Simply Shameless (32 page)

Helene frowned. "Are you sure?" She turned to George. "Why didn't you tell me that you had visited Normandy?"

George shrugged. "I was there on diplomatic business, and I stopped off to visit a few potential schools for Amanda. It was complete chance that I happened to end up at the place where your children were at school."

Philip spoke from the open doorway, which he blocked with his body. "I've never been a big believer in coincidences or chance." He looked at Christian. "Do you still have that letter?"

Christian nodded and shoved his hand into his coat pocket. Helene scarcely breathed as he brought out a much folded and crumpled piece of parchment.

"I couldn't bring myself to throw it away. I tried but..."

"We understand." Philip nodded at Helene. "Take a look at it."

She reached out to take the letter with trembling fingers and recognized the handwriting in an instant.

"George, why did you write this?"

George flushed and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Damnation, Helene, you know why!"

"Because you wished my children to hate me?"

"Not at all! Because I love you, and I wanted to get your attention."

"By telling my children I'm a whore?"

"Helene, don't be silly; it's not like that. Recently I realized that the reason you wouldn't marry me was because of the pleasure house. I decided that if your children needed you, you might find someone else to run the place while you enjoyed some well-deserved time with them."

Helene sat down heavily in a chair by the fire. " You decided I needed to become a better mother and a less obsessed businesswoman."

"Exactly. I know how hard it was for you to give the children up all those years ago. I thought this might be a way to bring them back to you."

"By telling them about my 'real' life so that they would have no option but to try and find me and voice their disgust?"

George nodded. "I know it sounds ridiculous, but it worked, didn't it? You have all your children around you now."

Helene met his gaze. "And I certainly have my hands full trying to care for them, don't I?"

"Ataman"—Christian cast an anxious look at Helene—"I didn't know who sent the letter.

It was delivered to the school by hand."

"It's all right, Christian," Philip said from the doorway. "Your mother would never believe you conspired with George to deceive her." He smiled at the boy and then at Helene. "George is right about one thing. You are doing an excellent job of looking after your children, Helene. But perhaps it is time for them to withdraw from this discussion."

Christian looked as if he wanted to protest, but Marguerite took his hand and Lisette's and drew them toward the door.

"We'll be in the kitchen if you need us, Maman."

"Thank you, Marguerite."

Philip's dry intervention drew Helene's attention to his expression. He wasn't smiling anymore, and his attention was focused on George. God, what was he thinking? Could he believe what a fool she'd been? Philip shut the door behind the twins and leaned back against it.

"I don't think George is being quite honest with you, He-lene."

George's head snapped around. "And I don't think this is any of your business, Ross.

Helene understands, don't you? I did it for love."

Philip started to laugh. "If you believe that, you'll believe anything."

Helene tried to keep her voice calm. She didn't appreciate being talked over by two men.

"What are you trying to say, Philip?"

"If George truly loved you, he wouldn't have behaved like this. He sent your children a letter that not only revealed your address, but called you a whore. What kind of man does that to the woman he claims to love?"

George glared at Philip. "A man who has reached the end of his tether. A man who has waited patiently for the day when that woman decides to mend her ways and settle down."

"And you think Helene is stupid enough to believe that?"

George's face flushed. "Don't imagine that because she shares your bed, Helene will agree with you. She's told me many times that the men she fucks are as stupid as sheep."

"I'm not stupid, am I?" Philip turned to her.

"No, you are not," Helene snapped.

George scowled. "I have to agree with you, Helene. Ross

isn't stupid at all. In fact, he's already decided to sell his shares to me and get out of my way."

Helene stared at Philip. "Is this true?"

He shrugged. "I did visit my solicitor today."

Helene stood up. "Even if Philip did sell you his shares, I still own the remaining seventy percent of the business."

"But when you marry him, he'll have it all, won't he?"

Helene locked gazes with Philip. "I don't intend to marry him."

Philip smiled. "Have you told him that?"

Helene turned slowly to look at George. "Many times. Like you, I don't quite understand why he suddenly insists on marrying me now."

"I think I do," Philip murmured.

George sat down and buried his head in his hands. "Don't listen to him. Ross is like all the other fools in your life who have deserted and deceived you. For God's sake, he even fucks other men!"

"I don't care who he fucks. He is perfectly entitled to find out and enjoy what pleases him."

George lifted his head, his gaze pleading. "Helene ... we've been friends for eighteen years. You have to believe me. I love you, and I want you to marry me. I see that my methods might have been a little high-handed, but they have achieved their aim. You are now free to love me, and that's all I want."

"Apart from a controlling share in my business."

"That's not true. I'd never stop you from running this business as you see fit. I would only hope that with your family now around you, you would allow me to share the burden."

Philip started to laugh. "That's not what you suggested to me.

"Ross, if you don't shut up, I'm going to plant you a facer."

Philip shrugged. "I doubt it." He turned to Helene. "Do you remember that evening in the kitchen when we were going over the account books?"

"When Christian came in and interrupted us?"

"Yes, that one. Our conversation ended in an argument, and I failed to share my concerns with you about the books."

Helene grasped the back of the chair and held on tight. George remained in his seat, his head down as Philip continued.

"I first noticed the discrepancies when we decided to change wine merchants. I suspected the La Tour brothers were cheating you, but on further investigation, I realized that wasn't the case. The money was disappearing well before it reached the wine merchants'

pockets."

George stirred in his seat but said nothing.

"I began to notice other recent discrepancies. Extra payments from some of your clients, small amounts perhaps, but added together, they represent a tidy sum every month."

Helene nodded. "I'm not stupid, Philip. I noticed something was wrong, but with all the upheaval around here recently, I hadn't managed to discuss my concerns with the trustees or the bank."

Philip nodded at George. "I think George's sudden desire to marry you stems more from his fear of being exposed as a cheat and possibly a blackmailer than from any notion of love."

George shot to his feet and pointed a shaking finger at Philip. "I do love her, you bastard!

How dare you suggest otherwise!"

"I'm sure you do, but your notion of love is not quite mine or, I suspect, Helene's."

Helene ignored Philip and walked across to George. She touched his arm. "What is going on, George?"

His face crumpled at her soft tone. "God, you do understand, don't you?"

She squeezed his shoulder. "I will when you explain it to me."

He sighed, and the desperate sound shuddered through his entire body. "I have debts—gambling debts—that I have to pay."

Helene frowned. "I've never known you to be a gambler. You certainly don't play here."

George shook off her hand and started pacing again. "I've made some unwise investments over the years and used up all of my savings and my wife's inheritance. I needed the money to support my family."

"But why didn't you ask me for help?"

"Ask the woman I admire more than anyone else in the world to help me? Admit that I'd made a fool of myself and almost beggared my family? It seemed easier to take a little from the books."

Philip snorted. "Easier to steal from your friend than to ask for her help?"

George swung around. "You wouldn't understand. When have you ever wanted for anything?"

Philip's smile was bleak. "I've wanted many things in my life, some more than others."

His gaze met Helene's. "But I've also learned that you can't force someone to want you or to love you."

Helene stared back at him, unable to look away from the pain in his eyes.

George groaned. "Damnation, he's the father of your twins, isn't he? I never stood a chance of marrying you after he turned up, did I?"

Philip ignored George, his attention all on Helene. "What do you want to do with him?"

"With George?" She sighed. "I don't know. Perhaps I need to talk to the other trustees and see if they will help me resolve his financial difficulties."

George cleared his throat. "You intend to help me, despite everything I've done?"

"Of course. You are still my friend."

George dropped his head into his hands, and his shoulders started to shake. "I don't deserve this."

Helene knelt in front of him and patted his knee. He grabbed hold of her fingers and held them tight. "But you will. Once the worries over your debts and supporting your family are cleared up, everything will seem different." She glanced up at Philip. "Will you escort him home?"

"If that is what you want."

She nodded. "I doubt he'll do anything foolish, will you, George? His daughter, Amanda, needs him, and I suspect his wife does too."

George got slowly to his feet, his eyes bloodshot, his mouth a thin line. "I'll pay you back, Helene. I promise, even if it takes a lifetime."

"Don't worry about that now, George. Just go home and get some rest."

He nodded and turned obediently toward the door, where Judd awaited him. She hoped he would be all right. Despite his actions, it was hard to stop caring for a man who had been a constant in her life for so long.

Philip waited until George went past him and then turned back to Helene. "I'll see George home and return here as soon as I can."

Helene shrugged listlessly. "There is no need to come back."

"Dammit, Helene, why do you do this? Why do you constantly push me away?"

She felt the hot sting of tears on her face and tried to blink them away. "Because I am afraid of breaking down completely, afraid of you seeing me like that."

He took a hasty step toward her. "Why?"

She shook her head and reached out to steady herself with a hand on her desk. "Because I have to be strong. I have to be strong for everyone."

"Not for me. You can be anything you want for me. I'm quite capable of withstanding a few tears."

"And maybe that is what scares me the most."

He stopped moving. "That I'll use your weakness against you, that I'll overpower you and stop you from being strong?" His smile was bitter. "Helene, no one can do that to you but yourself. I don't want to own you."

"Then why did you offer to sell your shares to George?"

His expression darkened. "If you really think I would do that, we have nothing more to say to each other. There's no chance in hell that you'd ever trust me with your heart if you can't even trust me with your business." He bowed abruptly. "I'll be back tomorrow to say my good-byes to the staff. I'll try and keep out of your way."

Helene struggled to breathe, to frame the words that would set them both free of the tangle she'd created, but it was too late. Philip had already left.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Philip had been as good as his word. Helene hadn't seen him all day. He'd plotted his route around the pleasure house so as not to cross paths with her at all. She resisted the urge to go and find him yet again and returned to her desk. Another pile of correspondence littered the surface, demanding her attention. She might as well get on with it.

During her sleepless night, she'd realized she didn't believe Philip would sell his shares to George. He'd probably used them as a lure to get George to expose his true plans for her and the business. That would be much more like Philip than to plot behind her back.

But how on earth was she going to get him to believe her? He'd obviously decided she was incapable of trusting anyone. Her thoughts spiraled around in an unending loop. She didn't want him to leave. She wanted him to stay.

With a sigh, she opened the first letter and tried to read, but the words kept bouncing all over the page. When she did manage to read one, it made no sense. She found her spectacles and tried again.

"Maman. Can we speak to you?"

She lifted her head and found the twins at the door, their expressions serious.

"Of course. Is Marguerite all right?"

"She is sleeping," Lisette said. "And much calmer now."

"I'm glad to hear that. It will take her a long while to get over this terrible tragedy, and we will all have to help her."

Christian crossed his arms and slouched against the wall. "Are you going to send us back to France?"

"Not unless you wish to go back."

He glanced at Lisette. "We'd prefer to stay here . .. with you, I mean. We'd like to learn about the business."

Helene smiled for the first time that day. "You are both a little young to be involved in that, but in a few years you may certainly assist me if you still wish it." She pretended to rearrange the letters on her desk. "I'm hoping that you will spend the next few years completing your education and enjoying the delights of London. Mrs. Smith-Porterhouse has agreed to stay on as your chaperone for as long as you want, Lisette."

Lisette smiled happily at her mother and then at Christian. "See? I told you she'd be pleased we wanted to stay." Her expression sobered. "Mr. Ross told us about what happened with Lord George."