. Harrison was suddenly filled with all sorts of conflicting emotions. He had made a promise to Lord Elliot that this adventure would be his last attempt to solve this puzzle, and if Elliot turned out to be correct, then traveling all this distance had been just another wild-goose chase.
    He let out a weary sigh. The facts, Elliot had argued, were indisputable. Mary Rose Clayborne couldn't possibly be his daughter. Victoria was an only child. Mary Rose had four older brothers. Yet while that information had been verified by the attorney in St. Louis, the man had also included several other comments Harrison found intriguing. Mary Rose had been on her guard throughout the interview and refused to give even the names of her brothers. The attorney reported that although she'd been extremely polite, it was apparent to him that she was afraid. The superior hadn't been able to persuade the young lady to cooperate.
    The headmistress had proven most helpful however. She told the attorney that two of Mary Rose's brothers had traveled with their sister to the school at the beginning of each term. She hadn't met either one, hadn't even seen them at a distance, and, therefore, couldn't describe the gentlemen. She had heard a disturbing rumor about one of the brothers, but she refused to give the attorney any details. She declared she wasn't a gossip and that Mary Rose was a model student, once she'd made the adjustment to life in a boarding school, and the vile rumor