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Chapter 3

Author: Winter
The following afternoon, I sold several old records and the souvenirs Daniel had brought home from Europe. The shopkeeper counted the bills into my hand without asking why I was willing to part with them. I had once kept every gift as proof that Daniel thought of me while he was overseas. Now they were only objects I could turn into a train ticket and a university dormitory deposit.

Daniel was waiting in the living room when I returned. He placed sixty dollars on the table without mentioning the argument from the night before, then glanced at the suitcase beside the stairs.

I put the money into my purse. He seemed to expect some acknowledgment, but I closed the clasp and set the purse aside.

“Are you packing?”

“I’m only sorting through the things I no longer need.”

His gaze moved over the half-empty shelves before settling on me. “Clara will come to Washington with me first. The Army can only arrange one dependent travel pass for now. Her health is still poor, and I can’t leave her here alone.”

“All right.”

Daniel waited, as though he expected me to object. “You don’t mind?”

“No.”

In my first life, I had begged him to reconsider. He had accused me of resenting Clara for being sick, and I had apologized even though the decision had broken my heart. This time, there was nothing left to argue about.

His expression tightened. “Eleanor, what is going on with you?”

“I’m fine.”

“You haven’t been yourself since you came back from the registrar’s office. You canceled the announcement cards, gave Clara your wedding dress, and now you don’t even want to discuss Washington. You used to care about all of this.”

I put my gloves into the desk drawer. “Once you leave, I plan to move into a women’s residence in town. It’s closer to work.”

Some of the tension left his face. He had found an explanation he could accept.

“You don’t need to move out. Stay here until I’m settled. I’ll come back for you in a few months.”

“We can discuss it then.”

He remained in front of me. “Are you hiding something?”

“No.”

Daniel did not look convinced, but he let the matter drop.

Before dinner, he suggested that we visit a photography studio the next day for our wedding portrait. Clara entered the room in time to hear him.

“Can I come too?” she asked.

“Of course,” Daniel replied. “We can take another picture together.”

Then he turned to me. “Would you mind?”

In my first life, I had refused. Daniel spent the rest of that evening comforting Clara, and we never took the portrait.

“I don’t mind.”

My answer seemed to trouble him more than an argument would have. He watched me throughout dinner, but each time our eyes met, I calmly returned my attention to my plate.

The next morning, Daniel had to knock several times on Clara’s bedroom door before she finally woke. A car was already waiting outside when he returned to the living room and took a small velvet box from his uniform pocket.

“I planned to give you this before the photographs.”

Inside rested a gold wedding band, which Daniel lifted from the box as he reached for my hand. Before he could slide it onto my finger, Clara hurried down the stairs.

“Is that the wedding ring?”

She took it from Daniel and slipped it onto her own finger.

“It fits.” She raised her hand toward me. “What do you think, Eleanor?”

The gold band fit her as though Daniel had bought it for her. My bare ring finger curled into my palm before I forced it to relax.

“It looks lovely.”

Clara smiled. “I’ll only wear it for a moment.”

“You can keep it.”

Her smile faded, and Daniel stared at me.

“That is our wedding ring,” he said.

“You can buy another one.”

“The dress can be replaced. A wedding ring isn’t something you hand away.” His voice sharpened. “What are you thinking?”

When the driver sounded the horn again outside, Clara began to pull off the ring, but it caught at her knuckle. Daniel stopped her before she forced it.

“Leave it for now. We’re making the driver wait, and a jeweler can remove it later.”

He picked up his coat and looked at me again.

“I’ll have another ring made for you. After the photographs, you and I are going to talk.”

Clara walked outside wearing the ring that had been meant for me.

Daniel did not immediately follow her. He remained in the living room, watching me as though my silence had finally become something he could no longer dismiss.
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  • This Time, He Married My Sister   Chapter 10

    The next morning, I packed my suitcase and returned my house key to Margaret.Along with the key, I gave her an envelope containing part of my savings.“You and Mr. Whitmore cared for Clara and me. I want you to have this.”Margaret pushed it back. “You’re still in school. You need this money more than we do.”“I kept enough for my expenses.”She held the envelope and finally understood that I did not intend to return.“Eleanor, this will always be your home.”“Thank you for giving me a place here.”I picked up my suitcase and walked toward the front door. Daniel stood beside the staircase, looking as though he had not slept.“I’ll take you to the station.”“I already called a taxi.”“Let me take you one last time.”A horn sounded outside. I said goodbye to Margaret and walked past Daniel, who let me leave without trying to stop me.When I reached the station, I learned that my reserved train had been canceled after heavy snow blocked part of the western route. Every seat on the later

  • This Time, He Married My Sister   Chapter 9

    After winter break began, Margaret called several times and asked me to come home for the holidays.She and Mr. Whitmore had cared for Clara and me after our parents died. After several days of consideration, I bought a ticket and returned.I heard Clara arguing with Daniel as soon as I entered the Whitmore house.“You promised to buy me a new coat for the officers’ dinner,” Clara said from beside the fireplace. “Now you’re saying you have no money.”“My salary paid the rent and your medical bills.”“You still have money to send letters to Eleanor.”Daniel’s face hardened when he answered, “Letters cost almost nothing.”“So you admit it.” Clara raised the hand wearing her wedding ring. “I’m your wife, and you spend every day trying to have our marriage annulled.”At Westbridge, she had cried and insisted that she never wanted to replace me. She seemed comfortable calling herself Mrs. Whitmore now.Margaret noticed me first and hurried across the room to take my suitcase.“Eleanor, than

  • This Time, He Married My Sister   Chapter 8

    After Daniel left with Clara, I turned my attention back to my studies.My economics courses required more statistics than I expected, so I joined the university mathematics society. Andrew Bennett organized the weekly meetings. He was a year ahead of me and had worked in naval communications during the war before returning to Westbridge.At my first meeting, I used the wrong formula on a probability problem. Andrew pulled a chair beside mine and turned my paper toward him.“Your calculations are fine. You started with the wrong formula.”He did not give me the answer. He worked through the problem with me until I found it myself.After that, we often sat at the same table during meetings. He lent me his notes and helped me locate reference books whenever we met in the library. Within a few weeks, talking to him became easy.Daniel’s letters began arriving at the dormitory during that time.In the first, he admitted that he should not have interfered with my enrollment. He asked me to

  • This Time, He Married My Sister   Chapter 7

    Daniel did not return to Washington immediately. For the next four days, he stayed at a hotel near the university and came to see me every morning. He offered to contact colleges in Washington and promised to pay my tuition.On the first morning, he waited outside the library with breakfast. On the second, he brought information from two colleges near his new posting. I returned both envelopes unopened. By the fourth afternoon, he had decided that reason would work better if it came from someone with authority.When I refused again, he went to the student affairs office.The dean had summoned me by the time I arrived for class. Daniel was already sitting across from her desk.“Captain Whitmore believes your wrist has not fully healed,” the dean said. “He has asked the university to place you on medical leave until next term.”He had described me as an injured woman who needed more time to recover and claimed that returning to Washington would place me under family supervision.I looked

  • This Time, He Married My Sister   Chapter 6

    After arriving at Westbridge, I moved into the women’s dormitory.My scholarship covered most of the tuition, and I found an evening job at the university library. I attended classes during the day and shelved returned books at night while my injured wrist slowly healed.I had once given up this opportunity for Daniel. When I finally sat in a classroom again, I discovered that I still remembered what I had learned. I had not fallen as far behind as I had feared.Twelve days later, the dormitory supervisor stopped me after class.“There’s an Army officer waiting downstairs. He’s been here for two hours.”Daniel stood beside a window in the lobby. His uniform was creased from the long journey. The moment he saw me, he crossed the room.“How is your wrist?”“Much better.”His eyes moved to the books in my arms. “You really enrolled here.”“Yes.”“Why didn’t you tell me?”“I told you I had made my own arrangements.”“You said you were moving into a women’s residence in town.”“If I had tol

  • This Time, He Married My Sister   Chapter 5

    Daniel did not come to the hospital the next morning.Near noon, his mother, Margaret, entered my room carrying a thermos of soup. After our parents died, she had cared for Clara and me for several years. Daniel had asked her to take me home after I was discharged.“He took Clara to the station early this morning,” Margaret said as she poured the soup. “It’s her first time in Washington, and I’m worried about how she’ll manage. Daniel will be busy with his transfer. He may not have enough time to look after her.”She realized how her words sounded and quickly added, “Once the housing is arranged, Daniel will send for you.”“Mrs. Whitmore, Daniel is already married.”She stared at me, then looked at my bare hand. “When did you have the ceremony?”“There was no ceremony.”I took the copy of the marriage permit from my purse and gave it to her.“I entered Clara’s name. The registrar stamped the permit, so she is now Daniel’s legal wife.”Margaret read the document several times. Her surpr

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