Free The Brigadier's Daughter by Catherine March Page B

hurt; he’s such a lovely man, so strong and kind and handsome.’
    â€˜Oh?’ Felix bristled, with a disgruntled thrust of his lower lip.
    Georgia clicked her tongue in annoyance. ‘Oh, please do stop, Sash, it will do no good, I’ve made up my mind. Goodness, if you feel that way, why don’t you marry him?’
    With a sharp intake of breath, Georgia and Felix looked at each other, suddenly taken by the merits of an excellent plan.
    â€˜Splendid idea!’ exclaimed Felix, dropping his voice as Georgia quickly hushed him, glancing nervously about. ‘Always thought the two of you made a fine-looking pair.’
    â€˜Oh, do,’ Georgia gasped. ‘What a perfectly perfect solution. No one would be any wiser and once you are safely on board ship to Russia it will be far too late to do anything about it. And no one would think to be looking for us—’ Georgia glanced slyly at her sister ‘—and you have to admit, Sash, you are smitten with the man. And he’s probably smitten with you, but just doesn’t know it yet.’
    Sasha shook her head, wondering if she should laugh or cry,and quite speechless for words. Then, as her senses returned, she glared at Georgia and retorted, ‘Why, you really are the most selfish, conniving, manipulative little minx—’
    â€˜Steady on, Sash!’ Felix objected, a frown marring his brow at this maligning of his much beloved.
    With her own brows sceptically arched, Sasha asked, ‘And how exactly am I to accomplish this feat? Marrying my sister’s bridegroom, that is? Do you think that Captain Bowen will be so overcome by the joys of his wedding day that he will not notice that his bride is slightly shorter than he remembered? And has dark hair instead of blond? Brown eyes instead of blue?’
    â€˜Oh, with that ridiculous Spanish-lace veil he won’t be able to see a thing,’ scoffed Georgia. ‘And our feet are the same size, so you can borrow my shoes with the two-inch heels. I am sure he won’t notice.’
    â€˜Until it’s too late,’ interjected Felix.
    â€˜Far too late,’ Georgia agreed.
    â€˜And what about at the end of the marriage ceremony, when the vicar says you may kiss the bride?’ There was now a heavy note of sarcasm in Sasha’s voice, and she felt as though she had stumbled into one of her own dreams, for surely none of this could be real? ‘What do I do then?’
    â€˜Oh, I don’t know, pretend you have a cold or something!’
    â€˜And at the reception?’
    â€˜Overcome by nerves,’ suggested Felix. ‘Come along, Georgie, the train for Edinburgh leaves in an hour. We really must go.’
    Georgia suddenly embraced her sister, and kissed her on the cheek. ‘Goodbye, darling, and thank you.’
    â€˜For what?’
    â€˜For helping us.’
    â€˜I didn’t say that I would.’
    Georgia smiled, hugging Sasha one last time and smugly replied, ‘Oh, but you will, darling Sasha, I know you will.’
    And with that, Felix and Georgia departed. The door closed.She listened pensively to their muffled footfalls, until there was only silence, followed by the sudden clip-clop of a carriage passing in the street. Sasha ran light-footed to the window, thrust back the heavy brocade curtain and peered out, catching a mere glimpse of the hackney carriage bearing Felix and Georgia. It was cold by the window, and she drew back, pulling the curtain into place. With a shiver she hurried to her own room and climbed back into bed, pulling the covers high up around her ears and curling into a ball, her knees drawn up to her waist.
    For a while she could not think of anything at all, and stared blankly into the dark, the first glimmer of dawn just beginning to touch the window. Then she felt the small round object in the palm of her hand and opened it, staring at the diamond engagement ring Georgia had relinquished.
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