him to be hidden from the rest of you anymore."
The fragile hand gripping his had a strength Daniel never expected. He turned uncertainly to Peter. "I'm not sure this is a good idea. Your father doesn't claim me. He will throw Georgie's parents out of their house if he knows I'm here. I think you'd better think about this carefully before we do anything rash."
Peter's smile was almost malicious. "Heaven forbid that we should do anything rash, big brother. You might get saddled with this whole crazy house instead of me. But one thing I can tell you for certain, if the old man says one thing to insult our mother, I'll deck him myself. You'll have to wait your turn."
The frail hand tugged at his, and Daniel turned his attention back to the beautiful woman he was being told was the mother he'd never known. Chaotic emotions warred within him, and he struggled to control them as she spoke.
"There isn't one iota of truth to what Artemis claims!" she said indignantly. "It's true I was in love with another man before my parents agreed to his proposal, but I would never have done what he thinks I did. My father lost a great deal of money in land speculation. We would have been impoverished if I hadn't accepted Artemis's proposal. I am ashamed of myself now, but at the time, all I could think of was living without the servants and pretty frocks I was accustomed to. The man I loved was far from wealthy. I couldn't bring him any dowry. So I married Artemis, and I remained faithful to him, even though he swore otherwise. You may not have been the healthy son or image of him that he expected, but you are his child. He will simply have to accept that fact."
Before Daniel could find the words to reply, the bedroom door slammed open and the boy he now knew as John burst through. John looked slightly disheveled and smelled of horse sweat, but he brushed at his hair with his hands and straightened his shirt in his mother's presence. He glanced with curiosity at Daniel, but his attention reverted to Peter.
"You'd better get down to the store. Something's going on, and it doesn't look good. All the employees seem to be in the street outside, and I don't see any sign of Father."
A younger version of Peter strolled in at a more sedate pace, his green eyes veering to the room's various occupants and a frown similar to Peter's formed on his forehead. "You're that newspaper editor, aren't you?" He turned to Peter. "What's he doing in here?"
Edith was the one to answer. "Boys, I want you to meet your eldest brother, Daniel."
The silence that fell over the room was broken by the faint strains of a band playing "Yankee Doodle" in the distance.
Chapter 39
"Daniel is dead," Paul announced flatly, glaring at Daniel through eyes so like his father's and Peter's it was eerie. "I've seen the grave in the cemetery."
"You wish," Peter answered. "Undoubtedly, that was what Father wished, too. But Daniel had the obnoxious gall to survive."
Discomfort crawled over Daniel's skin, but the woman in the bed clung to his hand like a lifeline. He had always wondered what his family was like. He wasn't certain he wanted to find out all at once.
Twenty-year-old John stepped forward first, his eyes alight with curiosity, his message forgotten. He studied Daniel as if he were a foreign object to be catalogued. "You don't look like Father," he decided.
"He looks like my side of the family, just as you do." Edith gestured for her youngest son to come to her side. "I think he's been denied enough as it is. I want you all to make him feel welcome."
"When hell freezes over." Paul crossed his arms over his chest and glared.
With a lopsided grin John held out his hand. "Paul and I don't agree on anything. You're the one who won Georgie, aren't you? I am green with envy."
As if the sound of her name caused her to materialize, a familiar voice called from the stairway. "Yoo-hoo! No one answered the door, so we let ourselves in."
Daniel felt a wave of relief sweep over him. He had a dire need for Georgina's presence right now. Giving John's hand a brief shake and releasing himself from his mother's grip, he took a step toward the doorway.
Georgie was faster. And Evie. And Tyler. Daniel gaped as the trio swept