Free The Lightkeeper's Daughter by Colleen Coble Page A

mine. And she has green eyes.” The woman’s demure smile said she knew she was beautiful. And she was. Lustrous red hair lay coiled at the nape of her neck. The turquoise gown she wore accentuated the depth of her eyes.
    Some dim memory struggled to bubble to the forefront of her memory. Soft hands, a sweet voice. Words of love. “She’s much more beautiful than I,” Addie whispered.
    “Look beyond her more vivid coloring. Notice the shape of her nose, the fullness of her lips, the dimple in her right cheek. The similarities are subtle, but they’re there if one knows where to look.”
    “Many people have dimples.” Her fingers pressed the outline of the locket under her bodice.
    “Perhaps it’s easier for me to see because I loved Laura. You have her smile.”
    “But why would anyone want to prevent me from being united with my father?” She could look into the woman’s laughing eyes no longer. She went back to the chair. “Do you have any idea who would have paid for my upkeep? You mentioned one of my father’s rivals. Is there anyone else?”
    Mr. Driscoll sipped his water. “I have some ideas.”
    “Such as?”
    “You are nearly twenty-five, correct?”
    She nodded. “My mother said I was about two when my father rescued me.”
    “I suspected Clara in the beginning. She met Henry first, and he sought her hand until he met your mother.”
    Addie liked her aunt, and the thought she might be behind her situation disturbed her. “Clara? What would be her reason to keep me away?”
    “She might have wanted to wipe away all traces of Laura and her relationship with Henry.”
    She leaned back in the chair. “That seems so Shakespearean.”
    “He wrote about human nature. Jealousy is a powerful motivator.”
    “I suppose. What about an inheritance?” she asked.
    Driscoll pursed his lips. “Laura’s grandfather Francis died about two years ago. You are the beneficiary in his will. The will dictated the estate would go to you on your twenty-fifth birthday. In the event of your death, it would go to Clara, who intends it to be Edward’s.”
    “Why Clara? This wouldn’t be her grandfather, right? You and Clara had a different maternal grandmother.”
    He nodded. “That’s right. But Laura was his only living relative at the time he drew up the will. He liked Clara, and when the attorney recommended a contingency bequest, Francis decided to leave his estate to her. I believe Henry forgot about the inheritance until recently. When he realized the passing of ownership was due to take place, he realized he had to have you declared dead.”
    “Just me? What about my mother?”
    “He had her declared dead before he married Clara. I assume he thought it wasn’t necessary for a child.”
    “And maybe he thought my great-grandfather would change his will.”
    He nodded. “The legal step has taken some time, and it’s not yet completed. When that happens, the land will pass to Clara, who has drawn up papers for Edward to receive it.”
    “A great-grandfather.” Addie clasped her hands together. “I always wished for grandparents.”
    “He was a remarkable man. He doted on you.”
    Yearning tugged at her heart. She’d missed out on so much love. “But all this still doesn’t tell us who had anything to gain by keeping my presence a secret all these years.”
    Mr. Driscoll set his glass of water back on the bed stand. “We need to find out.”
    “What difference does it make now? I don’t want anything from the Eaton estate. All I want is to make my father love me.”
    “I mentioned I feared for Henry’s safety. The other possibility in today’s attack is that he was the intended target, and the assailant didn’t try very hard to hurt me when he realized he had the wrong man.”
    “I see,” she said slowly. “You think whoever paid for me to be kept away is now about to move against Mr. Eaton.”
    “And perhaps you.”
    She gulped. The sensation of cold metal against her throat had been