The Good Sister: Part Two by London Saint James Page A

always only love you, Trinity.”
    “Will you tell me about Jacqueline? I know some of the story, but I thought your brother, Gavin, raped her, taking her virginity in the process.”
    “My brother did take her virginity, as well he raped her, almost killed her,” Ashton said with a harsh grimace.
    “But she was pregnant?”
    “Yes.”
    “I don’t…”
    “My dove, I shall start at the beginning.” I shook my head in agreement and watched Ashton’s face. “Jacqueline’s father, Gerard Rousseau, was employed by my father. Gerard was in charge of the stables here. My father dabbled in horses. He bred some chestnut bays and some Welsh ponies, but nothing too seriously. I guess you could say Jacqueline and I grew up together; however, after I turned ten I attended the private boarding school. I have already spoken to you about that.”
    “Yes. The one where you were almost expelled for smoking the headmaster’s cigars with your friend Thaddeus?”
    Ashton smiled tenderly. “Yes, my dove.”
    “So were you friends with Jacqueline growing up?”
    “If my father would have had his way, no, however my mother truly liked Jacqueline’s mother so we did spend time together, much to my father’s disapproval. I was two years older than Jacqueline, more interested in other pursuits like hunting, horses, and reading, not really interested in girls. The year I turned sixteen though, things changed. I had come home for the summer, and Thaddeus, who was to join me, could not.”
    “Why?” I asked.
    With a half smile Ashton said, “Thaddeus broke his arm in a riding accident so he spent the summer in England . That summer my family and I traveled to France ; we came here to this chateau.”
    “So Jacqueline was here that summer?”
    “Yes. Jacqueline had changed from the little girl to a young lady. I can still remember her long, flowing, golden hair—”
    “Golden hair? But her hair is raven.”
    Ashton tapped the tip of my nose. “Yes, her hair is raven, but she colors it. Her real color is close to yours, my dove.”
    “Oh.”
    “Jacqueline was beautiful, so I noticed her in the way a boy notices a girl,” Ashton said. “We did spend some time together. We went riding, we talked, we kissed, but we never did more than kiss. When my father found out I was spending time with her, he flew into a fury and threatened to cease her father’s employment if my relationship with Jacqueline did not cease. I could not allow her father to lose his employment, his family’s only source of income, so I stopped seeing her.”
    Ashton looked far away as he spoke. I reached up, touching his face. Ashton’s gaze fell to my face.
    “We wrote letters, which my brother Gavin passed between us. When my father discovered I was writing to her, I stopped. I had to. I could not allow her family to suffer due to my father’s blind way of thinking. Social status was important, so of course the daughter of a stable hand would not meet his qualifications. Gavin started consoling me, assuring me everything would be fine, but somewhere along the way Gavin started partaking in more illicit endeavors. Drugs became a god to him. Crack seemed to be his drug of choice, however just about any drug he could get his hands upon seemed to give him pleasure within the endeavor.”
    Ashton stopped talking for a moment. His face took on a harshness with the memory of the past.
    “It was the night of my seventeenth birthday. My father had been drinking so he excused himself from the festivities, retiring for the night. My brother had joined him in the drink, but did not call it a night. Jacqueline showed up. Mind you, she had come without an invitation. I told her she needed to leave, but never once did I explain myself, tell her why. I should have told her, explained myself, and my attempt to keep her father from losing his job, but I did not. She, not understanding, became extremely upset and started to cause a scene.”
    “ ‘Stop this,