Camellia Read Online Free PDF

girl he adored. And perhaps for that very reason, Jasmine treated him with offhanded disdain. She expected him to fall into every plan she conceived no matter his own desires or concerns. If he dared to cross her wishes, she would ban him from her presence. Eventually he would come back and ask her forgiveness, and the two of them would continue on as before. Camellia thought he would earn more respect from Jasmine if he refused to do her bidding from time to time. But that was apparently not to be.
    “I have not been able to convince Camellia she would do better to wait awhile before attending the school in New Orleans.” Lily’s voice brought her musings to a halt.
    She braced herself for her brother-in-law’s frown. Blake Matthews didn’t like anyone to contradict Lily … except himself, of course. In the first year of their marriage, Lily and her husband had spent a goodly amount of energy on arguments. But no matter what happened between the two of them, he was always eager to defend his wife against anyone who dared disagree with her.
    Camellia was determined to learn from her older sister’s example. Learn how
not
to act. When she married the man of her dreams, they wouldn’t argue. She would be a dutiful wife. One who always put his needs ahead of her own. That was the way to conduct a marriage, not butting heads with one’s spouse at every turn.
    “Camellia has good reasons for being adamant.” Aunt Dahlia punched her needle through the lacy handkerchief in her lap.
    “I don’t know, Dahlia.” Uncle Phillip’s long, manicured fingers worried at the cuff of his emerald-hued coat. “The Yankees seem determined to blockade the Gulf Coast and halt the flow of goods to and from Europe. They may well attack New Orleans to achieve their ends.”
    “I hadn’t considered that possibility.” Grandmother entered the discussion. Her voice carried a hint of a tremble, one that had become more noticeable in the months since Mississippi seceded from the Union.
    Camellia’s heart thudded, but she refused to let her consternation appear on her face. “If war does come to New Orleans, I’m sure our gallant soldiers will repulse them.” Realizing her hands were clenched together in her lap, she forced them to relax into a more ladylike posture.
    She’d had a lot of practice hiding her true feelings—ever since she had discovered that the man captaining her sister’s steamboat was their father. Until that day she had thought he was dead, drowned in the same accident that took their mother. But he had survived. Faced with the prospect of raising three girls by himself, he had been forced to turn to his deceased wife’s family for help. They had in turn wrung from him a promise to disappear from their lives, a promise Camellia wished had never been broken.
    “I’m sure we could get to her before it came to a pitched battle.” Her father tossed a smile in her direction. “Few men know the river as well as we do.”
    Guilt speared Camellia at his words. Perhaps she should not be so judgmental about Papa. He could have his uses. Her gaze drifted down the red shirt he always wore and stopped at the old-fashioned, wide-brimmed hat in his lap. If only he would not dress in such a ridiculous manner.
    Jasmine pulled David onto the porch where the rest of them sat. Dropping his hand, she took a step forward, her violet eyes swirling with excitement. “I know. I could go with her.”
    Lily’s gasp mingled with Blake’s chuckle. “I don’t see how that would keep Camellia safe.”
    Jasmine flung her ebony hair over her shoulder with a melodramatic sigh. “I was only trying to help.”
    Few things sounded worse to Camellia than the suggestion that her sister might accompany her to New Orleans. “Don’t be silly. You’re too young to attend a finishing school.”
    Aunt Dahlia and Uncle Phillip nodded while Grandmother and Papa exchanged a glance. Camellia sat up straighter in her rocker. Had she said something