Lady In Disguise (The Langley Sisters) Read Free Page A

her leg is worse, we must find the money to get her to Scotland for treatment, and this is the only way we know how.” Seeking a diversion Livvy, found the miniature of her mother that sat on the small table beside her bed. The mirror image of Phoebe with her blond locks and pretty face, she could have done with her soothing presence now.
    “Thieving from people is the only course of action open to you?” Jenny demanded. “Have you written to your cousin again? The new Viscount Langley, explaining how dire your circumstances are now that he has withdrawn his assistance? Surely he has obligations to you all.”
    “I have written to him many times telling him of our struggle, yet he has not replied. We are out of options, Jenny, you must see that.” Frustration and fear made Livvy’s voice sharp.  
    “Jenny is only trying to protect us, Livvy. After all, this step we took was a dangerous one and goes against everything we’ve been raised to believe in.”
    Livvy closed her eyes as Phoebe spoke from behind her. “You think I don’t know that? That I haven’t spent days thinking about how our parents would feel if they knew? Believe me, it is only desperation forcing us along this path. I will not see Bella suffer because she does not have the proper care. And I will not have our name blackened, and therefore both yours and Bella’s chances of happiness hindered, because our cousin will not fulfil his obligations and support his family.”
    “And your happiness, Livvy?” Phoebe added.
    “We cannot even afford the most basic necessities at the moment and even if I could find work, it would only produce enough money to stave off disaster. Nothing further.” As the eldest in her family it was Livvy’s responsibility to secure her sisters’ future happiness, not her own. She had long since cast aside her dreams of handsome men and happy ever afters in favour of reality. “I have not been back to the village since Mr Bailey inquired when he could expect payment for the outstanding meat bills.”
    “Yes, that was a horrid moment,” Phoebe agreed. “Until then we had no idea that our cousin had stopped paying them.”
    “A Langley has always lived in the village of Twoaks and we will not be the first forced from it. Our parents were well respected and I will do nothing to change that.”
    “And yet if we were caught tonight, our name would be sullied beyond redemption,” Phoebe added. “And if we continue with this, we could be imprisoned.”
      “This was your idea, Phoebe, I just worked out the finer details,” Livvy reminded her sister.
    “I merely said ‘why don’t we steal the money we need to pay our debts’. How was I to know you would actually take my suggestion literally? Although in all honesty, it’s a good plan because who would believe genteel Lord Langley’s daughters capable of such a deed?”
    “Had Lord Langley cared more for his genteel daughters he would have ensured they were provided for before his death,” Livvy snapped.  
    “He was a good father, who loved us all very much, but he was not in his right mind towards the end,” Phoebe said softly. “Grief over mother’s death and the pain of his injury changed him; furthermore he did not know he was going to die.”  
    Yes he did , Livvy thought but kept it to herself. How their father died was a secret she would never share with her sisters.
    “I fear that you will be shot by someone.”
    “We will do this only a few times, Jenny,” Livvy soothed the housekeeper, hearing the fear in her voice. “Just until we have enough money for Bella’s treatments and some of the household bills. I have no wish to become infamous for the wrong reasons.” Livvy heard the door open and close behind her as she finished speaking and knew it was her youngest sister.
    “Does it hurt terribly, Livvy?”
    “You should be in your bed, Bella, this does not need to concern you.” Livvy wanted to shield her little sister from tonight’s