Texas Born Read Online Free Page B

feet up on a hassock. There was half a bottle of brandy on the
marble-topped table beside him.
    'You rang, sir?' she asked respectfully.
    He nodded. 'Turn down the bed.'
    Automatically she walked over to the bedside
table. If he wanted to sleep in his father's bed, that was his
business. She shivered at the impropriety of the idea, but did as
she was told. When she finished, she looked over at him. 'Will
there be anything else, sir?'
    He smiled slowly, his eyes traveling over her
body. She was tall for her age, slim but full-breasted. Much more
so than most girls her age.
    She could feel her face reddening under his
obvious scrutiny.
    'Get undressed,' he said softly.
    She stared at him, suddenly feeling helpless
and frightened. Terrified, in fact.
    'I told you to undress!'
    And slowly she fumbled with the buttons on
the back of her dress. She knew what he wanted to do was wrong, but
with the Cromwells gone, he was master of the house. She dared not
disobey him. He could dismiss her at his whim; and without
references, all jobs would be closed to her.
    She was, after all, the orphan of poor Irish
immigrants, had no family, and had blessedly been taken in by the
rich and all-powerful Cromwells. A bad word from any of them, and
her life might as well be over.
    Her fear only seemed to excite him all the
more. Swinging his legs off the hassock, he got up from the chair
and crossed over to her. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he
pushed her roughly to her knees and tore at her petticoat. When she
was naked, he pulled her back up and led her to the bed.
    The sheets were cool and clean and crisp, but
she felt hot and dirty and used. She had never been to bed with a
man, and the agony was supreme. Arthur smelled of brandy and sweat,
and when he tore savagely into her, the pain was so great she
nearly fainted. It was the worst experience of her life, but
mercifully quick.
    As soon as he fell asleep, she gathered up
her torn clothes and stumbled out of the room. She felt humiliated
and empty. Mortally wounded. Tears streamed down her face. Her
thighs were wet with blood.
    At least it's over, she told herself. Now I
can die in peace.
    But it wasn't over, nor did she die. He took
her to bed every night, and soon the other servants suspected what
was going on. As a whole, they were ruthlessly respectable, and
blamed Elender. She became a pariah.
    Six weeks later, it was all over. This time
it was she who came to see him. Her face was pale. 'I'm pregnant,'
she told him quietly.
    He stared at her and then ordered her to
undress. The next day he gave her five hundred dollars and one
instruction: 'Go down to New York and get rid of the baby.'
    So she went to New York, but she didn't get
rid of the baby. She worked one job after another until she
'showed,' and was frugal with her money. When the baby was born,
she named her Jennifer Sue and headed west, perfecting her cover
story on the way: that she'd had a widowed sister-in-law who'd died
and left her some money and custody of her child.
    When she came to Quebeck, Elender knew it was
the perfect place to start a new life. The town was small and no
one knew her. Her story was plausible and accepted. Not even Jenny
knew the truth.
    In over eight years, Elender and Jenny had
never left sleepy little Quebeck. Except for the trip to
Brownsville.
    Now Elender couldn't help wishing she hadn't
taken Jenny, who had been sour and had pouted during the entire
drive. Only when they'd checked into the hotel had Jenny finally
forgotten the circus. Elender Hannah Clowney might have been
frugal, but for the one time in years they would stay overnight in
a real city, she had decided to splurge and stay in a first-rate
hotel.
    The Hotel Garber was a huge square red-brick
structure of four stories, with ornamental black iron fretwork and
tiers of balconies, and boasted its own livery stable. She and
Jenny were helped down from their buggy and escorted inside to the
front desk by a uniformed porter who carried