The Brigadier's Daughter. Catherine March

on her. A most peculiar noise erupted from her throat, and Georgia burst into tears, flounced from the bed and ran to her room, slamming the door shut behind her. Her sisters exclaimed, mortified at what they had done and making to rush after her, but Sasha firmly stopped them, pulling them both back.

      ‘Let her alone,’ she insisted, picking up the empty dish and placing it on a table. ‘Now, you two, off to bed. The sooner you go to sleep, the sooner the day will be here.’

      With little squeals of excitement Victoria and Philippa hurried away to their room, and with a sigh of relief Sasha closed her door. Then she tip-toed to Georgia’s door and knocked gently on it.

      ‘Georgie, are you all right?’

      ‘Go away!’

      ‘Shall I come in?’

      ‘No, just go away and leave me alone.’

      Sasha stood and listened for a few moments to the sounds of muffled weeping, then with a regretful little grimace she went to her own bed and climbed beneath the covers. She lay awake for a while, anxiously wondering if she should try again to go in to Georgia, or maybe it was best to leave her to some peace and privacy…

      When Sasha awoke next it was still dark, but a sound had disturbed her from the depths of her dreams. She opened her eyes and gazed about, her glance straying to the curtained window. There was no glimmer of daylight and there was still the heavy hush of night about the house. Yet her ears had been alerted to strange noises, and she listened, her breath tensely held—a bump, and a thump, and the low murmur of voices.

      Sasha sat up, swinging her bare feet out of bed, pausing, listening keenly. With a small intake of breath, as alarm bells rang, she jumped out of bed and ran to Georgia’s bedroom door, along the way seizing her heavy silver-backed hairbrush as a weapon. She flung the door open and was ready to strike the unknown assailant, her arm upraised, when a startled Georgia and Felix Westfaling turned to stare at her.

      ‘Oh, damn!’ exclaimed Felix, setting down two Moroccan leather portmanteaus on the floor and raising placating hands towards Sasha. ‘Now listen here, old girl…’

      Sasha noticed at once that Georgia was fully dressed; indeed, she was shrugging on her dark wool coat with the foxfur trim over her going-away outfit of sapphire silk.

      ‘What on earth!’ Sasha exclaimed, her eyes flitting between the frozen couple, who stared back at her with guilty, nervous eyes.

      Then Georgia came rushing towards her. ‘Oh, Sash, please, do be quiet! I beg you, do not give us away.’

      Sasha lowered her arm and stared at them. ‘What’s going on? Felix, how did you get in here? We thought you were in Scotland.’

      Felix shrugged, with a defensive frown. ‘I’ve been lurking in the back alley all day and bribed Farrell to let me in through the servants’ door in the mews. He took pity on us—the servants don’t miss a thing, believe you me. I came back when my mama wrote to tell me about Georgia getting married to that Bowen chap.’ He glanced at his beloved with a sheepish smile. ‘Only wish I’d come to my senses and got back sooner.’

      Her sister grasped both of her hands and gushed an explanation. ‘Felix and I are running away. We are going to Gretna Green to be married and then to Paris for a wonderful honeymoon! Papa gave me all my travelling papers last night, so I can go anywhere in the world that I want to!’

      ‘Oh, no, you’re not!’ exclaimed Sasha. ‘Have you gone completely mad, Georgia? You are getting married in the morning to Captain Bowen, it’s all arranged, everyone will be there, everyone expects—’

      ‘No!’ said Georgia vehemently, almost stamping her foot, her mouth set in a mulish line. ‘I don’t love Captain Bowen and I don’t want to marry him! I won’t! In a few days’ time I will be twenty-one and can do as I please.’

      ‘But—’

      Felix came towards them, his arm curling around Georgia’s waist. ‘Now listen here, Sash, old girl, you know I’m besotted with Georgia. Can’t bear to see her getting hitched to another chap, just not the right thing, not the right thing at all.’

      ‘But—’

      ‘Oh, Sasha, darling, please, please, I beg you, don’t say anything, just let us get away.’

      ‘But—’

      ‘Better get a move on, Georgie, before someone notices the hansom cab lurking in the mews and starts getting nosy,’ Felix urged.

      As the couple hastened to pick up their bags, Sasha suddenly ran to the door and blocked their path. ‘Georgia, no, I can’t let you do this! Have you thought this through? You know how impulsive you can be! Why, tomorrow the church will be full of people and Captain Bowen will be left standing there like a complete fool!’

      Georgia sighed, and then tugged the diamond engagement ring off her finger and pressed it into Sasha’s palm, firmly closing her fingers over it. ‘Tell him I’m sorry, but—but, well, just say I’m sorry.’

      ‘I’ll do no such thing! Tell him yourself!’

      ‘Come now, Sash, old girl, out of the way, we really must get going,’ Felix said, in a soft voice that held a thread of steel in its depths.

      Sasha looked at him in surprise, hardly believing that funloving Felix was capable of a serious thought for more than a blink of an eye. The cold hard contours of gold and diamond seemed to burn into her hand, and she asked, looking him directly in the eye, ‘Tell me, Felix, do you love Georgia?’

      ‘Yes,’ he answered, quietly, returning her gaze unwaveringly. ‘I do, very much, and I promise that I will look after her.’

      Sasha wavered then, as he turned to smile at Georgia, and she saw in that one glance how much they adored each other. How could she stand in the way of her sister’s happiness, when it was so obvious that this was what she truly wanted?

      ‘Are you sure, Georgia?’ she asked again, desperate to ascertain that this was no mere whim on her sister’s part and that she understood all the consequences, ‘Captain Bowen will be so hurt; he’s such a lovely man, so strong and kind and handsome.’

      ‘Oh?’ Felix bristled, with a disgruntled thrust of his lower lip.

      Georgia clicked her tongue in annoyance. ‘Oh, please do stop, Sash, it will do no good, I’ve made up my mind. Goodness, if you feel that way, why don’t you marry him?’

      With a sharp intake of breath, Georgia and Felix looked at each other, suddenly taken by the merits of an excellent plan.

      ‘Splendid idea!’ exclaimed Felix, dropping his voice as Georgia quickly hushed him, glancing nervously about. ‘Always thought the two of you made a fine-looking pair.’

      ‘Oh, do,’ Georgia gasped. ‘What a perfectly perfect solution. No one would be any wiser and once you are safely on board ship to Russia it will be far too late to do anything about it. And no one would think to be looking for us—’ Georgia glanced slyly at her sister ‘—and you have to admit, Sash, you are smitten with the man. And he’s probably smitten with you, but just doesn’t know it yet.’

      Sasha shook her head, wondering if she should laugh or cry, and quite speechless for words. Then, as her senses returned, she glared at Georgia and retorted, ‘Why, you really are the most selfish, conniving, manipulative little minx—’

      ‘Steady on, Sash!’ Felix objected, a frown marring his brow at this maligning of his much beloved.

      With her own brows sceptically arched, Sasha asked, ‘And how exactly am I to accomplish this feat? Marrying my sister’s bridegroom, that is? Do you think that Captain Bowen will be so overcome by the joys of his wedding day that he will not notice that his bride is slightly shorter than he remembered? And has dark hair instead of blonde? Brown eyes instead of blue?’

      ‘Oh, with that ridiculous Spanish lace veil he won’t be able to see a thing,’ scoffed