In Bed with a Rogue

by Samantha Grace

  Helena tried to settle and enjoy the singers, but her senses were overwhelmed with memories of Sebastian’s lips on hers. His hand caressing her breast. His mouth playing over her skin. He hadn’t asked to come to her town house tonight and she regretted not inviting him.

  Several moments later an usher appeared at the entrance to the box and summoned Lord Ellis. They spoke softly in the corridor, then the earl resumed his seat and whispered something to his wife. Since they both appeared unalarmed and returned to watching the performance, Helena soon forgot about it.

  Sixteen

  At intermission, Eve swiveled in her seat and frowned. “Where is Sebastian?”

  “He was called away on a matter,” Lord Ellis said. “Lady Ellis and I will be happy to see you and Lady Prestwick home.”

  Sebastian’s sister met Helena’s gaze and slowly shook her head. “I don’t understand what matter would call him away in the middle of the opera.”

  Helena shrugged as heat crept into her cheeks. Admitting he had left to do her bidding at a brothel had a bad ring to it.

  As the group made their way to the grand saloon to mingle during the break, the dowager duchess stopped to speak with an acquaintance, leaving Eve and Helena alone with Lord and Lady Ellis. Lady Ellis nudged her husband. “Tell us what happened today. And leave out no details.”

  His brow furrowed. “I thought you despised fighting. You said it is for heathens.”

  “It is, but I still want to hear about it.” Lady Ellis directed the next to Eve and Helena. “Anthony refused to say anything about the duel all day, except that Lord Thorne was the victor.”

  “And that is all you need to know, darling.” His blue eyes twinkled in the candlelight and radiated affection for his wife. “If you will excuse me, I will retrieve drinks for everyone.”

  “You will need help carrying the glasses,” Eve said. “Allow me.”

  Lady Ellis sighed as the earl and Eve walked away. “And to think I love that impossible man.” She turned her exotic, expressive eyes on Helena, and Helena tried not to fidget under her intense stare. “He likes you very much.”

  Helena started. “Lord Ellis?”

  The countess laughed and hot tingles invaded Helena’s body. Lady Ellis meant Sebastian. Helena’s mistake made her feel foolish.

  Lady Ellis’s merriment faded and her eyes shone with compassion. “Forgive me, Lady Prestwick. I didn’t mean to make you think I was laughing at you. It has been awhile since I’ve been a regular member of Society. I am hopelessly out of practice on how to converse with others. Either I laugh about my blunders or I might cry.”

  Helena’s heart went out to the young woman. “I find you charming, madam. No need to shed tears on my account.”

  “You are very kind. I see Sebastian has chosen well.” She leaned close, her sculpted brows lifted in question. “You will make him happy, won’t you? I wouldn’t like to see him suffer again. I feel so very bad for how things progressed between us. I should have refused his offer from the start.”

  The hot tingles turned into flames licking Helena’s face. She didn’t know what the lady meant by making him happy, but it implied they had a future together, which was improbable. Once Helena found her sisters, they would return to Scotland and need never come back to London again. It held too many bad memories for all of them.

  Besides, Sebastian’s interest was fleeting. His reputation for enjoying a lady’s company for a time and then turning his attentions elsewhere was often a topic of conversation with Olive.

  She smiled politely at Lady Ellis. It truly was none of the young woman’s concern, but Helena appreciated her directness. She decided to return the favor. “I’m certain I will make him happy for a time. Until he is ready to find his happiness elsewhere.”

  Lady Ellis frowned and shook her head. “I hate to contradict you, my lady, but I have it on good authority the baron is smitten with you.”

  “And what authority would that be?”

  “My husband spent most of the day with him. Lord Thorne spoke of nothing but you all afternoon. Anthony said he has never known the baron to wax poetic over any lady. Ever.” An impish grin appeared. “Which should make me very cross to hear, but I am pleased beyond measure that he has found someone to love.”

  “Love?” Helena practically squawked the word. What a fanciful imagination the countess had. Love indeed.

  Eve and Lord Ellis approached with glasses of lemonade, cutting off any further conversation with the countess. As Helena sipped her drink, she watched the earl and his wife together. The way he touched her elbow. How he smiled into her eyes. How he leaned into her when she spoke, as if he feared missing a single word. Everything he did was evidence of his love for her.

  Realization hit her like a lightning bolt, and the hairs stood up on the back of her neck. Sebastian behaved the same with her. But he couldn’t love her, could he?

  No. Now who was being fanciful? It was impossible he would form an attachment to her. They had known each other such a short time.

  Oh, why must everything become complicated?

  Her hands shook so badly she almost spilled her lemonade. Quickly, she drained her glass. “Please excuse me, I would like to visit the retiring room before the opera begins again.”

  Eve took the glass from her and placed hers and Helena’s on a footman’s tray. “Splendid suggestion. I believe I will join you.”

  She linked arms with Helena and led her away. Leaning her head toward Helena’s, Eve whispered, “You won’t believe what happened when Lord Ellis and I were retrieving refreshment. Lady Wiltshire deigned to speak with me. She has always looked at me as if I were a bug squished on the ballroom floor.”

  “That is wonderful.” Despite her words, Helena couldn’t feel Eve’s excitement. She was still reeling from the possibility Lady Ellis might be right. What if Sebastian did hold a tendre for her? This presented all types of trouble.

  Once she told him the truth about her background, he would put distance between them quickly. Why would he take a chance on damaging his reputation again now that it was beginning to recover?

  She hadn’t planned to ever tell him about her family. She would just disappear and that would be the end of it, but she couldn’t leave without a word if he had feelings for her. It would be too unkind.

  Oh, blast it all! Who was she fooling? She had feelings for him too, strong ones that made her half mad most days. She didn’t want to leave him, but what choice did she have? Once she found her sisters, they would need her and the security of Aldmist Fell. She couldn’t be selfish.

  Eve was chattering about an invitation to Almack’s, and how Sebastian had defended her honor earlier that day, as they entered the retiring room. Helena’s gut seized when she spotted Lady Lovelace at the dressing table applying lip rouge. Several other ladies formed a queue waiting for their turns for a peek in the looking glass.

  Lady Lovelace’s red lips twisted with a sneer. “What is this I hear of Lord Thorne’s ridiculous slapping duel with Mr. Hillary? I heard it was quite the spectacle, but I’m not surprised. I fear it’s true what everyone says. The baron is prone to madness just like his sire. The poor man.”

  Eve stiffened on Helena’s arm, and Helena drew her closer to her side. Sebastian would protect his sister if he were here, and since he wasn’t, it fell to Helena to be Eve’s champion.

  “You speak out of turn, madam,” Helena said. “The baron is perfectly sane.”

  The woman’s sneer became more pronounced. “Is that so, Lady Prestwick? How is it you come by this knowledge? Have you known many Bedlamites?”

  Helena lifted her chin, her stubbornness rearing its head. Lady Lovelace would not come out the victor in this altercation. “I know Lord Thorne is sane because he wants nothing to do with you. What better measure of sanity is there?”

  A few twitters traveled through the line of onlookers.

  “Lady Prestwick has a valid argument,” a voice from behind the folding screen p
iped up. Lady Norwick circled the screen and smiled sympathetically at Widow Lovelace. “You do have a tendency to chase off any gentlemen with their wits about them, Celeste.”

  Lady Lovelace’s blush matched her lip rouge. “Bianca, how could you?”

  The countess lifted her shoulders in a sheepish gesture. “I couldn’t very well allow you to disparage Miss Thorne’s brother, especially when you know you are in the wrong. Lord Thorne has been nothing but kind to you. Don’t be bitter because his interests lie elsewhere now.”

  The widow huffed and bolted from the chair. “I—we—I’ve never had anything to do with that man.” She stormed for the door and slammed through it, leaving several eyebrows raised in her direction.

  Lady Norwick smiled sweetly at the lady who had been waiting to use the looking glass. “It is your turn, Mary.”

  “Thank you, my lady. I thought I might be here all night.” As soon as Mary sat, gossip began to fly around the room, but this time it wasn’t about Sebastian or Eve. Lady Lovelace had made herself the center of attention.

  “I almost feel sorry for her,” Helena murmured.

  Lady Norwick scrunched her nose in distaste. “Don’t you dare. It is time Celeste had a taste of her own medicine. Perhaps she will think twice about spreading rumors about others now.”

  “I thought Lady Lovelace was your friend,” Eve said.

  Lady Norwick placed her arm around Eve’s shoulders as if the countess were a mother bird taking a hatchling under her wing. “True friends never talk behind your back, my dear. It pays to keep those people close, however, then you know what they are about.”

  Helena had mixed emotions as she watched Eve and Lady Norwick together. On the one hand, once Helena left Town she need not worry how Eve would fare with Lady Norwick at her side. But Helena also experienced a hollowness in her gut. She would miss Eve a great deal.

  And God help her, she would miss Sebastian even more.

  ***

  Sebastian was in the breakfast room perusing The Morning Times when Eve and Mother joined him the next morning. He hadn’t rushed off to the club with the newssheet before they came belowstairs like he usually did, because he expected the matter of his sister’s virtue had been settled now.

  There was an advertisement issuing an apology from Benjamin Hillary to Sebastian and his family. The scoundrel accepted responsibility for his “unconscionable actions” and proclaimed Eve blameless. The apology was late in coming, so Sebastian would have no mercy on him if Hillary should cross him again, but at least he could rest easier knowing his sister’s reputation had been cleared.

  Thankfully, there was nothing in the gossip column about their ridiculous duel. Sebastian supposed everyone knew about it already, since half the gentlemen of Mayfair had attended, and those who hadn’t witnessed it heard about it by the time he had arrived at his club. His name did appear in the gossip pages, but he wasn’t painted in a bad light for once. Apparently a jealous widow with a vicious tongue made quite a scene over him at the theatre the previous night. At first, he feared the rag was referencing Helena, but all descriptions of the widow pointed to it being Celeste.

  Eve paused at the head of the table, her mouth turned down in a puzzled frown. “What are you doing here?”

  “I live here,” he said with a raise of his eyebrow. “My name is on the deed, in case you’ve forgotten.”

  She stuck out her tongue, then bounded around the table to plop in the chair beside him.

  He leaned back as if affronted by her nearness. “There are five other chairs. Must you sit on my lap?”

  “I am not on your lap, but you are in my usual spot. Your name isn’t on this chair too, is it?”

  Mother clucked her tongue. “Now, children, no quarreling.” A bright smile accompanied her scolding. She moved slowly to the closest chair and lowered into it with a grimace.

  “Her rheumatoid is bothering her more in the mornings,” Eve confided in him. “She didn’t want me to tell you so you wouldn’t send for the doctor.”

  Mother narrowed her gaze at his sister. “Eve Lorraine Elizabeth Thorne, I told you not to trouble your brother.”

  Sebastian turned to the page with Hillary’s apology and slid the newssheet to his sister. “It is not troubling me to know about your ailments. I’ll send for Dr. Campbell this afternoon.”

  Mother harrumphed and settled her napkin in her lap. “He will only tell me to take a nip of brandy at bedtime. I don’t need his expertise, thank you.”

  “And have you followed his recommendation?” Sebastian asked.

  “Ladies do not partake of brandy.”

  Eve looked up from the newssheet with a sigh, but he couldn’t tell if it was a happy or sad sigh. “It is really over now, isn’t it?”

  “What is over?” Mother asked.

  He addressed her question rather than leaving it to Eve to explain and let it slip he’d been involved in a duel, however non-life-threatening it was. “Benjamin Hillary has issued an apology in today’s paper and proclaimed Eve blameless in their broken betrothal.” He held up a staying hand when he saw the panic on his mother’s face. “He didn’t useher name.”

  Mother wilted on the seat, her age suddenly showing in the lines of her face.

  He patted his sister’s shoulder. “It is over, and I expect you will have a wider selection of gentlemen from which to choose your husband. You could do much better than Sir Jonathan, so there is no need to make a hasty decision.”

  “I like Sir Jonathan. He’s interesting.” Eve flipped through the pages until she found the gossip section.

  He ruffled her hair. “Well, you may marry whomever you choose.”

  “Oh, look!” She sat up straighter. “There is something about the run-in with Lady Lovelace in here. She was abominably rude, but Helena defended you quite well. Then Lady Norwick took up our cause. But Helena was magnificent.” Her gaze darted to him before returning to the column. “You would do well not to cross the lady, Bastian.”

  “I haven’t crossed anyone.” He bent over his sister’s shoulder to read the piece again. “Helena was involved?”

  His mother cleared her throat, sending him a quelling look across the table.

  “Pardon me. Lady Prestwick, I mean.”

  Eve paid no attention to their mother’s censorious ear and continued to prattle. “You couldn’t very well expect her to hold her tongue when Lady Lovelace insulted you. The harridan said you were mad, just like Papa.”

  Mother gasped at the same time Sebastian winced. He hadn’t wanted either of them to know what others had been saying about him or to remind them of Father’s last years.

  Eve blinked her big brown eyes innocently. “Papa was not mad, and neither are you, Bastian. Helena quashed that rumor at once, so you needn’t worry about hearing it again.”

  He smiled affectionately at his younger sister. He didn’t believe the rumors would never surface again or that their father had been sane, but he was happy to support her fantasy. “I must thank Lady Prestwick when I see her next.” His heart sped at the reminder he would see her again soon.

  Eve tipped her head to the side. “What is that?”

  “What is what?”

  “That look. Your face got all soft and dreamy when you spoke of Helena.”

  “It did no such thing.” He scowled and picked up his toast.

  “She is correct,” Mother said quietly. “And you did use her Christian name a moment ago. Have you developed an attachment to her?”

  He shoveled a bite of eggs into his mouth, followed by a hunk of toast. He refused to be teased this morning. Yes, there was attraction, but an attachment? Hardly.

  Maybe he had gone a little soft at the thought of seeing her again, but another place was hard with anticipation. And that was lust. He’d experienced it enough times to recognize it for what it was, but it wouldn’t do to argue his position with the females in his family.

  But this is different. Sebastian shook his head slightly, trying
to dislodge the annoying thought from his mind. How was his association with Helena different? Because he wondered what churned behind her troubled eyes at times? Because he wanted to hold her and soothe her hurts when she mentioned her husband?

  The bloody bastard. Sebastian would like to drive his fist into Prestwick’s fat face, even though he didn’t know what the man had done to Helena, and it was ludicrous to want to fight a dead man.

  Fine. That part was different, but nothing else.

  “It’s odd,” Eve said, “but Helena had that same soft look on her face last night when she spoke of you.”

  His gaze snapped to his sister’s face to see if she was laughing at him, but she looked pensive, as if trying to puzzle out what she had seen on Helena’s face last night.

  It was called sexual contentment, but he didn’t want to discuss such things with his mother or sister.

  “I’m sure it was nothing, poppet. Eat your egg before it gets cold.”

  “No, it was something. Of that I am sure.” She drummed her fingers against her lip. “I hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but now I am thinking it’s possible she has formed an attachment to you too, Bastian.”

  A soft chuckle slipped from his lips followed by a heartier laugh.

  Eve drew back with a scowl. “I wasn’t making a jest, and I don’t see what is funny about love.”

  Laughter spilled from him again, earning a darker look from his sister. He stifled his humor. “You are right, of course. There is nothing funny about love. Forgive me.”

  But Helena? In love with him? That was laughable. Eve knew nothing about the goings-on between men and women, so he could understand how she would get attraction and affection confused. Not wishing to disillusion his sister, he returned to his breakfast. “If you don’t want your egg, I will eat it.” When he reached for her plate, she smacked his hand.

  “Your name is not on my plate either.”

  Seventeen