her twin sister and hopefully help you, too. Nothing
will change except our lives will be doubly blessed,"
he said, smiling at me.
Was this where I got my blind optimism? I
wondered. Was he a dreamer, too?
"That is," he added after a moment, "if Ruby agrees to go along with it. I don't like asking anyone to lie," he told me, "but in this case, it's a good lie, a lie which will keep anyone from being hurt," he said,
shifting his eyes toward Daphne.
I thought a moment. I would have to pretend, at
least to Gisselle, that Grandmere Catherine had been
part of some kidnapping plot. That bothered me, but
then I thought Grandmere Catherine would want me
to do everything possible to stay here--far away from
Grandpere Jack.
"Yes," I said. "It's all right with me."
Daphne sighed deeply and then quickly
regained her composure.
"I'll have Nina arrange one of the guest rooms,"
she said.
"Oh, no. I want her to have the room that
adjoins Gisselle's. They will be sisters right from the
beginning," my father emphasized. Daphne nodded. "I'll have her prepare it right away. For tonight,
she can use some of Gisselle's night garments.
Fortunately," she said, smiling at me with some
warmth for the first time, "you and your sister look to
be about the same size." She gazed down at my feet.
"Your feet look fairly close as well, I see."
"You'll have to go on a shopping spree tomorrow though, darling. You know how possessive
Gisselle is with her clothes," my father warned. "She should be. A woman should take pride in
her wardrobe and not be like some college coed,
sharing her garments down to her very panties with