Free [Yukon Quest 01] - Treasures Of The North by Tracie Peterson Page B

far as Grace was concerned. She dressed as she’d been instructed, shared breakfast with her mother and father, then upon her mother’s comment to see to assigning duties to the staff, Grace asked to be excused.
    ‘‘My dear, if I might have a word with you first,’’ Frederick Hawkins requested.
    Myrtle and Grace looked at each other as if to question which woman it was he spoke to.
    ‘‘I only wish to speak with Grace for a moment.’’
    Myrtle nodded and went about her business, while Grace tarried behind her chair. Clinging to the high wooden back for support, Grace waited to hear what her father might have to say.
    Looking genuinely sorry, he met her eyes. ‘‘I would not have caused you pain for all the world. I know you fear this arrangement, but believe me when I say, in the long run, it is for the best.’’
    ‘‘I know you want the best for me, Father,’’ Grace replied, barely able to keep her voice even. ‘‘I have prayed about this and will do what I must.’’
    He nodded. ‘‘Good. So long as you understand. A father must do what seems best—even when all around him suggest it to be otherwise. I am only doing what I feel will benefit you. Becoming a wife is a wonderful event in a young woman’s life. I feel confident that you will want for nothing. Paxton is quite wealthy and has assured me that you will live in grand style at his home in Erie.’’
    Grace nodded. She wanted so badly to explain herself—to tell him everything and hope he might understand her decision to defy him. Doing the only thing she could, Grace left the security of the chair and went to embrace her father. Kneeling beside him, she threw her arms around him in an uncharacteristic display of affection.
    ‘‘I love you, Father. I know you have only tried to do your best for me. I’m sorry I haven’t been the obedient daughter you deserve.’’
    ‘‘Nonsense,’’ he said, his body rigid and unresponsive.
    Grace straightened, looked into his eyes, and realized he had put a wall up between them. He appeared to be fighting with every ounce of his strength to reveal nothing more than manly resolve.
    Standing, Grace bit her tongue to keep from confessing her plan. Better to leave now, she told herself. Leave quickly and quietly, remembering that you did what you could and that you aren’t going out of a spirit of willfulness, but rather desperation .
    She fled the room, narrowly missing the butler as he came in to make the announcement that the minister had arrived to discuss the wedding arrangements. The words caused Grace to flinch as if struck. She hated lying to her father, but how would she feel knowing she had lied to a man of God as well?
    Their plans went through as anticipated, and it wasn’t until after she and Karen exchanged places with the actresses and were dressed in servants’ uniforms that Grace realized the finality of the moment. For reasons that were beyond her understanding, she suddenly feared that she might never again step foot in her childhood home. Looking beyond the kitchen entryway, Grace found herself wanting to memorize every detail she could set her sights on.
    Myrtle came to bid her daughter farewell, and in spite of their resolve to be brave, both women broke into tears.
    ‘‘Please know how much I love you,’’ Grace whispered against her mother’s ear.
    ‘‘I do know,’’ Myrtle replied. ‘‘I love you with all my life.’’ She pressed something into Grace’s hand.
    Looking down, Grace found a velvet bag. ‘‘What is this?’’
    ‘‘Consider it additional insurance,’’ Myrtle replied. ‘‘I sold more jewelry. This is the money I received, as well as a few other pieces that you could sell later. Nothing sentimental, I promise. I want you to take it and be safe. Sew the money into the lining of your dress or jacket. Hide it away so that scoundrels and ruthless men will not seek to harm you in order to take it from you. The world is not a kind place, Grace