The Hungry Heart Fulfilled (The Hunger of the Heart Series Book 3) by Shannon Farrell
Authors: Shannon Farrell
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any encouragement where you're
concerned.
Please, darling, stop this charade and—"
"Miss Chandler, I
need a word
with you, if you please," Emer said, forestalling Dalton's
increasingly
incriminating conversation the only way she knew how.
Emer grabbed her
friend by the arm
and tugged her away from Dalton with a glare, leaving him
standing a short
distance away, but still almost suffocatingly near.
She put one
steading hand to her
throat, and hissed, “I want to leave, now .”
“That really will excite comment,” the older woman warned.
“Very well then, if
you wish me to
remain and drum up support for the orphanage, then you will
behave yourself.”
“Try telling Dalton
that,” Myrtle
giggled.
Emer’s patience
snapped. “That’s it,
I’m leaving.” She
began to head
for the oak double doors of the richly appointed drawing room.
Myrtle clung to her
fiercely, and
pushed her into a burgundy velvet armchair. “Madeleine is trying to
make you look a
fool, Emer, don’t
you see? She
kissed him on purpose
when you came into the room just to see how you would react.”
Emer shook her
head. “Myrtle, it
makes no difference. She's
his
bride to be, and that is the end of it. I have to keep my promise to
his father, and remain
silent about these
past few awful months.”
“But you love him! Give the
money back, and pick up
where you left off,” Myrtle urged desperately, anxious not to
see two more
innocent lives thrown away for the sake of two vicious people
who would do anything
to control Dalton and destroy Emer.
“I can’t give the
money back, even
if I wanted to,” Emer replied with a shake of her head.
“You still have the
ten thousand in
the bank from Dalton’s father.
Give it back to him.”
“And risk going to
prison for
arson? Risk a
scandal when he
breaks off with the Lyndon heiress? I can’t do it. It would destroy
any chance he had of
setting up a decent
practice or proper fever hospital here in the city. Besides,
what about the
other five thousand I’ve already spent?”
“I’ll get it from
Dad as a donation
for the orphanage,” Myrtle promised.
Emer shook her
head. “No, Myrtle,
it's really kind of you to try to help, but it’s finished. I can
never tell
Dalton the whole
truth, and I doubt I can forgive him or his father for ruining
so many lives.
It’s over,” Emer stated firmly.
“And the baby? What will you tell
it when it’s old
enough to understand?” Myrtle challenged suddenly.
“I don’t have to
tell it anything.
Oran would legally be his father,” Emer stated.
“With a wedding
date of the first of
November on the marriage certificate and the same on death
certificate, the
child is going to wonder,” the other woman warned astutely.
Emer’s hands began
to shake, and she
now rose from her chair and went over to the sideboard nearby.
She poured
herself a glass of punch from the bowl to steady her nerves.
“Myrtle, is there
anything you don’t
know about me?” Emer muttered in exasperation.
“I know you love
Dalton,"
Myrtle whispered. "Damn it, Emer, stop being so stubborn and
tell him the
truth. Stop
trying to protect
him. Dalton is a
grown man, not a
child, and he has a right to know what a monster his father
really is! And that
he is to be a father himself.”
Emer shook her
head. “He’s been hurt
enough in the past year. I can’t do it. And I can't burden him
with such a huge
responsibility, not when he's just embarking on his medical
career. If you
care about me at all, Myrtle,
you will say nothing, nothing , do you hear,” Emer insisted.
“All right, I promise, I won’t say
anything,” she
agreed rebelliously.
Myrtle’s emphasis on the word “say” should
have given Emer a
clue as to
concerned.
Please, darling, stop this charade and—"
"Miss Chandler, I
need a word
with you, if you please," Emer said, forestalling Dalton's
increasingly
incriminating conversation the only way she knew how.
Emer grabbed her
friend by the arm
and tugged her away from Dalton with a glare, leaving him
standing a short
distance away, but still almost suffocatingly near.
She put one
steading hand to her
throat, and hissed, “I want to leave, now .”
“That really will excite comment,” the older woman warned.
“Very well then, if
you wish me to
remain and drum up support for the orphanage, then you will
behave yourself.”
“Try telling Dalton
that,” Myrtle
giggled.
Emer’s patience
snapped. “That’s it,
I’m leaving.” She
began to head
for the oak double doors of the richly appointed drawing room.
Myrtle clung to her
fiercely, and
pushed her into a burgundy velvet armchair. “Madeleine is trying to
make you look a
fool, Emer, don’t
you see? She
kissed him on purpose
when you came into the room just to see how you would react.”
Emer shook her
head. “Myrtle, it
makes no difference. She's
his
bride to be, and that is the end of it. I have to keep my promise to
his father, and remain
silent about these
past few awful months.”
“But you love him! Give the
money back, and pick up
where you left off,” Myrtle urged desperately, anxious not to
see two more
innocent lives thrown away for the sake of two vicious people
who would do anything
to control Dalton and destroy Emer.
“I can’t give the
money back, even
if I wanted to,” Emer replied with a shake of her head.
“You still have the
ten thousand in
the bank from Dalton’s father.
Give it back to him.”
“And risk going to
prison for
arson? Risk a
scandal when he
breaks off with the Lyndon heiress? I can’t do it. It would destroy
any chance he had of
setting up a decent
practice or proper fever hospital here in the city. Besides,
what about the
other five thousand I’ve already spent?”
“I’ll get it from
Dad as a donation
for the orphanage,” Myrtle promised.
Emer shook her
head. “No, Myrtle,
it's really kind of you to try to help, but it’s finished. I can
never tell
Dalton the whole
truth, and I doubt I can forgive him or his father for ruining
so many lives.
It’s over,” Emer stated firmly.
“And the baby? What will you tell
it when it’s old
enough to understand?” Myrtle challenged suddenly.
“I don’t have to
tell it anything.
Oran would legally be his father,” Emer stated.
“With a wedding
date of the first of
November on the marriage certificate and the same on death
certificate, the
child is going to wonder,” the other woman warned astutely.
Emer’s hands began
to shake, and she
now rose from her chair and went over to the sideboard nearby.
She poured
herself a glass of punch from the bowl to steady her nerves.
“Myrtle, is there
anything you don’t
know about me?” Emer muttered in exasperation.
“I know you love
Dalton,"
Myrtle whispered. "Damn it, Emer, stop being so stubborn and
tell him the
truth. Stop
trying to protect
him. Dalton is a
grown man, not a
child, and he has a right to know what a monster his father
really is! And that
he is to be a father himself.”
Emer shook her
head. “He’s been hurt
enough in the past year. I can’t do it. And I can't burden him
with such a huge
responsibility, not when he's just embarking on his medical
career. If you
care about me at all, Myrtle,
you will say nothing, nothing , do you hear,” Emer insisted.
“All right, I promise, I won’t say
anything,” she
agreed rebelliously.
Myrtle’s emphasis on the word “say” should
have given Emer a
clue as to
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