Read Online Faithfully Yours by Jo Ann Ferguson - Free Book Online

Her words had stung him more than any of her other gibes.
    Instead of wondering what was amiss with him, Faith went to the front door. She did not want to explore why this man reacted the way he did. Getting too familiar with any British soldier would be foolhardy—doubly so with Sebastian, for she could not forget how his chaste touch created the most unchaste images in her head.
    When she reached for her cloak, which was hanging by the door, it was lifted off its hook. She stiffened as it was settled on her shoulders. She should not be exulting in the very anticipation of his touch when he might stumble on Tom Rooke and discover how she had been taking supplies to the rebels. Sebastian’s fingers did not linger on her shoulders, for he reached for his own cape. Tying her cloak around her neck, she watched as he drew gloves from beneath his cape. Their leather was smooth and the color of maple syrup.
    â€œI have no ulterior motive for offering to help find your sisters, if that is what you fear,” he said quietly as her brothers rushed past them and out the door, the family’s dogs racing after them, barking wildly. “Your father is my host, and it is my duty as his guest to help.”
    â€œAnd you always do your duty, don’t you?”
    His mouth tightened into a straight line. “Can’t you set aside your ludicrous hatred of soldiers long enough to let me be your ally in finding Nancy and Molly? I know you harbor much rancor toward the soldiers who have treated you coarsely and who slew your friend. She—”
    â€œ He . My best friend is—was a he.” She opened the door and flinched as the cold air struck her. “Wade Mertz, who lived on the farm bordering this one, was my best friend.”
    â€œMertz? The same name of the family your sisters were visiting?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œDid you plan to marry this man?”
    â€œNo.” She smiled sadly as she crossed the narrow porch beside him. “He was betrothed to Lillian Horner. Wade and I went fishing together and picked berries together. I was the one who suggested he start calling on Lillian.”
    â€œHe died in the battle by the Brandywine?”
    She closed her eyes. “I don’t want to talk about this any longer. I still cannot believe he is dead.”
    â€œI am sorry, Faith.” With his fingers gloved in the fine leather, he took her hand, and that spiral of beguiling warmth surged up her arm. “I shall say no more about it unless you wish to speak of this again.”
    How could she be thinking of Sebastian’s touch at the same time they were talking about Wade’s death? Everything she should hate was embodied in this man, yet she was drawn to his sense of honor and his easy smile and his incredible touch.
    â€œAll I want to think of now is finding my sisters,” Faith said sternly, both to herself and to him.
    Telling her to wait on the porch, Sebastian ran toward the barn. His shouts to his men rang sharply through the still night.
    Faith drew the edges of her cloak more tightly around her. She could not stay here and let the soldiers search wherever they wished. Would Nancy and Molly go into a tumbledown byre more than a mile beyond Mistress Mertz’s farm? That was unlikely, but so was it unlikely that the two girls would not be home in time for their meal.
    She followed Sebastian as far as the fence surrounding the barn. The hushed mooing from the shadows vanished beneath the clamor of Sebastian’s men’s boots on the hard ground as they poured out of the barn. Sebastian turned and held out his hand to her. Even in the twilight, she could see his men’s eyes widen, but she did not hesitate as she put her fingers in his.
    â€œCromwell’s youngest children are missing,” Sebastian said. “They were paying a call on a neighbor, and they have not returned. I have offered our assistance in finding them.” He paused as Emery and