Dark Masquerade by Jennifer Blake Read Free Book Online Page A

her turn to him quickly.
    He sighed as if dissatisfied, and the suspicion flickered in her mind that he had been testing her reaction to that name. Then she dismissed the thought as a figment of her imagination. She had done nothing that she knew of to arouse his suspicion. The thought of the letters Felix might have written to his brother and his grandmother flitted across her mind. But the thought was banished when Bernard straightened in his chair as if about to speak. As she regarded him across the expanse of the heavy desk, Elizabeth thought she saw reservation lingering in his eyes. He waited a moment longer and then his dark brows lifted and he shrugged, a gesture that made him seem suddenly foreign.
    “Ellen Marie—forgive me if you dislike the use of your given name, but there is already a surfeit of Madames Delacroix in this house. What I must speak to you about may be distressing to you, but it is necessary. Before my brother left Oak Shade he made his will, one of the practical but still rather grandiose gestures young men going to war are apt to make. His marriage and the birth of his son nullify this will, of course, under our laws, and your son is now heir to my brother’s portion of this estate. Felix was no fool. He sent his instructions to me, and to our commission merchant in New Orleans. In the event of issue from his marriage I was to be appointed guardian to the child and director of his estate until the child reached the age of twenty-five. In addition, a small piece of property belonging to him situated on Bayou St. John was to be sold and the proceeds of the sale deposited with our commission merchant in your name. This money was to be yours to use for whatever you desired, a dress allowance if you wish. It was to give you a certain independence. It seems that Felix wanted you to feel secure. This has been done. The purchase price of twenty thousand dollars, less commission, has been deposited. You may draw on this account up to one thousand dollars at any one given time. Any sum over this amount will be subject to my approval.”
    Twenty thousand dollars. A wave of bitterness like pain swept over Elizabeth. She could not disguise her cold anger.
    “Do you mean this money has been on deposit since Felix was killed?”
    “Not that long, no. The legalities had to be observed, the sale took time to arrange and complete, and then more time for the money to change hands.”
    “How long?”
    “Since November of last year.”
    “Six long months—why wasn’t I informed?”
    Her voice was harsh as Elizabeth realized what the money might have meant to her sister: adequate food, comfort, decent medical care, a chance that she might have lived. More than that, the knowledge that Felix had loved her enough to see to her security before his death would have comforted her in her desperate grief for her young husband.
    If her distress, her regret, communicated itself to Bernard he did not show it. His voice was level, with a touch of scorn, as he answered her questions.
    “An invitation was extended to you to come here where you could be told as soon as the sale was completed. Believe me, we did not know of your situation until you informed us. No doubt you believe we should have made inquiries earlier into your welfare? You are right, we should have, but perhaps you will try to understand our position?
    “My brother Felix was officially betrothed to Celestine before he left for Texas. He bestowed on her the family betrothal ring and they were feted with the usual parties. It was an alliance of long standing between the two families, but Celestine was very young and disinclined to be left, a bride, so soon after the wedding, and so it was postponed until Felix returned from the fracas. He considered this jaunt to war in no more serious a light than a protracted hunting trip. We all did.”
    Bernard’s face looked drawn, and Elizabeth realized again as his hand clenched on the letter opener that his