Free Hope's Betrayal by Grace Elliot

think, you can send your
wages home."
    Hope’s eyes
shone with unnatural brightness. “I see.” She drew herself up straight. “And if
I still say no?”
    “Oh, give it up
child. Don’t be so stubborn.” Tyler interjected. “Can’t you see I don’t want
yer here? I was trying to spare your feelings but if you want me to be
blunt—you’re a burden, pure and simple. If you ain’t here then Tom and I will
get along just fine."
    "Father!"
    Mr Tyler
sneered, "Besides, you never fitted in here, with the airs and graces your
mother gave you. She was just the same. Pretended to fit in but she never did
with her cultured manners and reading. I don’t want pity from you and your
kind. Go! Leave me with me own.”
    Hope gasped and
a lone tear trickled down her cheek. “Father! How can you say that?”
    “Tis the truth.
Blood will out. Your mother was too good for the likes of me—and so are you.”
He folded his hands across his chest. “Now go, girl, before Captain Huntley
changes his mind about that wage.”
    Her mouth worked
but no sound came out. She turned to her brother. “Tom? What do you say?”
    With a shrug of
his shoulder Tom looked dubious. “Well, I don’t see what the fuss is about. Got
a chance of a better life. You should take it. I would if it were me. I'll take
care of Father, you know that."
    Hope’s large
green eyes stared into her brother’s, and slowly, she nodded.
    “If you’re
sure.”
    “Do it for me.
Go with my blessing.”
    Tom echoed her
nod and stepped away. Huntley felt the pain of separation between them and
guarded his expression. Perhaps he should find a place for the lad as well—he
seemed decent enough. But no, in order to justify Hope’s presence—Huntley
grimaced—he had an interesting time ahead of him.
    The group stood
awkwardly in the parlor, neither knowing quite what to do next. Tom took
charge.
    "The tide
is on the turn, Father. They best get going."
    With a grim nod,
Hope reached to kiss her father's hollow cheek.
    “Goodbye,
Father.”
    "I'll come
to the jetty with you." Tom said.
    "No! Don’t
do that, stay with Father." A tear slid down her cheek.
    Huntley turned away,
"I'll wait outside while you say goodbye. Then we best be off." 
     

Chapter Six
     
     
    Hope watched the
Island grow smaller, the shrinking outline blurred not only by mist, but by
tears. As the distance increased, so the separation grew keener as she left her
late mother's grave and everyone who loved her. Hope blotted her eyes on her
sleeve. Tearing her gaze from the Island, she looked ahead. The mainland filled
her vision now, her future rising up in the wooded hills around Sandehope.
    Huntley sat
silhouetted against the landscape, his face rigid and unreadable. Hope shrank
into herself, now was not the time to ask questions. She sat back and let the
waves lull her sadness, thinking back to when, as a baby, she had made the
reverse journey rocked in her mother's arms.The entirety of the journey passed
in silence and when the skiff slipped into its mooring, Huntley jumped ashore.
From the water, staring uphill, The Grange seemed more imposing that she
remembered and Hope trembled.
    "Here."
Huntley extended a helping hand. She glanced up; his expression grim with
resolve—and resignation. Something flared inside, for she would not let him be
a martyr because of her.
    "If I'm a
burden, it's not too late to go back."
    "That night
on the dunes, even then it was too late." For a moment his mask slipped
and she saw such longing—that she felt weak. Hope started to speak, to say that
he was a good man in an impossible situation, she saw that now—but her words
fell on empty air as Huntley strode away.
    By the time she
gathered her crutch, the Captain was a distant figure. Out of breath and on a
painful ankle, she followed him to The Grange to find she didn’t know where the
servant's entrance was. As she considered what to do, she was surprised to see
the front door open and Jenkins, peer