Miss Sally's Unsuitable Soldier by Maggie Dallen (read e books online free TXT) 📕

whispered sweet nothings, and entirely too unaware of her own appeal.

She flirted without even knowing she was flirting. It was her nature to be effervescent and charming. But at the fort and in the town of Billingham she was safe. Everyone knew who she was and, more importantly, who her father was. No officer in his right mind would try and take liberties with a daughter of their revered captain.

But at Hampton Manor where everyone outranked a naval captain in status, wealth, and power…?

Well, they were entering into new territory. She had a sudden flash of a handsome face and a wickedly flirtatious smile.

New territory, indeed.

Perhaps Rebecca would be in her element.

Yes, undoubtedly she would. It was Sally who would not fit in. Unless she was in the sick room, of course, which was where she planned to stay.

She’d visited with Dr. Robert shortly after the earl’s unexpected visit and he’d confirmed, more or less, what the earl had already told them.

The physician, whom she’d known and revered since childhood, assured her that the most she would be tasked with was doling out the earl’s medicine and keeping an eye on his health. What the elderly gentleman needed her there for that was not clear, but the doctor suggested that it was for his peace of mind more than anything.

All that truly mattered was...she had to go. There was no refusing such a request, not even if she could have come up with an excuse in time.

It was with a heavy heart that Sally watched her sister’s ship set sail. She and her sisters and their father standing off on his own, watched as the large ship sailed off and disappeared into the horizon.

Abigail walked away first, heading quietly toward town. No doubt she’d be looking for her little army of waifs, or perhaps she was going to coddle Marcus’s friend Mr. Calhoun some more. The injury was as good as healed so Sally was no longer needed, but she suspected Abigail had her own reasons for seeking him out.

Rebecca and Hattie followed not long after. Even Rebecca was unusually quiet and glum as the two girls headed back up the shore toward home.

When it was just Sally and her father, he moved toward her and stood at her side. They stood there in silence until the sun started to sink in the sky. Only then did he turn to her with a sigh. “It won’t be the same without her, will it?”

Sally shook her head. She’d been thinking the same. Not surprising. She and her father were often of the same mind. His little soldier. He’d called her that as a child and it had stuck. A tomboy by nature, she’d always preferred her father’s pastimes than the ones she was supposed to be doing.

When it came to practicing embroidery or pugilism...well, the needle did not stand a chance.

Thanks to all this time spent together, she took one look at his weathered features and tensed. “What is it, Father?”

He looked to her but stayed silent. He knew better than to try and tell her it was nothing. Something was bothering him. What exactly was weighing on him remained to be seen. And why. And if there was anything she could do about it.

He turned back to the sea with a sigh. “It was something Roger said back in the caves.” He gave his head a shake. “It’s been vexing me.”

Ah, so that was it. She ought to have guessed. Roger had been Minerva’s suitor—or, he would have been if he had not turned out to be a smuggling knave. And, of course, if Minerva hadn’t gone and fallen in love with a pirate.

But that was neither here nor there. What mattered was that her father had gone silent once more. When it came to their father, no one knew better than Sally that it was useless to push.

Sally was like him like that, he always liked to remind her. Resolute, was the word he used for it.

Minerva called it stubborn.

When at last he turned back to her, his concern was far less mysterious. “You will look after Rebecca at the manor, won’t you?”

She smiled. “Of course, Father.”

“Rebecca is a darling girl but she tends to have her head in the clouds.” He frowned. “I worry that she’ll get...ideas.”

Sally laughed softly. “Rebecca has always had ideas.”

His huff of answering amusement was rueful. “This is true. But her fancies could not get her into trouble here at the old fort.”

“No, I suppose not.” Even surrounded as they were by young, eligible officers, the Jones girls had remained safe from any undue overtures or, as her father put it...ideas. No officer would dare take liberties with their commanding officer’s daughters, and while the officers were young and handsome, they were not out of bounds, as the young lords at the manor would be.

If Rebecca’s romantic notions got away from her at the manor, she could very well end up with a broken heart, at the very least. She dared not even think of what would happen if her reputation were tainted.

“I’ll watch out for her, Father,” Sally promised. It seemed she’d made that promise to every one of her sisters. Even Hattie, the youngest in age, had worried about Rebecca in such a situation as they were headed.

No one wanted to see their sweet, impractical sister lose her head or her heart.

But if there was one thing Sally could be counted on, it was to be practical.

Always.

“Father, while I am gone…” She pursed her lips as she struggled with what to say. Her chest seemed to tighten the further Minerva and her new husband sailed. Without Minerva acting as mother hen, they would all have to adjust. It was only now that Sally realized how much they’d relied on the eldest sister to look out for them all. Now it fell on their father...and her.

Abigail was maternal and was the one they all ran to for a listening ear or a shoulder