Chapter Two
Daisy frowned whenher sister Violet was shown into the parlor of their family’s home. Ever since Violet had married the earl last year, they’d hardly seen each other. As a countess, Violet now considered herself far above her humble beginnings.
“Why are you here?” Daisy asked as Violet seated herself across from her at the table where she was designing a flowerbed.
Violet sniffed, arranging herself in a matter that best showed off her expensive gown and jewelry. “That’s not a very warm welcome.”
Daisy sighed and met her sister’s gaze. “You never come just to chat, so forgive me for thinking there must be a reason.”
Studying the tray of pastries before her, Violet selected one and then bit her lip. “It’s Heath’s brother, Flynn. He’s come home from the war, and he’s acting very strangely around me. I think he thought that... perhaps we had an understanding. I’m afraid he’s going to tell Heath.”
“Flynn is here?” Daisy asked, dropping all pretense of disinterest. Excitement surged through her, followed by an equal amount of fear. “When did he arrive?”
Violet waved her hand impatiently. “Yesterday. Would you listen to me? I need some advice.”
“You’ve never listened to my advice before,” Daisy said absently, her heart thundering in her chest. She couldn’t believe Flynn had come home. She’d thought she’d have more time to dig herself out of the precarious mess she’d gotten herself into where Flynn was concerned. She’d thought she’d have time to tell him the truth.
“I don’t understand what’s wrong with him. He keeps looking at me like I broke his heart,” Violet continued, pouting prettily. “It’s not my fault if he read more into it than I intended. I only kissed him one time at the May Day celebration before he went off to war. I certainly didn’t know he’d fallen so hard for me.”
Daisy glared at her sister, hating how she always made everything about herself. “You told him you’d wait for him. You made him believe that you cared about him the way he cared about you.”
“How did you know that?” Violet demanded, then narrowed her eyes. “You were spying on me, weren’t you? You little sneak!”
Refusing to let Violet make her feel bad, Daisy pushed to her feet. “You knew how I felt about him! You knew he was the one man in all the world I cared about and you went after him anyway!” She’d had those words locked within her for years, and it felt incredibly good to finally let them out.
“He pursued me! I never wanted anything to do with him!” Violet claimed, though a guilty gleam in her eyes made Daisy certain that was a lie. “He never would have cared for you. You were only a child.”
With a deep breath, Daisy forced her emotions back into check and sat down. It did no good to fight with Violet; it never had. She would never admit that she’d done anything wrong. And if they kept shouting, one of their parents would hear, and they were bound to take Violet’s side. She’d always been the golden child, the one who was fussed over and spoiled. Daisy had always felt like an afterthought, the other, more difficult, less pleasant child.
“What do you think I can do to help you?” Daisy finally asked after a long pause had fallen between them. Despite her anger, she needed to know what was going on in her sister’s devious head. She couldn’t let her make things even more difficult.
Violet gave her the pleasant smile she reserved for when she’d gotten her way, which, unfortunately, was quite often. “Flynn’s taken up residence in the dower house. He refuses to even come to the manor for dinner. Can you go and talk to him? Tell him that’s there’s been a misunderstanding, that I never meant to hurt him? Make sure he doesn’t tell Heath?”
Though Daisy had no intention of once again being the one to render her sister’s apologies, Violet’s wishes actually coincided with her own. She wanted nothing in the world more than to talk to Flynn. She had so much to say to him, so much to explain...
“All right,” she said reluctantly. “I’ll go talk to him.”
