Loving Protector Read Free Page A

brow. It was pointless
getting angry with Blanche, because one could never win the argument.
     “I am rather too old to attract
the attentions of a member of the aristocracy, dearest. But my friends are my
own affair.”
    “Father would not be very happy at how
far down we have fallen,” said Blanche.
    “Might I remind you, dearest that your
father was not a rich man and that all he did have was entailed away, leaving
us penniless.”
    “Father was part of the nobility. A
distant relative of the Duke of Devonshire.”
    “Hmm,” said Evelyn.
    “Is that true?” asked Calista, when
Blanche had stormed out of the room.
    Evelyn came and sat on the window seat
next to her. “Only by marriage and then very distantly. But Cedric rather liked
to play up the connection. He used to tell Blanche that she would one day marry
a Duke.”
    “I wish you would not let her speak to
you so unkindly,” said Calista.
    “It upsets you to hear anyone being
unkind, dear. I am sorry that our squabbles are spoiling your first full day in
London. Sadly Blanche treats me as her father did, even though she does not
know the reason.”
    “What do you mean?” Calista looked at
Evelyn sharply.
    “Nothing.” Evelyn looked suddenly very
sad. “She is right. I cannot seem Mr. Benedict again.”
    “Why ever not? If you like him and he
likes you.”
    “For your sake, dearest.”
    “Mine? I would not stop you if you
wanted to marry again.”
    “You do know, do you not, that your
father’s estate is only available to me for my lifetime or until I marry again?
Not that I am suggesting Mr. Benedict and I will ever marry. But if I did marry
anyone, I may not be able to take care of you. I would hope I would meet someone
who cares about you as I do, but husbands can be very strange about such
things. Taking on my daughter is one thing, but taking on my step-daughter is
not something I could guarantee.”
    “I would not hold you back, Evelyn.”
    “I know that. This is why you are so
dear to me.” Evelyn kissed Calista’s cheek. “Sometimes I wish…  Oh never
mind. I am sorry that Blanche treats you so cruelly.”
    “I can take care of myself.”
    “I know you can. But I can also see what
it costs you to have to stick up for yourself. When I first met you, you were a
bright, cheerful little thing. Now I see sadness in your eyes, especially when
Blanche and I argue.”
    “I am just not used to it. Mama and Papa
seldom argued. I suppose being an only child, I was also spared the problems of
sibling rivalry. I just wish Blanche did not hate me so much. When you came to
us, I was so happy that I had a sister at last and now…” Calista’s voice faded
away. She did not really like criticizing Blanche to her step-mother.
    When her widowed father had first announced
his intention to marry the widow of an old school friend, Calista, who was
fifteen at the time, had been delighted for him. She had known, of course, that
he had started visiting Midchester a lot after he had attended Mr. Kirkham’s
funeral, but it was a year before he brought Evelyn and Blanche to their home.
As Calista had told Evelyn, she had hoped she and Blanche would be proper
sisters, but Blanche had hated Calista, hated her father, and hated their home.
Blanche’s own father, as Evelyn had pointed out, had filled Blanche’s head full
of her own importance.
    Calista’s mother and father had also
nurtured her in a way that gave her confidence, but they had not pretended that
the family were anything other than they were; landed gentry and on the lower
end of the scale at that. Her father, who had a small annuity, had not earned
much as an architect. Her mother had been ill for a very long time and he was
reluctant to leave home, which was why most of his work was done in the
Derbyshire area. By the time he was able to work again, he told Calista,
“Younger men are coming up now, dearest, with newer, fresher ideas. No one
wants your old Papa.” She wished he could have