A Sibling's Interference

Chapter One

How was it that a person could be both fond of someone and yet detest them at the same time? As a child, I'd often thought of my younger sister as a pest. Adorable and entertaining at the best of times, but more often than not, she was a nuisance. How often had she tried to follow me about and I had tolerated her for a short time before sending her on her way?

As an adult, Phillipa had acquired the manners and sophistication of a lady. Sometimes she even behaved like one. Other times, however, all I could see was my little sister, angry that she didn't get her way.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" my younger sister demanded, pulling her gloves off. "I know travel can make a person dirty and tired, but you are staring as though I am some kind of apparition! It is very rude, and you should know better, Lucas!"

"I'm staring because you're supposed to be at Bywood Hall with our parents," I said, finding my voice. When I'd heard the knock at the door, I'd never expected to find my sister standing on the other side of it. "What are you doing here? How did you get here?"

She was doing her best not to look at me, twisting her head this way and that. "How does one get anywhere these days?" she asked, her tone dismissive. "You should really tell your housekeeper to clean and polish the wood in here. It looks so dull and dirty. I would be ashamed if my home looked like this."

The audacity! How dare she walk into my home and immediately start finding fault with everything? "I'm sure it is on Mrs. Wallace's list of things to do and she will handle the matter as soon as she can," I informed her tersely. "Mrs. Wallace doesn't need anyone, certainly not me, directing her every action. And don't think you can just avoid the question. How did you get here?"

Phillipa huffed, still not looking at me. "I traveled by mail coach, naturally. Why does it matter?"

"It matters because there is no 'naturally' about it. I know for a fact that our parents would never let you travel on the mail coach," I told her, unsure whether to be proud or concerned about her boldness. "Where is your maid? Did you run away from home?"
"I didn't run away from anywhere," she snapped back, giving me the briefest of glances.

"And I left my maid at home. It would have been impossible to travel with her and I didn't need her. You travel without a valet, don't you?"

"But it would have been safer for you to have someone with you," I felt obliged to point out. Couldn't she see the difference between us? Fair or not, as a gentleman, I had more freedom than a lady was usually granted. "Again, I cannot imagine either of our parents agreeing to such a scheme."

The truth dawned on me at that moment. "Do they have any idea of your whereabouts?" I demanded.

"Of course they do. I left a note when I left."

There were moments when I wanted to wring my younger sister's neck. How could she sound so...so nonchalant about the matter? "A note? Phillipa, did you sneak out of our parents' house? Why?"

Roughly, she tugged on the ribbons of her bonnet. "Good heavens, Luke, why must you sound so horrified? You cannot tell me you have never slipped out of the house without telling anyone what you were doing."

A few instances of doing just that flitted through my mind, but I pushed them away. It was hardly a fair comparison. "I didn't risk my safety by traveling in the mail coach. Certainly not to travel several hours away from home. What possessed you to do such a thing?"

"Fine. You might not have taken the mail coach, but you ran away to other countries when no one wanted you to go. So you cannot scold me for doing what I wished since you do it all the time."

If she had been hoping to get on my good side, she was failing miserably. "That's not the issue, Philippa. I didn't run away from home. My plans were well-known by everyone. You, on the other hand, apparently left without permission, and without telling anyone. That's the very definition of running away."