The Lady Who Lived Again Read Online Free

to hold the wedding in Misty Lake unless I was included in the party. She loves Lester Hogle, but she wants me there. And Amelia always gets what she wants.”
    “Too true! She’ll run that boy ragged, for sure.” Grandfather’s burst of laughter was strangled by a fit of deep coughing. Despite his claims to the contrary, these spells were becoming more frequent. His heart was weakening, and his condition was deteriorating at an alarming rate. She’d tried her best to heal the unsuspecting man, but each day it became more apparent that her nightly ministrations were ineffective against his disease. Poor circulation left him sallow, fluid swelled his chest and limbs, and now this chronic cough.
    Maddie waited on tenterhooks until Grandfather finally caught his breath. He despised being coddled. In fact, he barely allowed the application of the salve she used to disguise her healing attempts. At seventy-two, he still had the same pride that helped him amass a great fortune as a young man. Wiping his mouth with his napkin, he cleared his throat, then continued as if nothing were amiss. “So it’s settled then. You’re attending.”
    “I must. For Amelia.” She took a long breath. “For the girls.”
    He reached for his drink. Maddie rarely mentioned the accident to him anymore; it simply wasn’t worth the effort. Grandfather had mourned the tragedy in his own way, in silence and denial—and he’d insisted she do the same. While he’d been a constant presence as she recovered from her injuries, she’d had to manage her grief in private.
    She hated that she still harbored some resentment about this silly code of silence. Especially now, when Grandfather’s health was so poor. She loved the man with all her heart, but he had imposed a critical distance between them by refusing to discuss what happened. Try as she might to ignore it, Maddie continued to feel the ache of their unsaid words through every crevice of her lonely soul. Several long moments passed before she spoke again.
    “Pastor Hogle will be at the wedding.”
    Grandfather frowned. “To hell with Pastor Hogle.”
    “And Daniel.”
    “To hell with him, too.” He took another sip of port. “You’ll have to find your guts, girl, but you’ll find them.”
    He spoke the truth with his usual curt elegance, and she was grateful for his support.
    “I suppose you may go ahead and send for Cousin Marvin,” she said.
    He lowered his weary eyes to the drink in his trembling hand.
    “About Marvin…” He studied the glass as though searching for words in its crimson contents. The lengthy pause signaled that the forthcoming news wouldn’t be good. “Marvin is unable to escort you.”
    Her heart sank.
    “He left for Paris last week. But perhaps I can—”
    “No, Grandfather, you cannot. I love you to pieces for offering, but I won’t have you jeopardizing your health by escorting me. This affair will be crowded and filled with people you loathe.”
    He didn’t argue. He didn’t have the strength to argue, let alone attend the wedding and the string of events leading up to it. Amelia had written of her plans for a shopping trip, a lakeside picnic, rehearsal dinner, and dance. In another lifetime, Maddie would have swanned happily through twice that number of parties without a second thought. Now, it all sounded so overwhelming.
    Grandfather nodded in surrender. “My dancing is not what it used to be, anyway,” he teased. “We’ll devise a different plan.”
    Thanks to Cousin Marvin, they’d have to. Not that she could blame Marv for choosing the glitter of Paris over waltzing with his poor pariah cousin at a sleepy upstate wedding.
    “Of course we will.” She smiled with feigned optimism. And we have a mere four weeks to do it.
    * * * *
    Jace was pleased to see Mrs. Tremont eating the venison he’d procured from Les Toomey. After giving up his search for the deer he’d hit that morning, he’d resorted to accepting two pounds of venison in