Loving Helen (27 page)

“It wasn’t a very pretty dress,” Beth said. “So I decided to make it better. Miss Helen says if there is something about ourselves that we do not like, we must work to improve it. Is that not right, Miss Helen?”

“Yes, but …” Helen covered her mouth, partly to keep from laughing and partly because she knew that no amount of explaining would fix this. Somehow, Grandfather’s advice had taken on a whole new meaning for the little girl.

“You should have listened to nanny when she told you to stay out of trouble,” Samuel said, both sounding and looking exasperated.

“I did,” Beth said. “I am not in mischief now, and nanny did not say
where
I must stay out of it.”

Helen turned away, but not fast enough. A burst of laughter surfaced, followed quickly by another.

“Now you see what you have done,” Samuel grumbled behind her. “Miss Helen was supposed to be having a delightful moment at sunset, but instead, she is overcome with hysterics.”

“It
is
a most delightful moment,” Helen assured him, turning to look at them once more.

“
Is
or
was
?” Samuel’s brows rose in question.

“Both,” Helen answered, meeting his gaze and feeling her heart soar.

“Altogether too short, if you ask me,” he complained, but Helen did not miss his smile.

“Come.” Shifting Beth’s weight to one side, he extended his arm. Helen stepped up beside him so that he had his arm around her shoulders.

“At least we will not cheat you of the sunset.” He turned them toward the west and the glorious pinks and oranges still painting the sky over the brilliant white landscape. “My favorite time of day,” Samuel said.

“More so than your morning walks?” Helen asked, then wished she had not.

Just because he may be starting to care for me does not mean I should ever ask him to cease loving Elizabeth.

He looked at her carefully. “Yes. More than my mornings in the garden. Especially tonight, as you are here.” He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze, and Helen leaned against him.

Together the three stood, basking in the sun’s last light and the possibilities of a future brighter than any Helen might have ever pretended.

Samuel followed Christopher into the study and closed the door behind him. Aware that he was wasting precious minutes that could be spent saying goodbye to Helen, he seated himself quickly and motioned for Christopher to do the same. “What is it that cannot wait until we meet again?”

Christopher withdrew a sheaf of papers from his coat pocket. “The solicitor we hired has had some success.” His tone, while not completely solemn, was at least more serious than usual.

Samuel leaned forward and took the packet. “It is as we feared?” The knot already formed in his stomach grew tighter. “Have you discovered that Crayton paid your father for the privilege of wedding Helen?”

“Whether or not marriage was the plan is questionable,” Christopher said. “But yes, money was exchanged in the bargain — £3500 to be exact.”

Samuel grimaced. It was worse than he’d thought. “And that in addition to whatever Nicholas was coerced into paying your father to compensate for Helen’s
unmarriageable
status.”

Christopher nodded. “No one ever said Father wasn’t sly.”

“I’ll have the funds withdrawn directly,” Samuel said, only too eager to pay Crayton and have the matter done with. “Have you an address where the man might be reached?”

“I do, but I wouldn’t suggest paying him — not yet, at least.”

“What do you mean?” Samuel leaned closer, intent on getting through to Helen’s brother the importance of removing this threat to her well being.

“As of yet, Crayton is unaware of Helen’s whereabouts. If he suddenly receives a bank draft from a Mr. Samuel Preston, where do you think that will lead him?” Christopher stared at him pointedly.

He brought up a good point, but it also seemed that if there was no longer money owed to Crayton, then Helen might at least be free of obligation there.
But possibly not free from threat.
Samuel recalled the possessive look in Crayton’s eyes that night at the theatre. “You don’t believe he wants the money, then?”

“Oh I’m sure he wants the money.” Christopher leaned back in his chair, a thoughtful expression upon his face. “But it would seem — at least from the dialogue our man was able to discover — that Crayton wants Helen more. That Father did not deliver his end of the bargain likely contributed to his untimely death. And now that there is now a price on my head —”

“
What
?” Samuel rose from his chair and walked over to stand before Christopher. “You are acting far too casual about this entire situation. Crayton is not only looking for Helen now, but for you as well?”

“And with intent to harm us both, no doubt.” Christopher continued to recline in his chair, as if this did not particularly bother him.

“Yet you do not think it prudent to pay the man off and be done with him?” As he had at times before, Samuel felt himself becoming irritated with Helen’s brother.

“Oh I think it prudent,” Christopher assured him. “But only
after
Helen is safe. When the law would be on her side and Crayton would have no legal right to touch her — because she is already married.”

The suggestion settled over Samuel, and he wondered that he had not seen it coming earlier. He glanced once more at Christopher before returning to his seat. “I daresay you have some of your father’s shrewdness about you. And I do not mean that as a compliment.”

“I don’t take it as one,” Christopher said, a smile on his face nonetheless. “But be that as it may, I have done my best to use any cleverness I am in possession of to guide my sisters to happy futures. Do you see that anyone has been harmed in the process?”

“No,” Samuel said, his tone surly. “Not yet, anyway.”

“Nor will they be. Grace shall soon be wed, and she and Lord Sutherland will be most happy together.” Christopher’s grin broadened, as if the prospect pleased him greatly. Turning his look directly upon Samuel, he said, “You must admit, after weeks of
pretending
to care for one another, that you and Helen make a fine match as well.” He rose suddenly, before Samuel had a chance to reply. “Hold off on your payment to Crayton until after the weddings. Then I shall deliver it myself, if you’d like.”

Weddings?
He thinks there are to be two?
“You’d be so foolish as to meet with him when the man would like to see you dead?” Samuel rolled his eyes at Christopher’s audacity. “You are both unwise and have assumed a great many things. Even
if
Helen is safely settled —”
If she were to agree to marry me —
“Crayton is not likely to forget the incident at the theatre.”

“I should hope not,” Christopher said, rubbing his hand absently. “It has taken me a rather long time to recover. I expect his face has suffered at least as much. It would be a good idea to keep tabs on him for some time yet, but it does appear that he sticks mostly to crimes the crown approves of, or at least chooses to ignore. Once married, Helen should be safe enough. And unless Crayton plans to chase me overseas, I think in a few months’ time I shall be free of him as well.”

“And where do you think to go?” Samuel asked, not surprised to hear that Christopher had adventurous plans.

“America.” He spoke the word almost reverently. “The land of opportunity. Where my father’s name will neither follow nor condemn me, and where I shall be able to make my own fortune and even purchase my own land.” His face lit with animation, and his fists clenched and unclenched at his sides, as if they were overly eager to get started working toward this vision.

“And do your sisters know of this grand scheme of yours?” Samuel well imagined what Helen and Grace might have to say about it.

Christopher shook his head. “Of course not. As with the situation with Crayton, timing is everything. I shall tell them both after they are happily wed and have little time for thought of me.”

“You grossly underestimate your sisters if you think they will give little thought to you sailing off to another continent.”

Christopher shrugged. “Nevertheless, I must — Crayton being just one of the many reasons. But I will talk to Helen and Grace when the time is right. I trust you and Lord Sutherland will help them to understand.”

“
If
I happen to be around when that time comes, I will do my best to aid your cause — so long as it does not overly contribute to Helen’s unhappiness. Her well-being must come first, you understand.”

“Just as your daughter’s welfare had to come first when we began our plot to reunite Lord Sutherland and Grace?” Christopher raised his brows knowingly.

“Yes.
Much
like that.” Samuel stood and faced him. “Why don’t you be more direct? What, exactly, do you expect me to do? All this speaking in circles is wasting valuable time which I might be spending with your sister.”

“You know what I want.” Christopher headed toward the door. “Lord Sutherland will be obtaining a license to marry within the week. Why not accompany him to fill out the paperwork and complete your own license at the same time?”

“I should like to be more certain of the lady’s favor before I take such a leap of faith.” Samuel scowled at the papers in his hand, then threw them on the desk behind him. He didn’t want a threat to Helen’s safety to be the cause for a rushed wedding.
Or a wedding at all.
He wanted Helen to marry him because she loved him.

Curse Crayton.
Samuel was tired of obstacles and misunderstandings and even the situation between Nicholas and Grace right now.
I just want to be with Helen. Can the rest of it not all go away?

Christopher reached the door and looked back. “You can be certain of Helen’s affection. Though if you have not figured that out after the kiss you shared yesterday …” He smirked.

“I think I shall be glad to see you go,” Samuel said, only half-jesting. “Can a man not have a bit of privacy —”

“Not when he is courting my sister,” Christopher replied, his tone serious. “But I promise you will not be wrong in declaring your feelings — just as surely as I know that it would not be safe for her to have banns posted anywhere. It wouldn’t do to alert Crayton of her whereabouts.”

“No,” Samuel agreed. “It would not.”
Has Helen, perhaps, confided in her brother her feelings for me?
His heart lightened. Today’s parting with Helen need not be a true parting. He
could
ask her to marry him when he next saw her again. He
would
. His mouth curved upward, and he gave a short laugh as he studied Christopher. “If I didn’t know better, I would say you have plotted this entire situation from the very beginning.”

“
Do
you know better?” Christopher asked as he pulled the door open. “After all, our grandfather charged me with finding my sisters good husbands. I have been aware of every man they have come in contact with since his passing — and even before. I knew who held the theatre box beside us long before you knew of the occupants of ours.”

“Truly?” Samuel said, bemused at Christopher’s boasting. “And what of Lord Sutherland? Did you know him as well?”

A sly grin spread across Christopher’s face. “Perhaps. Perhaps not. But I
was
known — in my youth — to have tampered with a carriage wheel a time or two.”

Helen stood at the sitting room window, staring pensively out through the pouring rain as Harrison and two other servants secured her trunk onto the back of the coach. Packing the last of her belongings and closing the lid this morning had seemed such an act of finality.
I am really leaving. Will I ever return?

Beth skipped into the room, spied Helen at the window, and rushed over, nearly knocking her over with one of her headlong, impulsive hugs. “Papa says you must go, but I don’t want you to.”

“I do not wish it either,” Helen said, patting Beth’s hair. “But my sister needs me.”

“
I
need you,” Beth cried, clinging even harder to Helen’s legs.

And I need you. And your father.
Helen pried Beth’s small fingers from her and knelt at the child’s height, where she might properly return the little girl’s affection. Gathering Beth in her arms, Helen held her close. “I love you, dear Beth.” Helen felt her heart would burst with it — or break if she was not allowed to maintain this relationship. She looked up through tear-filled eyes and discovered Samuel watching them.