Taming Rafe

"May?" Felicity Harrington called, anxiety making her voice shake. "May, hurry please!"

Another tremendous gust of wind hit the house, rocking the building. Felicity held on to the banister, fearing the storm would push the house off its foundation and hoping the old place would hold steady until she and May made it safely down to the ground floor.

"Felicity, the rain's coming in my window!"

"I know, sweetling. But there's nothing we can do about it right now. Just bring your blankets and we'll sleep in the morning room. It'll be an adventure."

"All right!"

"Damnation, Nigel Harrington," Felicity muttered through clenched, chattering teeth, "you should be here."

It wasn't that her brother would have been of any use; he never had been before. There were times, like tonight, when she felt a thousand years older than her twenty-two-year-old twin. Though they both had their mother's black hair and dark eyes, as did May, all similarities ended there. Mother had used to say that Nigel had inherited Father's share of common sense, which was a kind way of saying that he had none at all.

Five weeks ago he'd dismissed Smythe, the last of their servants. True, the butler's absence would save them three pounds a month, but then Nigel had taken it into his head to go to London and win enough money to see their ancestral home repaired. Despite her protests, off he'd gone, taking their carriage, their last horse, and all their ready cash with him-all except what she'd been putting aside in case of emergency. But tonight looked more like a catastrophe.

Wind and torrents of rain battered the old walls, and the attic timbers groaned. Plaster dust fell in a damp cloud around her as thunder boomed again over Forton Hall.

"Felicity!" May screeched.

"I'm coming!" She could only guess what May, only eight and possessed of an excruciatingly vivid imagination, must be going through.

With a curse she heaved her bulky quilt over the railing and let it drop to the foyer floor. It knocked one of their last crystal vases off the hall table as it went, shattering the delicate glass. As Felicity hurried down the hallway toward May a window broke, and she shrieked at the sudden cold blast of wet wind that hit her. Shielding her face with one arm, she made her way into her sister's bedchamber.

Curtains flapping above her head and her dark hair blowing around her face like a mad halo, May was swiftly piling clothes, books, toys, and shoes onto the middle of a blanket. "Felicity, where is Polly?" she asked frantically, her brown eyes wide.

"She's downstairs in the morning room, still having tea with Mr. Bear. Here, let me help you with that."