Loving the Enemy

Chapter 4

Philip felt Christopher's eyes on him but his brother didn't utter a word until the door was closed and the footsteps of Miss Kendall had receded. "Have you cast some sort of magic spell without me knowing  to incur the wrath of our hostess' daughter even before we set foot into the house?"

He shrugged, "I know not what you mean." He let his gaze wander around the room that'd been assigned to his brother so he wouldn't have to look at his brother's discerning eyes. "She was perfectly polite."

"Only on the surface." Christopher sat down in the chair by the window. "Underneath, she wanted to throttle you."

Philip knew his brother was right. Her stilted voice and stiff posture had grated on his nerves a little, but he didn't fault her. However, he didn't wish to share the reasons for it. "That is from your perspective. Be that as it may, you can be assured that we will be civil to one another during the time we're here."

"Oh, I don't need any reassurance, dear brother. It'd be more entertaining for me if you weren't." Christopher smirked which Philip returned with a scowl.

"No interferences, brother."

Christopher raised his arms as if to show that he had no tricks up his sleeve. "None whatsoever needed. I bet you that you can accomplish being anything but civil to her on your own accord. After all, that is what siblings do to one another, isn't it? If her mother treats you like her son, then wouldn't that make her almost a sister to you?"

That was precisely the reminder he needed for himself. One didn't lust after one's sister. And that was how he should view her. "Yes, exactly."

Christopher stroked his chin. "The last time I saw her must have been at Father's funeral four years ago. She has grown into quite the stunning young woman, I must say." He looked at Philip. "Don't you agree?"

He knew his brother was goading him and he struggled to not rise to the bait. "If you certainly think so, then it must be."

"So, you don't agree?"

"That I didn't say."

"So, it must mean you do."

Philip opened his mouth but there was no way out of this trap. He wisely closed it and lifted his shoulders. The smug smile Christopher gave him was galling. "What is it?"

"I knew I sense more than what you let on." His brother looked like the cat who got the cream. "Since you loathed to reveal the fact that you are partial to her physical appearance, it must indicate some physical desire on your part that you do not want to feel."

He knew he could hide nothing from his brother. "You read me like an open book."

"Is it because I said that it is because she is almost a sister to you? No." Christopher shook his head before the younger man could reply. "There is no actual blood relation between the two of you. That shouldn't be a deterrent." He lifted a booted leg to rest atop his other knee. "Could it be...the night terrors?"

Philip stilled on his perch by the desk. "What night terrors?"

"Come now, brother. We've already established you can hide no secrets from me." Christopher stood to walk over to where Philip was. "I have heard the shouts in the middle of the night when you stayed with me last month after you returned. How long have they been plaguing you?"

Philip stared at the floor, unsettled by the gentleness he heard in his brother's voice. It'd been a very long time since his brother had the chance to show him such kindness. "I-" A hot ball of emotion lodged itself in his throat and he'd to swallow a few times to get pass it. "It first started after Napoleon abdicated in 1814. It worsened after the battle at Waterloo."