From This Day Forward Read Online Free Page B

in the Revolutionary War, but I thought he had reconciled himself to Mama. But for some reason my father’s death set off a tirade.”
    Is this kind of hatred widespread? The fact that she was in a country that had been at war with England only a year before underscored the perils she might face, but at least here she had some land. Back home she would have nothing. “I am so sorry. I know what it feels like to lose family.”
    “Not long after my mother returned to England, I left to further my training as a physician. Grandfather made it clear he did not want me to return to Pinecrest either. Later he disowned me and refused to talk to me after that, even though my brother and sister tried to end the dispute between us. I thought when I came back from the war he would have changed.”
    “But he hadn’t?”
    Nathan laughed, but the sound held no humor. “Hardly. The war between us and England, the burning of our capital, only fueled his anger against the English and for some reason against me too.”
    “But you fought against my…England.”
    “I know. He welcomed my sister’s husband but would not talk to me.” He curled and uncurled his hands at his sides. “I am done with him. He can live in his hatred and misery. I don’t need him or his money.”
    Silence reigned in the small bedchamber.
    The sadness she glimpsed in Dr. Stuart’s eyes mirrored what she felt every time she thought of never seeing her mother and siblings again. Emotions crammed her throat. She would not cry again in front of him, even though they had shared the same fate with their families. She had to remain strong if she were going to make it here. “This soup is wonderful. My compliments to you.”
    One corner of his mouth tilted upward. “It could have been Maddy who made it.”
    “Ack. Not me. Ma’am knows I don’t know how,” her maid said, rising from the chair in the corner. “The baby is getting fussy.”
    Rachel finished the last bit of her meal, passed the bowl to Dr. Stuart, and took her child from her maid.
    Maddy gathered up the dishes. “I can wash these.”
    When Maddy left her and the doctor alone, Rachel’s nerves tingled with an awareness of the man only feet from her. What do I do now? “Who taught you to cook?” she finally said to cut into the uncomfortable silence between them.
    “The camp cook. Do you know how to cook?”
    She shook her head. “We had someone who took care of all that. Mama would have fainted if she had found me in the kitchen, learning to cook.”
    His attention slipped to her daughter, who had fallen asleep almost instantly when Maddy gave the child to her. “She’s one beautiful and determined little lady already.”
    “How so?”
    “She immediately spit out the cloth I gave her to suck on earlier. She knew it would not give her the milk she needed. Your daughter knows what she wants. She began howling right after that this morning, only to stop for a few minutes while I washed her. That did not satisfy her long, however.”
    “You washed her?”
    “I wanted to clean her up.”
    “But Maddy could have done that.”
    He chuckled, the sound of merriment luring her to him. His very presence dominated the room, as though the man had complete command of himself. He seemed so capable, even to the point of cooking for himself—a man who had come from a wealthy family. The rich men she had known in England probably did not even know where the kitchen was in their big houses. Does he have regrets like I do? Does he wish he hadn’t stood up to his grandfather—that he hadn’t been disowned?
    “I found Maddy curled asleep in front of the fireplace. I didn’t want to disturb her. I enjoyed holding your…what are you going to name her?”
    “Faith.” I am going to need a lot of it in the coming months.
    “I like that name.” He held her gaze, the silence falling again between them.
    Heat flushed her cheeks.
    He looked away and said, “I can show Maddy how to cook some simple