Free New World, New Love by Rosalind Laker

soon fade from his mind. A man such as Daniel, who emanated power, wealth and virility, could have his choice of women anywhere. Faithfulness was not an attribute she could associate with him.
    Turning with effort, she went slowly into the apartment. Delphine, her face scarlet with temper, stood waiting for her.
    ‘I heard!’ she hissed accusingly. ‘You’ve sent him away! How could you?’
    ‘I don’t want to discuss it now or at any other time.’
    She looked so pale and intense that for once Delphine respected her wish, choking back all she had wanted to say. But she displayed her rage and disapproval by flouncing about as she undressed. Then she climbed into the wall-bed and turned her back on Louise without saying goodnight.
    Louise barely noticed, only thankful that her sister had not made more of a scene. In bed she found it impossible to sleep, her thoughts going back to her marriage. She had been so happy in those first blissful weeks after their wedding in the Royal Chapel at Versailles. Fernand had been a wonderful lover, awakening her senses to delights previously unknown and finding in her a loving, highly passionate woman. But after a while he tired of her. The man she had married so joyfully revealed himself as brutal and uncaring, only greedy for her money to settle his never-ending gaming debts; and gossip spoken maliciously in her hearing kept her informed about his latest mistress.
    In the early days of their marriage she would gladly have signed over her inheritance to him, but it had not become hers until she was twenty-one. By that time she had long since become wise enough not to make such a move, able to see that her fortune would run through his fingers like sand and eventually leave them both penniless. It was not that the money itself held any great importance for her, but she had responsibilities in the care of her sister, the upkeep of the Château de Montier and the family estate, with a great number of peasants dependant on her for their shelter and employment. She also foresaw that as a last source of funds Fernand would have had no hesitation in selling her beloved home, which was something she would never allow.
    She turned restlessly on the pillow. Now her home and her fortune had gone anyway. Her name and Delphine’s would be on a French list banning them and all other émigrés from their homeland for ever. All her efforts not to think too much about the past had failed in these sleepless hours, just because Daniel had stirred her sexually to a pitch that still tormented her in the darkness.

Five
    I t was almost dawn before Louise slept. When she woke later than usual she found her sister still in bed. Without any sign of the previous night’s animosity, Delphine complained that she was feeling ill.
    ‘Then stay in bed today,’ Louise advised, feeling the girl’s brow. It was not unduly hot, but it was so utterly unlike Delphine to claim sickness that Louise accepted that she was not well. ‘I’ll explain to Miss Sullivan and I’ll do some of your tasks during the midday break to ease the situation.’
    She left Delphine half-asleep with her pillows freshly smoothed and hurried off to work. All through the day she remained anxious about her sister and was thankful when it was time to go home again. She burst into the apartment, throwing her cloak aside, but stopped abruptly at the sight that met her.
    Delphine, her expression radiant, stood in the bedroom doorway, her hair arranged in a more adult style and wearing her blue silk gown.
    ‘You’re well again,’ Louise stated flatly, relieved but wary as she sank down on to a chair. ‘You’ve been up to something, I can tell. What is it?’
    Delphine flung herself down on her knees in front of Louise and caught hold of her hands. ‘I’ve so much to tell you! And I’m so sorry I pretended to be ill this morning, but it was the only way I could get some time on a weekday to myself. You must promise not to be cross with me,