The Widow and the Wastrel Read Free

arched in inquiry.
    "My daughter." Her chin lifted fractionally to a defiant angle.
    Again there was the cynical movement of his mouth that was supposed to resemble a smile. "Oh, yes," he nodded. "I remember Jerry left you with a child. Amy, that was my grandmother's name."
    "That was her namesake," Elizabeth admitted.
    "Mother must have liked that. Or was it her suggestion?"
    His mocking jibe struck home, but Elizabeth wouldn't acknowledge it. "Several names were discussed before Amy was born." She turned away abruptly. "Have you eaten? Would you like me to fix you a light lunch?"
    "Breakfast, please," he requested instead. "I haven't adjusted to the time zones yet. For me, it's tomorrow morning. Omelette and toast will be fine."
    He was picking up his duffle bag and striding with catlike smoothness for the stairway door. Elizabeth stared after the lean, masculine figure. After almost nine years she couldn't be blamed for not expecting to see her husband's brother again, or for practically forgetting his existence. In the last few years, his name had only been mentioned once that she could recall, and that had been when Rebecca, his mother, had wanted to notify him of his father's death. Just once.
    They had only received three cards from him that Elizabeth could remember, short little notes that had been postmarked in different foreign ports ranging from the Pacific Islands to South-east Asia. His name had almost been forbidden from the very first.
    Naturally when Elizabeth had first met Jeremy, she had been aware that he had a brother, younger by little more than a year. Jed was a wild one, the gossips had said, expelled from schools and colleges, ignoring every edict and principle of social behavior that his family stood for.
    Her only interest had been in Jeremy. The escapades of his brother were of little importance. If she had thought of him at all, it had only been a concern that she should approve of her as a future member of the family. She had always known in the back of her mind that if Jeremy's family didn't approve of her, there would be no marriage regardless of how much he had professed to love her.
    Unconscious of her actions, Elizabeth turned to the kitchen, caught up in the memories of the past, a trip backward that had already begun before Jed's sudden arrival. Now her thoughts focused on her single meeting with him.
    It had occurred only a day or two after Jeremy had proposed. She had met his parents once, briefly at a dance he had taken her to at the country club. After his proposal, she had been invited to dinner. Elizabeth had been afraid it was very significant that Jeremy had not yet given her an engagement ring.
    When they had arrived here at his house, she had been a bundle of nerves, terrified that she would do or say the wrong thing. Jeremy had offered little support, growing more silent with each step they had taken toward the door. His parents and Jed had been in the living room awaiting their arrival. The hostile atmosphere had almost smothered Elizabeth. She had been certain the silent animosity was directed at her. It was quite a while before she realized their censure was directed at Jed.
    Initially he had been silent, not the silence of disapproval, but of cynical amusement. Although he had never uttered a word to confirm it, Elizabeth had the distinct, feeling that his parents' approval or disapproval of the girl he wanted to marry would not have affected his decision and he found it amusing that Jeremy sought it so earnestly. At the time, Elizabeth had been angered that he couldn't understand the necessity for it.
    Except for an initial greeting and an odd comment at the dinner table, Jed had not addressed any conversation directly to her. Not that she had cared. In fact, she had been glad that he hadn't singled her out for attention in case his parents' anger rubbed off on to her. There had been an inner sensation that he knew she had silently taken the side against him and knew