The Virtuous Woman by Gilbert Morris Page A

thought she had built up enough defenses to withstand anything, but now, besides the outrage at being rejected, she was surprised to feel a sense of shame. Something about the small man who lay quietly in the bunk below had disturbed her. She could not identify it, but she didn’t like the feel of it.
    He’s like all the rest of them, and I’ll prove it someday. She closed her eyes and lay stiffly until the rhythm of the train wheels put her to sleep. She slept fitfully, however, awakening several times and thinking about what had happened. She wasdetermined to prove that Mr. Francis Key wasn’t as holy as he thought he was.



CHAPTER NINE
    An Unwelcome Announcement
    Brian Winslow pulled his Studebaker up in front of his parents’ house, stopping with a vicious jolt, the wheels locking. He jumped out of the car, slammed the door hard, and took the steps up to the long porch three at a time. He jerked the door open and was met by his sister. “What’s this all about, Paige?” he demanded, snapping his fingers nervously and shifting his feet. “Dad wouldn’t tell me anything. Just that he wanted the whole family to come together for an important announcement.”
    “I don’t know what it’s about,” she said with exasperation. “Dad didn’t tell me any more than he told you—and I can’t get a thing out of Mother.”
    “Where are they?”
    “In the drawing room.”
    “Come on, then,” he said impatiently. “Let’s find out what this is all about. I canceled an important meeting at work because Dad said it was urgent.”
    The two made their way down the spacious hallway, turned down a corridor, then went in through a set of double doors. Brian practically burst into the room, where his father sat beside one of the mullioned windows. “What’s going on, Dad?”
    Phil glanced at Cara, who was sitting in one of the antique chairs. “Something has come up that the whole family needs to know about.”
    “Well, what is it?” Brian demanded.
    Cara got to her feet. “We’ll have to get Kevin here first.”
    “Oh, Mother,” Paige said, “if it’s business, you know Kev. He won’t care. He never does.” Paige was fond of her brother but had little respect for his abilities.
    “That’s right, Mom,” Brian said. “He doesn’t know what’s going on—and he doesn’t much care either.”
    Cara’s ordinarily gentle voice became surprisingly firm. “Your brother must be at this meeting. I’ll go get him.” She left the room, closing the double doors behind her. She walked down the long hall, passed through the spacious kitchen, and went out the back door. She followed a brick pathway around to the east side of the house, where she found her younger son digging industriously in a flower bed in the early April sunshine. He did not see her approach, and for a moment Cara paused, examining him. The left side of his face was toward her, and, as always when she saw the terrible scars that marked her son, Cara felt a pang of remorse. She could not help thinking back to what a handsome young man he had been before the accident. When he was fourteen years old, a worker on the estate had lit a cigarette and thoughtlessly tossed the match, accidentally igniting the can of gasoline Kevin was carrying.
    Kevin’s clothing had helped protect his body, but his face had received the full impact of the explosion. Cara thought of the long weeks of waiting at the hospital to see if he would live, and she knew she would never forget the sorrow and regret in Dr. Olson’s eyes when he said, “He’ll live, but he’s going to be terribly scarred, Cara. We’ll do the best we can, but there’s a great deal of damage.”
    Kevin turned and the right side of his face came into view, still handsome and unscarred. He was much like his father, tall and strong, with the handsome features of the Winslow men. From the right side he was as attractive as any matinee idol, but his left side was a disaster. The flesh had been