Mark of Caine Trilogy: Book One: Hidden in the Shadows (Victorian Villains) Read Online Free Page A

walked
out, leaving a boy in the care of a vicious drunk? What were you when you were
living in your fine house while I was begging for bread on the streets of
London?”
    Tanner shook himself free of Branson’s
grip. He had said too much. The horror of those years was returning and he
still had a job to do. He executed a short contemptuous bow and moved rapidly
to his horse.
    “The other two sons,” Branson shouted after
him. “What are their names? Where may I find them?”
    “Oh don’t worry about them, brother.”
Tanner swung astride his horse and caught up the reins. “When you need to find
them, they will likely find you first, just as I have done. Your pregnant bride
awaits you in the carriage. You are a lucky bastard. Of the four of us, perhaps
you will be the one to break free of the curse!”
    Tanner Caine rode
off in a cloud of dust, his husky laugh carrying on the sweet spring air.

 

Chapter Three

 
    “WHAT WAS that all about?” Clara touched
Bran’s cheek. Her husband’s eyes were troubled. “You were conversing with your
brother for a long time.”
    They were in the carriage, en route to Windemere Hall. Her cousin, who was now her husband, was
breathtakingly handsome in his long navy blue formal coat. The contrast of his
golden hair and sapphire blue eyes against the collar was very attractive. Clara
enjoyed looking at him.
    “Tanner was giving me a brief family
history of which I had no knowledge. I’m not sure what to make of it.”
    “Well now you must tell me or I’ll go mad
with curiosity.”
    Branson shook his blonde head. “It was superstitious
nonsense. But if it had merit, his story would explain some things that I have
kept hidden even from you, Clara. It could explain why I am the way I am.”
    She peered into his face with concern. “You
have changed. You are not the man you were.”
    “Am I not? I wonder if a man can ever be
truly free of his destiny.” He gathered Clara into his arms. “And what did you
think of this long lost brother of mine, Tanner Caine ?”
    “He reminded me of you. He has a way of
looking at one like a lion examines its prey. And he is ruthless and handsome.
But he is also too confident. Tanner has not met Laura Mayhew and I have. I’ll
wager that Miss Mayhew is just as ruthless and has far more at stake than he
does. In taking on this assignment, your brother may have bitten off more than
he can chew.”
    Branson grinned and kissed her on the
mouth. “Then he is like me after all.”

 
    §

 
    Gateshead Asylum, Berkshire ~ two days later

 
    TANNER CAINE presented the letter to Matron
as an attaché to Sir Horatio Mayhew and glanced at his surroundings while he
waited for her to deliver it.
    Gateshead Insane Asylum was picture
perfect, an efficient and presumably well-run institution. He could see the
reason for Clara Hamilton’s warning. There would be protocols in place that
would prevent a stranger, regardless of his credentials, from walking off with
one of the patients. He was wondering how he was going to pull it off when a
nurse in the newly-formed Order of Nightingale Nurses stepped out of the
director’s office. Their uniform concealed much, making one nurse
indistinguishable from another. This was deliberate on the part of the founder,
Florence Nightingale, who had upset the medical profession with her clarion
call for standards set in patient care and in the training of nurses.

 
    THE UNIFORM was acquired with some
difficulty. Tanner overestimated the influence he would have as Sir Mayhew’s
attaché on one pretty nurse in particular. He managed in the end to gain his
prize by requesting a sample of the uniform that he may present to his lordship
as part of his report.
    The skirt was long plain grey wool with a
matching bodice of puffed sleeves that tightened at the wrist and were covered
with white cuffs. A white bib apron was worn over the dress and a white
headpiece fitted over the brow and covered the hair like a