Unfaithful Read Online Free

was coming from. A woman, at that hour of the night. Imagining she needed help, I rushed in her direction. Although people today think modern society is violent and dangerous, it’s actually a lot safer than it used to be, believe me. There were a lot more robbers on the streets of London in the eighteenth century than there are today in New York City. Anyway, I immediately suspected it was a criminal. When I saw them I was surprised. I had just run around the corner and my breath caught in my throat, not from fear—I didn’t feel a trace of it—but from outrage.
    “There were four of them, all more or less my age or maybe a few years older. They were dressed well, even better than I was, so they must have been from upper-class families. They were all drunk as skunks. Back then noblemen amused themselves by terrorizing people, and the focus of their amusement that night was a young lady. From her clothing, I guessed she was a noblewoman. She wore a full-skirted white lace gown that matched her long gloves and around her neck was a string of pearls. Her face was so innocent, and the terror I read in her eyes when one of the boys slid his hand under her skirt made me run to her rescue. It wasn’t unusual for spoiled noblemen like them to rape girls, even dragging them out of their carriages. Their crimes often went unpunished.”
    “How terrible.” Appalled, I could find nothing else to say.
    “It was rare for a nobleman to be punished. The art of violence was part of their education. They had the right to carry weapons and they never went without them. I was petrified by the spine-chilling scene I was witnessing in that alley. I was just a boy and it took me a few seconds to react. My presence hadn’t disturbed them in the least, or maybe they hadn’t even noticed me there, blinded as they were by excitement. I remember one of them covering her mouth with one hand while unbuttoning his trousers with the other.
    “It was at that point that the girl looked in my direction. In her eyes I glimpsed the same look I’d seen in my mother’s, filled with resignation. Without thinking, I tackled the boy who was forcing the girl against the wall and we fell to the ground. A gun went off and I froze. The boy beneath me wrenched himself free from my grip. I heard the echo of their footsteps, but when I turned around it was too late. The four boys had run off down the alley and the darkness had swallowed them up. I looked down at the hand I’d instinctively raised to my aching chest and realized I wouldn’t be going home that night.”
    I sat there in shock as uncontrollable shivers ran through my entire body. “It’s a terrifying story,” I finally said, attempting to bring his attention back to me. But Evan was still there in the alley, lost in his memories. In his eyes I could see he’d just relived the tragedy, and I’d done it with him.
    “It’s just one of many. There were worse crimes in London’s deserted alleys in the dead of night. The streets weren’t safe. It was what happened afterwards that was unusual.”
    His words startled me. I hadn’t known he had more to tell.
    “I didn’t have time to realize what was happening. After a moment I fell to the ground and lost consciousness.” Evan stopped, lost in thought, reflecting on the distant past. “I felt a profound stillness coming from inside me. It was everywhere, surrounding me, engulfing me. Suddenly a harmonious sound broke the stillness, like music from a harp, but more . . . human. The sound pulled me out of the darkness, back to the surface. All at once I was on my feet again. Confused, I shook my head. The sound came again. I stood still, trying to understand where it was coming from. I wanted it. I longed to reach it with every fiber of my being. I followed it unresistingly. The voice began to whisper my name over and over, like the sweetest of melodies. I couldn’t resist it. It was a girl’s voice, calling to me with excited giggles like