Loving Helen (21 page)

“You are most welcome,” Christopher said. The coach grew quiet. Though the hour was late, Samuel found he was not tired. Instead his mind churned with possibilities and the magnitude of their problem.

Crayton was not likely to go away. Suddenly the cause of reuniting Grace and Nicholas seemed insignificant. Samuel’s new worry — one he felt pressed to find a solution for immediately — was keeping Helen safe from Crayton and any other man who would ill use her.

“One thing good has come of this,” Samuel remarked sometime later, when they had reached the townhouse and were ascending the steps. “I understand your sister better now. She is far braver than I had realized.”

The country dance Helen had requested to attend in place of a city ball became a reality with the delivery of an invitation the week after they arrived home.

“Grace says Mrs. Ellis is the biggest gossip in the shire,” Helen told both Christopher and Samuel after her sister had gone to bed. “Even if the Sutherlands are not in attendance, they are sure to hear about it. We
must
go. It is the perfect opportunity to prove to Lord Sutherland that you are otherwise attached.”

Both men seemed surprised by her request.

“Are you sure you are feeling up to it?” Samuel asked, genuine concern in both his voice and eyes. He’d been treating her this way — as if she were some sort of fragile doll — since the incident at the theatre. And while Helen could not say she disliked his concern, she did find it somewhat annoying. If she’d learned anything that night, it was that she had been missing a great deal that life had to offer. Crayton’s appearance had frightened her, to be certain, but not so much that it overshadowed the beauty of the evening.

The music, the stage, the acting, and dancing — even the people in attendance — had all been mesmerizing. She hadn’t known where to look first, only that she must
not
look at Samuel, which had been all she wanted to do after he had begun to hold her hand.

“I am perfectly well, thank you. We are not in London. Sir Crayton has no idea we are here, and even if he did, Christopher has another hand which he may break on my behalf.”

Christopher flashed her a grin and growled good naturedly as he held up his bandaged fingers. “Any time, sister.”

“I believe that honor will be mine, if there is a next time,” Samuel said. “Had I known of Crayton’s past dealings with your family, I should have beat Christopher to the punch — or at the least joined him. Perhaps we could have finished Crayton off once and for all.”

“He will not so easily be done away with,” Helen predicted. She bit her lip as the old worry resurfaced. “But we shall deal with him later. We must focus on the matter at hand. Grace intends to leave tomorrow.”

“Harrison, Miranda, and I are going with her,” Christopher confirmed. “We’ll see her safely settled while you two see to turning Nicholas’s heart around.”

“I don’t see how we can if Grace is gone,” Samuel said.

Helen searched for any sign of melancholy from Samuel over Grace’s imminent departure. “He will have to come to her.”

“He won’t,” Samuel said. “You don’t know how stubborn Nicholas is.”

“He only needs the right motivation,” Helen said, more determined than ever for their plan to work. “Don’t worry. This will all come together splendidly. Now, if you gentlemen will excuse me, I’m off to bed. If I’m to be up dancing half the night next week, I need my sleep.”

“Something has changed with her,” Samuel mused after Helen had gone upstairs.

“She feels a little confidence I’d say, thanks to you.” Christopher stood and stretched. “I’m off to bed too. This hand hurts like the deuce, so it takes a while for me to fall asleep. And I’ve got a seven-hour ride to face tomorrow.”

“About that — I’m sorry,” Samuel said. “A house for your family was not as easy to come by as I’d hoped. Grace was quite thorough in ruining her reputation.”

Christopher waved off his concern. “Don’t trouble yourself over it. I wish we were closer to Helen, but, God willing, we won’t be there too long.”

“God willing,” Samuel agreed.

Christopher paused in the doorway and looked back. “Take care of Helen for me.”

“I intend to,” Samuel promised.

“I know,” Christopher said. “I just needed to hear you say it.”

Samuel decided for certain that his new favorite color was red when Helen descended the stairs the evening of the Ellises’ ball. With the departure of her siblings and servants, he had insisted that Helen move her things to the main house. Knowing what he did of Crayton now, he did not wish her to be at the guest house without at least Harrison and Christopher present. Samuel had made his servants aware of the situation with Crayton, and all were on alert to watch out for him or any other stranger who ventured on his property.

Helen’s farewell to her siblings had not been as tear-filled as Samuel had expected, but then, for the past week, Helen had not been quite what he’d expected. How was it that the incident he’d feared would have made her more apprehensive had somehow freed her to move forward?

He’d never seen her happier — more radiant or talkative. And he’d never seen her lovelier than the moment she appeared on the stairs, in a white gown accented with intricate garnet beading and a crimson sash that fastened just above her small waist. Blonde curls fell perfectly around her face as she descended to meet him.

She paused on the bottom step, fingers toying with the rubies resting at the base of her slender neck. He swallowed, keenly aware of her presence as long-forgotten feelings of attraction stole over him. His gaze strayed from Helen’s curls, to her eyes, and then her lips, which were turned up in a smile. They looked invitingly soft and welcoming.

What am I thinking?
He reined his thoughts in abruptly, took her gloved hand, and kissed the back of it.
And that is to be all the kissing there is.
He mentally scolded himself. Helen was like a younger sister. He wanted to see her properly launched, free to choose her own path to happiness and whatever gentleman claimed her heart. He would do well not to damage that heart in the meantime; elsewise he might be no better than Crayton and whatever other lecherous men her father had subjected his daughters to.

He helped her with her wrap, and they stepped out into the snowy evening. With the day’s heavy snowfall, the carriage had been traded for a sleigh. Samuel wondered briefly how the others were getting on and if they’d been forced to stop their journey to make similar accommodations. He tried to muster some concern but couldn’t seem to keep his mind on Christopher and Grace, or even on Grace and Nicholas and their troubles. The woman sitting close beside him on the seat commanded all his attention, yet she hadn’t uttered a single word.

“I hope you’ll be warm enough,” Samuel said, placing the heavy robes over their laps. “It isn’t often we have an evening like this, and I thought you might like —”

“I love it,” Helen exclaimed. “The trees are simply gorgeous, and the moon is full. The night is stunning.”

As are you.
He kept his thoughts to himself, knowing as he did now what grief her beauty had brought her in the past. He valued Helen for much more than her appearance, and he wished her to realize that. “It is perfect, because I am in the best company.”

Her only response was a smile. Samuel nodded to the driver, and they were off, gliding down the snowy lane as the bells on the horses’ harnesses jingled merrily and the lanterns swayed in front of them.

Neither Samuel nor Helen spoke; there was no need to. The silence was comfortable, the night beautiful, with the tree branches silhouetted in white and delicate snowflakes falling around them in the silent, snowy wood.

They passed Sutherland Hall, which looked as foreboding as ever. Light shone from Nicholas’s study, and Samuel wondered if Nicholas spent his days — and nights — busy in work as an attempt to forget Grace. Samuel felt a moment’s pity for his neighbor and former brother-in-law, no matter that there was bad history between them.
I am doing what I can for Nicholas,
Samuel thought then promptly returned his attention to Helen. For the moment, all was right and magical in
his
world, and he wished to enjoy it.

Too soon they reached the Ellis residence. He lifted the blankets and climbed down, then held a hand out to Helen. She took it and did not let go even after reaching the ground.

“Are you ready for this?” Samuel asked.

“That depends,” she said. “Are you going to attempt a waltz with me in public?”

“Never,” he said. “At least not at the Ellises’. Mrs. Ellis is so proper as to not entertain anything scandalous. In fact, I am rather surprised she has invited me at all, as I have no …”

“Title. Yes, I believe you’ve mentioned that a few times,” Helen said, a smile in her voice. “Were you aware that I am also lacking in that department?”

“We had best get your sister to patch things up with Lord Sutherland, then, and soon, too,” Samuel said. “At least then you’d have some claim to nobility.”

She laughed. “That is
exactly
the reason we are doing this.”

“Helen.” He caught her arm, stopping her before she could begin the walk to the house. “You look beautiful tonight. I know that such words don’t please you, but—”

“It pleases me that
you
think so.” Her eyes darkened, and he glimpsed the serious side of her for a brief second. Just as quickly, the look was gone, and her earlier merriment returned. “You are not bad-looking yourself, for a man without a title.” She tossed her curls and walked ahead of him on the snowy path.

Is she flirting with me?
He hurried after her.

She left her wrap, and he his coat, with the butler and followed the line of guests into the ballroom. It was a bigger assembly than Samuel had expected, and he worried that Helen might be overwhelmed. She kept her hand on his arm even after they entered the ballroom, and he wasted no time asking her to dance.

“May I have the honor?” he asked, inclining his head toward the dance floor.

She merely smiled and allowed him to lead her to the center of the room and into formation for a quadrille. The last time he’d danced one had been just a few weeks ago, on Christmas Eve, when he’d partnered with Grace. It wasn’t a particularly enjoyable dance — Grace had been rather preoccupied, and Nicholas had looked wont to murder him.

Samuel hoped this dance tonight would be a vast improvement. He considered all that had happened since the last and felt somewhat uncomfortable in realizing that his feelings had changed so much. It was not that he didn’t care for Grace any longer — he always would — but the manner of his love had changed, had transformed to that of a friend … which told him the depth of his feelings had not been what he had proclaimed them to be.

Though they might have been.
He and Grace could have been happy together.

Just as Helen and I could be happy together
. He pushed the absurd thought aside. He had promised her brother that he would take care of her, and Samuel very much doubted that
taking care
included indulging in his own, developing feelings. Doing his best to keep that in mind, he bowed, and the dance began.