Love Lessons with the Duke

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  “Your parents are fortunate,” Helena said.

  “Indeed.” Chloe let out a long sigh. “I try not to envy them. I tell myself I should be glad I can do things a lot of married ladies can’t. My husband allows me many freedoms.” She studied the cup in her lap. “Love isn’t that important anyway, is it?”

  A knock on her drawing room door saved Helena from having to answer. “Come in,” she called out, standing up.

  The butler opened the door. “Mrs. Giles is here to see you, my lady.”

  Helena was ready to tell the butler to let the lady in, but Regina’s mother, Camilla, was already rushing into the room, her face lit up in excitement. Before Helena could say anything, she blurted out, “Regina had a boy!”

  “She did?” Chloe asked.

  Camilla nodded. “Just an hour ago. I already got a chance to hold him, and he looks just like my husband. I was hoping her baby would have his noble brow and chin.”

  Helena felt a light chuckle rise up in her throat as she watched the lady fidget in excitement. “If the baby has your husband’s brow and chin, whose nose does he have?”

  “Mine, I’m happy to say,” Camilla replied with a wide smile. “My husband, bless his soul, has a rather large nose. I prayed every day the poor child wouldn’t inherit it. And fortunately, he didn’t. He got mine instead. Never doubt the power of prayer.”

  Chloe laughed. “I don’t know if prayers should be used for things like that.”

  “Are you sure your grandson didn’t inherit Lord Davenport’s nose instead? He has a suitable one, too,” Helena teased, unable to help herself.

  “Considering my son-in-law and I share the same kind of nose, I suppose you could argue it, but I have no doubt it’s really mine.” Camilla clasped her hands. “I can’t believe it! She had a son. And on the first try. When she was born, I knew she’d do great things.”

  Chloe shot Helena an amused look.

  Giving one back to Chloe, Helena told Camilla, “I’m very happy for you.”

  “I knew you’d be, which is why I rushed right on over here after I got a chance to hold him,” Camilla replied. “I wanted you to be the first to know. But you’ll be sorry to hear neither Regina nor Toby will name the darling boy Reginal like I wanted. They decided on Samuel.”

  Helena noted the disappointment in the lady’s tone. “What’s wrong with Samuel?”

  “It’s such a common name. I took great care in naming Regina. That’s a royal name, you know. It’s meant for greatness. But Samuel? What kind of life will he have?”

  “He’ll be an earl.”

  “Well, that’s true. I’m sure in time, I’ll like the name enough. I just had my heart set on Reginal, that’s all.”

  “I know you did, but honestly, Samuel sounds better for a boy than Reginal, especially since his mother’s name is Regina.”

  Chloe put her hand over her mouth to hold back her chuckle, and Helena had to bite back the laughter that threatened to rise up in her throat. Poor Regina. Many times, her mother had been a source of contention to her, and this was no doubt an extra one. But Helena had no doubt Camilla would grow to love the name Samuel and forget all about Reginal.

  “I will tell Regina I forgive her for not giving her son a more noble name,” Camilla said then turned to leave.

  Surprised, Helena called out, “You’re not going to stay for some tea?”

  “Next time, I will,” Camilla said, glancing back at her. “I have many people to see. They’re all going to be excited.”

  “We’re glad everything went well with the birth and both mother and son are doing well.”

  Camilla gave her and Chloe a smile as she hurried out of the room.

  Chloe waited until the lady left the townhouse before she burst out laughing. “Oh my. I shouldn’t feel so sorry for myself. At least I don’t have a mother who’s hovering over me like poor Regina.”

  “Camilla means well, but yes, she can be trying.”

  “Regina’s husband loves her, doesn’t he?”

  “He does,” Helena said, sitting back down. “I could tell the two fancied each other but worried how things would be after I learned about the wager he made with Lord Pennella.”

  Chloe took another sip of her drink. “I wouldn’t mind a scandal if I knew my husband loved me. Perhaps this thing with you and Camden won’t be so bad. Maybe you two will fall in love.”

  Helena shifted on the settee, uncomfortable by the change in topic. It was easier to talk about Regina, or anyone else for that matter.

  “Are you worried he’ll run off to the country and leave you here all alone?” Chloe asked.

  “I don’t know what he’ll do,” Helena said. “He’s in a hurry to get married because his estate’s in trouble and the gentlemen his brother owed money to are insistent he pay them by the end of the month.”

  “Oh no.”

  “Oh yes.” Helena turned toward Chloe and poured more tea into her cup. “I warned him to select a lady he could see himself being happy with, but he didn’t listen to me.”

  “What makes you think he won’t be happy with you?”

  “Because,” Helena set the teapot down and picked up her cup, “it doesn’t work that way.”

  “Why not?”

  Helena purposely avoided eye contact with her friend. “Things work for ladies like Regina. There’s something about them gentlemen desire. I’m the kind of lady who only makes a good friend, not a lover.”

  “I know the feeling,” Chloe replied.

  “Oh, the situation with you and your husband isn’t the same. If he was here with you, he’d love you.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not. Unless he spends time with me, it’s impossible to know.” Chloe took a sip of her tea then glanced at Helena. “But you and Camden have spent time together. Considerable time, in fact. You said you were enjoying the lessons with him.”

  “Giving lessons is different from being a wife. When I’m giving lessons, I’m in a position of authority. It’s easy to establish the roles between us. But when I’m his wife, I…” She blinked back her tears. “I just don’t know how it’ll change things.”

  “They could change for the better.”

  Helena doubted it but was afraid to argue with her in case she started asking questions about her first husband. Finally, she settled for a weak, “It’s always a possibility.”

  “I hope so. One of us should be happily married.”

  Helena had no idea how to respond to that, but fortunately, she didn’t have to since another knock came at the door. Unaware the butler had closed the doors, she called out for him to enter.

  “Miss Jasper wishes to speak with you,” the butler said.

  “Let her in,” Helena allowed and placed her cup on the tray so she could rise to her feet.

  The butler left, and a few seconds later, Miss Jasper hurried into the room, tears in her puffy eyes. She dabbed them with her handkerchief then headed straight for Helena.

  “Oh dear,” Helena began and wrapped her arms around her. “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s horrible. Just horrible,” Miss Jasper whispered, her tears coming faster.

  “Did someone die?”

  “If only it was that good.”

  Helena had no idea what could be worse than death. She glanced over at Chloe, who slowly rose to her feet, a concerned expression on her face. “What is it?” Helena asked, keeping her tone soft in an effort to help soothe the younger lady.

  Miss Jasper shook her head and sobbed harder. For the longest time, she couldn’t speak. Her body trembled, and she leaned into Helena, taking full advantage of Helena’s strength. Helena couldn’t recall a time when she’d ever seen anyone so distraught.

  When Miss Jasper finally calmed down, Chloe came over to them and rubbed her back. “Is there anything we can do to help?”

  Stepping back from Helena, she wiped her cheeks with the handkerchief and shook her head. “I’m afraid not. My fate is sealed.” She sniffled and dabbed her eye
s again. “Lord Toplyn came at me from nowhere and kissed me, right in front of everyone.”

  “He did what?” Helena asked.

  “It’s horrible. Just horrible.” More tears sprang up in Miss Jasper’s eyes. “I didn’t even know he was going to do it. I only talked to him one time, and that was weeks ago. But last evening as I was leaving the ball, he came right up to me and kissed me. My brother was unable to stop him. And now I have to marry him instead of Lord Waxman. You know I love Lord Waxman, and he loves me.”

  “Yes, I know.” Helena put her arm around Miss Jasper’s shoulders. “I’m so very sorry.”

  “I don’t know how to explain this to him. He was going to propose next week. I didn’t say anything to you sooner because I wanted to come here with him and tell you. He wanted to meet with my father and get his approval before he officially asked for my hand.”

  “That was honorable of him.”

  “It was, wasn’t it? And that’s how he’s always been since I’ve met him. Honorable, kind, decent.” Sniffling, she added, “And now I’m stuck with Lord Toplyn.”

  Helena brought her back into her arms for a hug as Miss Jasper began to cry in earnest again. This was such a startling contrast to the news Camilla just brought. While Regina welcomed a baby into the world, surrounded by joy, Miss Jasper just had her happy ending whisked right out from under her. It wasn’t fair. Miss Jasper didn’t deserve this. But what could Helena do? She couldn’t get out of her own impending marriage, let alone help someone out of theirs.

  “Why must ladies’ fates be given to the hands of gentlemen?” Helena muttered.

  “That’s a good question,” Chloe commented.

  “If gentlemen didn’t act first and think later, they wouldn’t ruin everything,” Helena said.

  “I agree. Whether we like it or not, we’re left to their whims.”

  “Fleeting as those are.” Helena felt sorry for all three of them. Chloe had a husband who was a stranger. Miss Jasper was going to marry a gentleman who put his interests above everyone else’s. While she… She swallowed, willing herself to be strong for Miss Jasper’s sake. She wouldn’t cry. She’d been in shock yesterday. Yes, she’d been angry, too, but it was anger on Camden’s behalf.

  He was going to regret marrying her. When he realized she wasn’t the kind of lady gentlemen desired, he was going to wish he had taken his chances with Miss Beacham. Helena was stable. Good as a companion. A good listener. Someone who could be counted on when things went bad. But she wasn’t the kind of lady who could make a gentleman’s blood race with passion.

  “I tried to love you, Helena,” her first husband had told her after she found out about his mistress. “Really, I tried. But all I feel—all I can ever feel for you—is a deep and abiding friendship. I’m sorry.”

  A tear slid down Helena’s cheek, and she quickly brushed it away. She didn’t want to remember him. She swore up and down when he died that she’d never be vulnerable again. Foolishly, she’d given her heart away. But just because she made that mistake once, it didn’t mean she had to do it a second time.

  “Miss Jasper,” Helena whispered after the lady managed to calm down. Miss Jasper looked up at her, so Helena continued, “What’s your Christian name?”

  “Melissa.” She wiped the remaining tears from her cheeks. “Why?”

  “I think it’d be good if we supported each other,” Helena said. “We might not be able to do anything about the gentlemen we’re with, but we understand how difficult it is to be a lady in this society.” Helena glanced at Chloe. “This is Lady Hawkins. Her name is Chloe. She doesn’t even know her husband.”

  “Well,” Chloe began, “to be fair, I’d recognize him in a crowd and by his handwriting, but I haven’t had a conversation with him since our quick wedding.”

  “Her husband is in India, and no one knows when he’ll be back.”

  Melissa let out a long sigh. “I wish Lord Toplyn would be kind enough to do that for me, but I have a feeling he won’t.”

  “No,” Helena agreed. “It’s only when we do want them around that they insist on being somewhere else. I’m sorry, Melissa. There’s nothing you can do to get out of marrying Lord Toplyn. All Chloe and I can do is offer our support.”

  “Yes,” Chloe said, reaching for their hands and squeezing them. “We’re all in this together.”

  With a sympathetic smile, Helena beckoned the two to sit so they could continue bemoaning their fate.

  Chapter Twenty

  It was with a heavy heart Camden wrote the missives to his brother’s creditors. This should be a relief. Helena had the money he needed to cover everything. That’d been his sole mission when he came to London this Season. Now he would secure his mother’s and aunt’s safety. This should be the best day of his life. He was free from the impending sense of doom that’d been his constant companion for the past two years.

  Glancing at the missives in his hands, he let out a long sigh. He hadn’t been looking forward to condemning a poor lady into marriage. The most he had hoped for was that she would understand and accept his need to marry her, that perhaps they’d reach some kind of contentment with each other. But he didn’t think Helena would find such contentment with him. Not only was she not seeking a husband, but he’d tricked her into marriage. Those two things didn’t begin a promising future.

  His gaze went to the missives, each carefully addressed to the four gentlemen he would soon be paying. It was a hollow victory. He couldn’t recall a time when he felt emptier. Even those times his father would take his brother off to school, leaving him and his mother at the estate didn’t compare to this. And those times had hurt.

  It was wrong to trap Helena into marriage. But there was no one else he’d rather be with. He knew it was her as soon as Christopher asked him who he wanted to marry the evening he’d talked to Christopher at Lord Edon’s townhouse.

  “There are many ways you can create a scandal,” Christopher said, giving him a pointed look. “But the thing is, whoever you make the object of the scandal will be your wife. So the real question is, which lady do you want to marry?”

  Helena’s face came into his mind before Camden had time to consider anyone else. Camden gripped the book in his hand, shifting uncomfortably in the den.

  Edon let out a resigned sigh and sat in a chair. “You might as well sit, Ashbourne,” he told Camden. “My well-meaning friend is about to give you a lesson in how to do everything scandalous. Given his imagination, this is going to take awhile.”

  “He came to us for help,” Christopher told his friend. “We can’t turn our backs on him.”

  “Your motives aren’t so honorable,” Edon muttered, plopping his feet up on the ottoman in front of him. He took a sip of brandy and turned his gaze to Camden. “Christopher is the only one who bet you’ll get a wife by the end of the month. All the other gentlemen are siding with that fool Toplyn.”

  “You should take that as a compliment,” Christopher told Camden. “I’ve had unwavering confidence in you from the very beginning.”

  “But if I get a wife because of a scandal,” Camden began, “won’t that make the wager null and void?”

  “No. The exact terms are that you will either get married or you won’t,” Christopher said and patted a nearby chair for Camden to sit in.

  Camden slowly walked over to the chair. “But the wager between Lords Davenport and Pennella came to no effect when the scandal was exposed.”

  “That’s because she didn’t pick one of them first. Fortunately, there is no such loophole in the wager Toplyn made.” He patted the chair again. “Sit.”

  After Camden sat down, Christopher held out another glass of brandy to him, but Camden shook his head. There was no way he could drink anything, not even water, right now. He was in danger of losing the only friend he’d managed to gain since his brother’s suicide. Helena wasn’t going to like him if he went through with Christopher’s idea. In fact, she might never speak to him again. But he lov
ed her.

  He hadn’t dared admit such a thing to himself before, knowing he had to pick someone else. But as soon as Christopher asked him who he wanted to marry, he just knew. And now that he’d admitted it, there was no going back. He’d never be able to think of her the same way now that he was aware of his feelings for her.

  Christopher grabbed a glass of brandy and sat across from him, leaning back and smiling at him. “Scandals are easy, especially in London. Even the mere threat of a scandal can send some ladies rushing to the altar. But you want to do something in front of others. That way no one at White’s can deny it happened.”

  Camden couldn’t argue that logic. If the scandal happened in front of others, then Helena wouldn’t be able to deny it either. He swallowed the lump in his throat. “What do you suggest?”

  Christopher took a sip of brandy. “I’ll pose a few scenarios to you, and you pick the one you like best.”

  So far, so good. Camden nodded.

  “You could always be caught in a compromising position with her,” Christopher suggested after he took another sip of brandy.

  “Compromising position?” Camden asked.

  “Don’t you know what that is?”

  “Well…” How much of his inexperience did he really want Christopher and Edon to know? “Um,” his face warmed, “I never had to put a lady in a compromising position before.”

  To his relief, Christopher didn’t laugh. He only took another drink of brandy then set the glass on the table. “There are many things you could do. You could embrace her, kiss her, touch her in interesting places,” he winked, “or be caught lying down with her somewhere.”

  “Sometimes I thank God your wife isn’t my sister,” Edon told Christopher. “I can only imagine what you did to get Agatha to marry you.”

  “At least I kept my dalliances to one lady,” Christopher replied. Then, turning his attention back to Camden, he said, “Not that my wife would let me get more in than a few passionate kisses and touches before we married.”