For Your Arms Only by Linden, Caroline (best fiction books to read .TXT) 📗

she was at ease with. It broke Cressida’s heart to think of her generous, kindhearted sister spending the rest of her life alone. But as Callie grew more confident and easy, gentlemen noticed her. Mr. Davis, for certain, seemed enchanted. Granny would be so pleased.

She turned and caught sight of Tom, standing by himself just inside the door. He had excused himself after dinner, and she hadn’t seen him come back. He was so quiet and somber, and wore an odd expression as he gazed across the room. Cressida took a step toward him, thinking he must be looking for her, when she realized where his eyes were fixed.

Not on searching for her. On Callie, now laughing at something Mr. Davis had said.

Cressida sucked in her breath in dismay. Oh dear. Now she saw, with painful clarity, why Tom had sold his consuls to buy the fabric for the dresses she and Callie wore tonight. Tom was in love with her sister. And Callie, to judge from her pleasure at Mr. Davis’s attentions, either had no idea or didn’t return the feeling.

He caught her staring at him then. His face changed and he turned and slipped out of the room. Cressida murmured an excuse to Julia, seated beside her, and hurried after him, following all the way to the stables.

“Tom!”

He stopped, squared his shoulders, and turned. “Aye?”

“I wanted to thank you again,” she told him. “For the silk.”

He gave an embarrassed grin. “It was my pleasure, Cressida. And you look so lovely, too.”

“Thanks to you.” She couldn’t stop stroking the soft fabric that flowed over her body like a cool, bright stream of water. “Such a choice of colors! Callie’s dress is just perfect for her.”

His face softened even more. “Aye,” he murmured.

“How long have you been in love with her?” Cressida asked in the same matter-of-fact tone. For a moment Tom didn’t react, and then he just turned on his heel and walked away. Cressida went right after him. “I saw how you looked at her just now, and realized I was a fool not to have guessed earlier. Does she know?”

Tom’s face twisted but he made no effort to deny it. “Ah, blessed Lord, I don’t think so.”

“Why not?” He looked miserable, but Cressida pressed on. “Why have you not told her? What if she returns your feelings?”

He jerked so hard she thought he would fall to his knees. “She couldn’t. Feel the same, I mean. You won’t—I beg you—”

“I think you might be wrong,” she told him softly. “I think Callie cares for you very much. But after the way Mr. Phillips…well, after being married to him—”

“He was a coldhearted devil,” growled Tom. “I knew it from the moment I met him, but your father wanted—”

He stopped so suddenly Cressida blinked. Her father had approved the match, even though he hardly knew Julian Phillips, but then he had gone back to his regiment. In fact, none of them really knew Mr. Phillips before he offered for Callie, but he was a well-to-do local merchant, and very eligible for a soldier’s daughter. “What, Tom?”

He shrugged and turned away. “Nothing.”

Cressida picked up her skirts and ran after him as he walked off again. “What did you start to say? Tom!”

Tom stopped but didn’t face her. His hands clenched and unclenched at his sides. “Phillips offered him two hundred pounds for her hand,” he said, his voice echoing in the carriage bay. “The sergeant needed the money. And if—if she married Phillips, then she could never…” His voice quivered a moment. “Never marry someone like me.”

Cressida closed her eyes and exhaled, as if part of her spirit had deserted her. Oh, Papa…

“That’s what the sergeant didn’t want,” Tom added. “Not ever. Not even after Phillips got his rightful reward.”

“That’s why you stayed with us,” she whispered. Not for Papa’s sake; for Callie’s. “You’ve been in love with her for years. Oh, Tom…”

“I don’t want pity,” he said. “It’s not her fault. I tried to go, Cressida. I just…” His shoulders slumped. “I just can’t.”

She didn’t know what to do, or say, or even think. Her heart quailed from believing her father would so callously deny one man and reward another. Callie’s marriage to Mr. Phillips had been disastrous and wretched, but Cressida had always thought Papa acted in Callie’s interest, to find her a well-situated husband and a secure home. He had encouraged her to receive Mr. Phillips, pointed out how advantageous a match it would be, and given Phillips permission to marry Callie in barely a month’s time. Had he done that for money—and to deny Tom?

Traitorously, she suspected he had. She recalled all the times Papa had made sport of Tom, laughing at his steady temper and humble dreams. Papa’s dreams had never been humble, and nothing about him was steady. Tom had always absorbed it with a halfhearted smile or a shrug and never seemed much to mind it. But in denying him Callie’s hand, Papa had still succeeded in tying Tom—steadfast, devoted Tom—to their family for years.

“I’ve got to clean the tack,” Tom mumbled as she stood there, too aghast to say anything. “Need to make myself useful around this fancy house. Good night.” He disappeared into the back of the stable, leaving Cressida alone with the horrible knowledge that her father was not merely less noble than her grandmother had always claimed, but that he might in fact have been an utter fraud.

Chapter 19

Cressida took her time returning to the house. She couldn’t go back to the drawing room, where the rest of the company was chatting and laughing. She sat outside on a bench in the garden for a long while, trying to reconcile this new view of her father with her long-held affection for him. It was not easy to admit that the man she had always loved, if not revered, could have been so