Capturing the Viscount's Heart

by Abby Ayles

  Visits from the Earl of Wismoth meant other visitors were sure to follow. It was an inevitability and, with it, hosting a great many parties would follow. That took planning, and the pair were already making arrangements. Her father never preoccupied himself with the trivialities of it all. He simply maximized on the ends.

  “Would you like to take a walk in the gardens after breakfast? Goring tells me the roses are particularly lovely at this time,” Elias whispered to her.

  “I would love that,” she answered.

  She was growing quite accustomed to his increased attention. It was like when she was a girl and there was nothing between them but their affections. However, this was different. The affection she felt was different. Helena wasn’t certain, but she felt sure Elias felt it too.

  “Afterward I have to go into town, to see Mr. Richard Panet. He has commissioned some new guns and wishes me to look at them. He also has a new pointer for me to look at.”

  “A dog?” Helena questioned. “There hasn’t been a dog here since I was fifteen and Chatsworth died.”

  He smiled. “I am home now. That must change.”

  Elias always had a fondness for dogs. Chatsworth, a majestic greyhound, had been in the family since before she had come to know them. His death was a bitter loss. Before him were the Dalmatians, Pepper and Rudley.

  “It would be good for you to have them. They will keep you busy with the hunt and entertain you once I am gone,” Helena said with some disappointment. The time for their return to Sutton Street was quickly approaching.

  Elias’s expression fell, as if the mention of their inevitable separation was unpleasant to him as well.

  “Perhaps,” he answered. “But there is plenty of time before you have to return to London. Perhaps my father will have cause to ask you and your family to stay a while longer. It has been a very long time since I have enjoyed your company, and a week seems hardly enough to renew our acquaintance as we ought.”

  Helena’s heart fluttered at the suggestion. “Father has business in town, but I know of no reason why Mother, Beatrice, and I could not stay a while longer.”

  He smiled. The corners of his thin lips curled upward, and dimples appeared on his cheeks. “It’s settled then. I will broach the subject with my father this evening.”

  A clatter at the far end of the table stole their attention. All eyes turned to find Helena’s father on his feet, a look of absolute horror marring his face. He looked pale, his eyes large and his mouth agape.

  “Father, what is it?” Beatrice asked as she stood beside him in concern.

  “It can’t be,” he murmured. “It simply can’t.”

  Her father’s distress was upsetting her. Helena got to her feet but, no sooner had she done so, that her father turned from the table, grabbed his chest, and collapsed to the floor, sending his dining chair flying in the opposite direction. Her mother screamed.

  “Father!” Helena cried.

  Elias was to him in an instant. Helena was right behind him, as were the rest of the table. Elias felt his neck and held his hand beneath his nose. “He’s breathing.”

  “Goring, fetch a physician!” the Earl called. His manservant ran from the room immediately, but Helena's eyes couldn’t leave her father.

  She dropped to her knees beside him, her hand felt his forehead. It was clammy to the touch.

  “Ambrose?” her mother called panicked. “Ambrose!”

  “Here, Mother,” Beatrice answered as she moved to comfort her distress.

  “Father,” Helena continued to call. She hoped he would open his eyes but he didn’t.

  “I think we should get him to his room,” Elias suggested.

  Helena looked at him with fear in her eyes. Her father was their entire world. Losing him would be a blow that she did not wish to imagine.

  “I will look after him,” Elias assured. He draped her father’s limp arm around his neck as the Earl took hold of the other. They hoisted her father up. He made no effort to assist them as they lifted him from the room.

  What had happened?

  Helena reached for the discarded newspaper and turned it over. There, in bold letters, was the news of the collapse of a prestigious Italian finance house. Her heart went cold and her hands trembled.

  “Helena, what is it?” Beatrice asked.

  She looked at her sister and her mother, who remained in her chair too upset to be of use to herself. They needed to get her to bed before she too collapsed.

  “Helena?” her sister insisted.

  “The investment,” she started. “It is reported that the company has gone bankrupt.”

  “Good Lord,” Beatrice answered. Her eyes turned to the door that their father had been taken through. “How much do you suppose?”

  “What investment?” their mother asked.

  Helena shook her head at Beatrice. She didn’t wish to speak about this further, especially with their mother in the state she was in.

  “Nothing, Mother. No need to trouble yourself,” her sister soothed.

  “Let’s go see after Father,” Helena suggested. She folded the paper and took it with her lest her mother sought to discover the news for herself. She had the first servant she met dispose of it.

  When they arrived at her father’s room, Elias had already had him in bed. He was still unresponsive and concern wore heavily on the face of the two men watching over him. They turned to them upon their entry.

  “How is he?” Helena asked as she rushed to her father’s side.

  “The same.” Elias turned to her mother. “Are you quite well?”

  “What has happened to him?” she asked as she walked across the room and sat on her husband’s side.

  “I do not know. It may have been a shock caused by whatever he read. It may even have been his heart. I cannot say.”

  “How long will the physician take to get here?” Helena asked.

  “He is not far off,” the Earl replied. “Twenty minutes, with a fast horse.”

  She nodded. It was better than expected. Lendenbarrow was a vast county, and the grounds around Balwell Manor alone quite extensive. It was some distance between one property and the next.

  It was clear the physician was not in possession of a fast horse. Two hours after he was summoned, he finally arrived. Dr. Burroughs was a tall, thin man with an equally thin moustache and large spectacles. Despite his somewhat amusing appearance and fondness for bright colors, he was the best physician to be found in the county.

  Helena did her best to comfort her mother. Beatrice did also, but she had not the constitution for the sick room. She was concerned for their father. It was clear by her expression, but she couldn’t face the possibilities of what his current state meant for them all. It would be on Helena’s shoulders to support them all emotionally until their father was strong enough.

  Dr. Burroughs emerged from the room with a stern look on his face. Helena immediately went to him. The Earl had been called away, but Elias had cancelled his appointment in order to stay with them. He was by her side a second later.

  “How is he, Doctor?”

  “He’s resting.”

  “What happened?” Elias asked.

  “Mr. Leeson has received quite a shock. One that was more than his heart could take. It has left him very weakened.”

  “What can I do?” Helena asked.

  “Rest is your father’s best medicine. Though I would suggest that he be kept away from any topic which may upset him. His heart may not be able to take it, and I’m afraid, the results could be fatal.”

  It felt as if icy fingers had coiled around her heart. Fatal? Helena took a deep breath as her mother whimpered behind her. She could hear Beatrice’s voice attempting to calm her.

  “I will take care of him,” Helena replied. “Thank you so much for coming, sir.”

  "I am available whenever you need. If Mr. Leeson's condition should worsen, or there is any sign of laboured breathing, please summon me immediately.”
>
  “We will do that, Doctor,” Elias answered. “Let me see you out.”

  Helena watched them go before turning to the door. She breathed deeply to calm herself. Her father was on the other side, weakened by the news of the collapse of his fortunes, the extent of which they were still unsure. She could not appear before him with an expression of fear or unease. She needed to be his strength. All of their strength.

  She turned the handle softly. She didn’t wish to wake him if he were still asleep. The room was large, with a magnificent four-poster bed at its center. A cedar dressing table stood at its right and a writing desk to the left. She could see the remnants of her father's papers scattered about.

  Rich crimson curtains lined either side of the bed, completely concealing her father in darkness. The drapes had been partially closed, further casting shadows across her father’s bed. Helena crossed the room and came to sit beside him. His eyes were closed. His breathing even. He was asleep.

  She took his hand in hers. His was cold. She rubbed the back of his knuckles gently, then pressed his fingers to her lips and blew upon them.

  “You’re cold, Father,” she said softly as she fluffed the blankets around him.

  Tears stung her eyes as she watched him. Her father was the man she admired most in life. The efforts he took for their comforts. The love and attention he had always shown them made him the best of men in her eyes. She had never considered losing him. Now, that was the reality that was foremost in her mind.

  “The doctor says you will be well with some rest,” she continued. “I could've told him that. You have never been a man to stay in his bed during illness. Illness always seems to avoid you, as if it knows that it cannot stop there, therefore, its efforts are wasted.”

  Thoughts plagued her as she sat quietly, watching. How much had he speculated? How great was the calamity to be faced once he woke? Fear tugged at her heart. What if it was significant? What if he could not take the truth of it?

  Do not think such things. He will be alright. He has to be.

  Helena tried to convince herself, but she was failing. In all her life, she had never seen her father discomposed. Today, he had surpassed the state into complete collapse.

  It must be significant.

  Mr. Winslow, the family’s solicitor, would have to be contacted as soon as possible. He would know best what was to be done. She would do so as soon as possible, but for the moment, her greatest comfort was at her father’s side.

  The door opened softly behind her. Helena looked over her shoulder to find Elias. He walked slowly toward her.

  “Your mother has taken to her bed,” he informed. “Your sister is seeing to her.”

  “Heaven help us.”

  He laid his hand upon her shoulder and squeezed gently. “I’m here.”

  Chapter 6

  The news of the collapse had spread rapidly. Elias was shocked by the number of people who had bought into Mr. Leeson’s prophecies for the rewards of the investment. Elias, thankfully, hadn’t been one of them, but a number of those of his association had.

  Due diligence was something that Elias was particular about. He’d received the report on the investment a few days after Thom’s enthusiastic promotion of it. Elias had taken his time to review the contents, and found more than one area that gave him pause.

  Something wasn’t quite right about the prospected returns and the type of investment. Returns correlated with risk, and the potential risk he saw in the investment didn’t equate to the return being quoted. The risks were high, but the returns were exceedingly so.

  “How is Ambrose?” Lord Wismoth asked as Elias walked into his study. The high spirits of the previous days had been entirely eclipsed by the turn of fortunes for the Leeson family. Mrs. Leeson was never seen downstairs. She remained cloistered in Beatrice’s room, while her eldest shared with Helena.

  “There’s been little change, Father. Helena watches over him day and night, but he has said little and moved less,” Elias informed as he lowered himself in the chair across from his father’s desk.

  “There must be something we can do. It pains me to see them so distressed and my friend so weakened by this unfortunate turn of events.”

  “I share your concern, Father, but what can we do? We do not yet know the extent of their loss, and until Mr. Leeson is strong enough, it is doubtful we shall.”

  They were painful words to utter, but they couldn’t be avoided. It was the truth that Helena and her family now had to face. The world as they knew it no longer stood, and the ground beneath them had given way. How far? Only time would tell.

  Their conversation was disturbed by a knock at the door. Mrs. Ruskin entered with a small smile on her face. “Mr. Wickle and his party are here. Should I see them in?”

  “Have them meet us in the billiard room,” Elias answered as he turned to her. “We shall be there shortly.”

  “Yes, my lord,” Mrs. Ruskin nodded her head and turned out of the room.

  “Have your friends said much about this affair?” Lord Wismoth asked.

  Elias sighed. “Not that it has reached my ears, but I expect today I will receive more than my share of it. Mr. Leeson took the money of many men of our shared acquaintance. We cannot avoid the subject.”

  “Let us see that we do not become the center of a war,” the Earl cautioned. “It is never a good place to be, standing in the middle of fighting parties, especially when allegiances lie on both ends.”

  Elias nodded. His father was right. The sheer number of those affected was more than could be measured, but so was the affection and connection they shared with the Leeson family these many years. It was an impossible position to be in, one that Elias loathed facing but had no choice in the matter.

  “There must be something we can do,” he insisted with some frustration.

  “We must handle the matter delicately. We certainly cannot divulge that the Leesons are still here.”

  “We would have a mob at our door if it was known,” Elias agreed.

  His father nodded. “Which is why I have asked the staff to remain silent about this matter, and to ensure that Helena and her family remained above stairs until our guests are gone.”

  Elias exhaled slowly as he stood. He smoothed the collar of his shirt. “Our friends await.”

  The Earl stood. “Let us not keep them.”

  The pair made their way to the billiard room in silence. When they arrived, they found Thom and his company already enjoying brandies and cigars.

  “We're sorry, my Lord Chatleton, but we've started without you,” Baron Glourich said the moment Elias entered. His casual manner altered the moment the Earl entered the room. He stood up straight and levelled his tone. “Your Lordship. I wasn't aware that we would have the privilege of your company this afternoon.”

  “I am sorry to intrude but I thought it remiss of me not to welcome you back to Balwell.”

  “No intrusion at all, my lord,” Thom replied. “It is your own, and it is us who were remiss in greeting you.”

  “Such formalities amongst friends can be overlooked,” the Earl replied. “Might I join you?”

  “You, my lord?” Thom queried. “I have never imagined you a man who played.”

  The Earl laughed. “In my youth, I was quite the player. Would you care to make a wager?”

  “Father,” Elias cautioned. “They will take advantage of you.”

  “See here, do you see the confidence my own son has in me,” he mused.

  Baron Glourich smiled. “I will take that wager, my lord.”

  “Can we get you a drink, Your Lordship?” Thom asked.

  “Just some water for me,” the Earl replied. “It is too early in the day for me.”

  Elias smiled to himself. It was amazing how his father's presence, even after so many years, still caused his friends to become boys. Suddenly the bold and brash conversation turned passive. Not for long, Elias was sure. It would take them a few drinks more and the right convers
ation to return to themselves and forget that the Earl was even present.

  His thought proved more accurate than he imagined, and much sooner than he’d anticipated, his friends were once again themselves.

  Laughter filled the room as Baron Glourich and his father engaged in their third round. Baron Glourich had been alleviated of two pounds thus far, and if the game continued on its present course, it would soon be three.