Shackles of Honor Read Free

turned and, lifting her skirts to her ankles, hurried toward the house. Disappointment throbbed mercilessly in Cassidy’s bosom. Her first kiss was not at all as she had always imagined. She had expected to find herself near to a faint with ecstasy. Instead, she was relieved when it had ended. Disappointment had never before come so strongly to Cassidy. And now there was this mysterious dinner guest. What bend of fate awaited her in the dining hall?
    
    In dressing for dinner, Cassidy found herself primping far too long, striving all too hard for perfection in her appearance. Her hair was curled and piled perfectly on her head. A satin ecru ribbon wove itself among her locks. Long, perfectly arranged ringlets cascaded here and there down her back and over her shoulders as she tugged, dissatisfied, at the cream velvet that clung to the curve of her shoulder. Many times to many parties she’d worn velvets that were sewn to slip just off her shoulders. But this night, as she viewed herself in the glass , having donned her best gown, she was disconcerted at revealing so much of her skin. The dress was by no means inappropriately tailored, exposing only the tops of her shoulders and clavicle as it dipped into a modest V below her neck. Still, it unsettled her to see herself so mature - looking as she gazed into the glass.
    The thought of poor Marietta and her ancient, rotund husband flashed before her eyes. Suddenly, she did not want to look her age. But she straightened her posture and resolved to look her best just the same, for perhaps the famous physician downstairs would see how healthy she looked, rosy cheeks and all else considered, and change his diagnosis of her ghastly disease.
    “Are you quite ready, darling?” It was Ellis come to escort her down to dinner. “Or are you once again too preoccupied with that looking glass?”
    Cassidy opened the door to her chamber, glaring out at her brother as he stood before her in the hallway smiling, amused with his own wit. “You beast,” she scolded.
    “Well, whatever it is that I am…come along or we’ll be late.”
    Taking his arm, she mentioned, “I’ve not seen Mother since this morning. Or Father , for that matter.”
    “Well, while you were off gallivanting with your Gavin Clark, Father was locked in his study with a man whom I’ve never seen before, and Mother was pacing in her chamber like a caged lioness.”
    “What is this all about, Ellis? I’ve felt nervous…insecure somehow all the day long,” Cassidy confided. “Something is amiss. Don’t you feel it?”
    Ellis, in a rare moment of somber words, admitted, “Yes. I…I don’t understand their silence in the matter…Mother and Father, I mean. I…I’m unsettled myself.” Then, obviously having seen her need of his strength, he smiled and added, “But look at you! How could anything unpleasant happen on this night when you look as beautiful as a young bride , radiant and ready to be presented to her bridegroom!”
    “I love your flattery, Ellis, for I know that you give it sparingly and sincerely.” She paused at the threshold to the dining room, lifting herself on her toes , and placed an affectionate kiss on his cheek.
    “Let us sup then, sister.”
    He opened the dining hall doors, escorting her in to dine with their parents and the mysterious owner of the violent bay.
    Cassidy smiled warmly a moment, her attention arrested by her mother , already seated at the long table laden with rich foods.
    “Good evening, Mother,” she greeted.
    She looked up to where her father stood across the room next to their dinner guest , who turned away from the window and toward her and her brother only when her father exclaimed, “Ellis! Cassidy! At last.”
    Though it was her father who greeted them, it was the stranger who captured her gaze. He was indeed a stranger, a tall, dark-haired man, large in stature and astoundingly more attractive, even for his angry expression, than any man whom Cassidy