by Abby Ayles
The matter was only exacerbated by her mother falling ill as well. The stress had begun to take its toll, and in the past two weeks, she had been unable to visit her father as she was confined to her bed.
“What do you think he will be like?” Beatrice asked as they walked down Market Street together.
“I can’t be sure,” Helena replied.
“But Mr. Winslow did say he was a reputable gentleman?” Beatrice continued to question. They were on their way to meet with the solicitor and his associate. They had hope that this associate, Mr. Garner, would be able to help them.
“He said he was exceptional with accounts and would look over the evidence against our father to find where any discrepancies may be. He believes he may be able to find something.”
“I hope so,” Beatrice answered. “Father cannot bear it much longer, nor can Mother.”
They walked together in silence. They had given up hiring carriages for short distances. Money was becoming more difficult and the bills had not decreased. Plus, there was the additional expense of the solicitor, and paying what they could to the physician to see both of their parents.
They were almost to Mr. Winslow’s office when she looked up to see a familiar face. Joy filled her heart as Elias’s brown eyes met hers.
They hadn’t seen each other since the day he and his father left Sutton Street on such a bitter note. She’d wondered how he was, and if he’d had any success in helping to prove her father’s innocence. They had tried to write, but one of his letters had been intercepted by her mother, which instantly sent her into a frenzy of emotion.
“Do not look,” Beatrice cautioned as he kept her head straight.
“It’s Elias,” Helena replied.
“And I said, do not look. You know what our Father has asked of us,” Beatrice challenged.
“But he may have some news.”
Beatrice stopped walking and turned to her. “Will you defy our father and our mother for news? What is more important to you, Helena? The Earl and Elias or your family?”
Did she have to choose?
Beatrice’s gaze remained unflinching upon her. Helena couldn’t hold her eyes.
“The fact that you take so long to answer is answer enough,” her sister replied.
“Beatrice,” Helena answered quickly. “This isn’t fair.”
“What is? That our father is in prison and may never return to us? Or that our mother has made herself so ill with worry that she can hardly leave her bed? Or that their children are disloyal to them at this time?”
“I’m not disloyal,” Helena protested.
“What do you think it would do to our father if he knew that you were still speaking to Elias? It would kill him. Is that what you want?” Beatrice chided through tears.
Her sister’s words were like a knife to her heart. How could she say such a thing? She knew how much Helena loved their family.
Elias was almost to them now. Helena wanted to speak, but she knew Beatrice was watching to see what she would do.
“We best hurry. Mr. Winslow will be waiting,” she finally replied.
Beatrice looked at her softly. “Thank you.”
The pair walked straight ahead. Helena wanted to turn, to look at Elias or smile, but she couldn't. She lowered her eyes when they passed, despite the fact that he sought hers out. She saw him stop out of the corner of her eye, but she didn’t falter, she continued on her way as if she had passed a stranger.
That afternoon they returned to their mother with news of the solicitor and his associate.
“He seemed quite amiable,” Beatrice stated as she handed their mother a cup of tea.
"And very knowledgeable about accounts," Helena agreed. "Mr. Winslow seems quite confident that he is the man to help.”
“Do you think your father would agree?” Mrs. Leeson asked weakly.
“I’m sure he would,” Beatrice answered. “He is just the sort of man father would seek out himself if he were here.”
Her words brought an uncomfortable silence to the room.
“He’ll be home in no time,” Helena interjected. “You’ll see. Once this Mr. Garner has a chance to look at the books, he will find what is needed and Father will be released.”
“How was town?” Mrs. Leeson asked.
Helena and Beatrice looked at each other. Neither wanted to tell her the truth, but to lie felt equally unnatural.
The news of their father’s incarceration had spread. People on the street whispered about them as they walked by. Some even dropped snide comments for them to hear. Those who once spoke to them, now turned their heads when they passed them.
“It was a good day. The sun was bright, and the streets were clear. Helena found a nice hat in the window of Pickerings,” Beatrice answered finally. It wasn’t a lie, it had been a nice day out.
“Did you buy it?” Mrs. Leeson asked. “I’d love to see it.”
Once again, her sister’s eyes met hers.
The owner of Pickerings, a woman who usually was very sweet to them, had today snubbed them. She questioned their ability to pay for the hat given their father’s current state. She said that if they couldn’t pay they were better off shopping elsewhere. Helena had left the hat on her counter.
“No, I didn’t buy it. In the end, I thought it too large for my head," Helena replied. “It would’ve just about swallowed me up.”
Her mother laughed softly. “How could a hat possibly swallow you?”
“If you saw the size of it, you wouldn’t question,” Beatrice added.
“It was lovely from a distance, but once I got closer I realized it wouldn’t do,” Helena continued.
They continued to talk about the hat for several minutes. It was nice to speak of something other than bills and their father’s state. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long enough.
“How is your father this week?” Mrs. Leeson asked.
“He’s doing the best he can,” Beatrice answered.
“Is he still unwell?”
Beatrice nodded. “Yes, but he was in good spirits.”
“I wish I could see him,” Mrs. Leeson replied. “I had a nightmare that he never left that place. I never saw him again.”
Mrs. Leeson began to sob uncontrollably. “Mother, it was just a dream,” Beatrice assured.
Helena moved closer, to sit beside her mother on the bed. “Beatrice is right. It was only a dream and a bad one at that. There was no truth in it. Father will come home. I promise you.”
“How can you make such a promise when all these weeks have passed and there has been nothing?” Mrs. Leeson demanded softly.
“Because I believe it in my heart. Something will happen. It will, and Father will return to us.”
“The Earl and Elias have not called again, have they?” Mrs. Leeson asked.
Beatrice’s eyes looked at Helena sternly for a moment before turning back to their mother. “No. They haven’t returned.”
“Good. I wouldn’t want your father getting word that we were still entertaining them,” Mrs. Leeson replied. “It would break his heart.”
Sadness filled Helena’s breast at her mother’s words.
“I know this must pain you, Helena,” her mother stated. Helena hadn't realized her attention had turned to her.
“I’m well, I assure you.”
“I know how eager you are to believe well of the Earl and Elias. Their friendship has meant more to you than any of us,” her mother continued.
“Not more, Mother. I believe it has been of equal importance to us all,” Helena answered. “That is why it hurts me to see us so estranged.”
“I’m sure it hurts our father more,” Beatrice replied.
“To be distrusted by his close friends,” Mrs. Leeson answered. “It must be a pain almost unbearable. Having been so long in each other’s company, I cannot imagine what a betrayal it must be for him. We must support him in this.”
Helena swallowed hard.
“I agree.
Family should always take precedence over friendly acquaintance. Don’t you agree, Helena?” Beatrice questioned.
“Of course,” she replied quickly. “Family is all one has at the end of the day.”
“And we are all your father has,” her mother answered. She sighed. “I still can’t believe they came here the way they did. They didn’t even send a note to tell us to expect them.”
“It was very rude when you think of it,” Beatrice replied.
“They have never had to send a note before,” Helena countered. “It was not likely they would’ve now.”
“Things aren’t as they were before,” Beatrice responded. “They should know not to take such liberties after the visit they had with our father. He can’t stop speaking of it.”
Helena’s head was beginning to hurt. Her neck already ached. She rubbed it gently.
“Are you alright, Helena?” her mother asked when she noticed her discomfort.
“Just a bit of a headache,” she explained. “I think I better go lay down for a while.”
“Yes, do. You must take care of yourself,” her mother urged.
“I’ll stay with Mother,” Beatrice replied. Her eyes looked at Helena with such accusation. Did she really believe that Helena would choose Elias over their father? Did she really think she loved them so little?
She did her best to push the unpleasant thoughts from her mind. Beatrice was upset, they all were, and they each had their way of dealing with it. There was also the mysterious note that her sister had received, that had yet to be explained. Did that have something to do with Beatrice’s quick conversion to coldness toward Elias and the Earl?
Helena left her family and made her way to her room. She slipped her feet from her shoes and climbed into bed fully dressed. She only needed a few minutes and she was sure the headache would abate.
When Helena opened her eyes, the room was almost completely in darkness except for the low flicker of the lamp on the bedside table. She sat up in bed and reached for it, turning the knob to increase the light. She looked at the clock. It was already past nine at night.
“How could I have slept so long?” she wondered. Why hadn’t anyone woken her?
She slipped her feet back into her shoes and left the room. The house was silent, her mother and sister were more than likely already in bed given the hour.
Helena walked down to the kitchen. Her stomach was grumbling from missing dinner, and she was sure Cook had some biscuits and cream leftover from luncheon that she could nibble on.
She searched the pantry and shrieked when a voice called out from behind her.
“What’re you doing, miss?”
Helena’s hand clasped her heart as she turned to find Mrs. Royce standing in the doorway behind her.
“Mrs. Royce, you almost scared me half to death,” Helena replied.
“I’m sorry, miss. I thought I heard someone down here, so I came to check.” She shuffled her way into the room. “Are you hungry? I can get Cook up to prepare something for you.”
“That won’t be necessary, Mrs. Royce. I can find something on my own,” Helena answered with a smile.
“It would be no trouble. You missed dinner, after all, you must be starved.”
“You worry about me so much,” Helena commented.
“Of course. I’ve been taking care of you since you were born. I’ve been employed with your family since the Master and Madam got married. I care for you like my own family,” Mrs. Royce explained as she gently moved Helena out of the way.
She didn’t protest. Instead, Helena took a seat at the small table that the servants usually ate at, while Mrs. Royce found the biscuits, clotted cream, and jam. She also found some leftover slices of roast beef.
Helena picked at the meal as Mrs. Royce kept her company. The housekeeper had prepared her a cup of warm milk to wash it all down with.
“Miss Helena, I hate to ask, but some of the household staff has been wondering,” Mrs. Royce began. “Will the Master ever be coming home?”
The question was painful to hear. It seemed the hopes of everyone were slowly fading as the time passed by.
“It is our dearest hope that he will,” Helena assured. “It’s what we pray for.”
“Don’t we all,” Mrs. Royce replied. “He’s a good master. The best I ever had. I don’t believe what people are saying about him. I don’t believe it one bit.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Helena said with a smile as she covered Mrs. Royce’s hand with her own. The other woman wiped a tear from her eye.
“Now eat up, we must get you back to bed. It’s a new day in a few hours,” Mrs. Royce said to change the subject.
Helena didn’t respond. She continued to eat her meal and think about dark brown eyes and a promise on a doorstep.
She had no doubt, Elias was in her heart, but she could not allow him to take possession of it. Her father needed her. The entire household did. Despite the pain of it, she would keep her distance from the Repingtons and focus her energy on those under her care.
Her heart would have to live without Elias for a while.
Chapter 18
Frustration had become a normal emotion for Elias since Ambrose Leeson had been imprisoned. He lived with it daily, especially as the weeks had passed and there remained no way of proving the man’s innocence.
He sat at his desk at Repington Industries’ head office on William Street, going over monthly reports from the family’s interests in the Caribbean. He still remembered the words of his friends while in Italy. He would plan his trip to the West Indies once the fate of Mr. Leeson was determined.
He found concentration difficult. His mind kept returning to the sight of Mr. Leeson, trapped behind bars of steel, his mind under the assault of his circumstances. He was the family’s sole breadwinner. What was happening to them?
Mr. Leeson had agreed to repay those who had lost money due to his recommendation. It seemed an honorable thing at the time, but now it put his family under tremendous pressure. Those men would still demand their payment, even when there was no income to see it done. It would be left to Helena and her mother and sister to find the means.
The Earl had tried to offer aid once more, hoping that the lapse of time would settle the misunderstanding between them. He was mistaken. His offer of help was rejected and, with it, his father’s hopes of reconciliation.
Elias dropped his pen in defeat. It was pointless. He was reading the words, but nothing was entering his mind. He could think of nothing but the fate of a family loved as his own.
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes. His body involuntarily leaned against the frame of the large window that looked out onto the main street. As a child, he used to look out that window with glee. Now, nothing below held his attention.
Several seconds passed before a knock on the door drew Elias’s attention.
“Come in,” he replied as he turned on the spot to face the door. His clerk, Mr. Emerson, walked in with a file in hand.
“Morning, Lord Chatleton,” he said cheerfully. “I have some documents for your signature. Also, today is the sixteenth. You have an appointment to meet Sir Morris Cobb for tea this afternoon.”
Elias’s ears perked. “The sixteenth?”
He shifted his weight immediately as his mind began to think. Sir Morris was an important man. It had taken him some time to make arrangements for the meeting, as their schedules were so vastly different that a middle ground was initially very problematic.
“Yes. The appointment took me three weeks to arrange, but I finally found a date that worked for you both,” Mr. Emerson continued with a smile, completely unaffected by the change in his employer's demeanor.
“I remember,” Elias sighed. “Send a messenger to Sir Morris’s office and find out whether there is any possibility of rescheduling.”
“Rescheduling?” his clerk repeated in surprise and dismay.
“Yes, that’s what I said. Reschedule i
t.”
Elias moved from the window and plucked one of the files from his desk. More reports for the accounts office for his review and sign-off. He sighed and dropped it.
“But, Lord Chatleton, it took so long to make this one. Are you sure there is no way to keep it?”
“Mr. Emerson, just do as I ask. I’ll be leaving the office early today, so I suggest you get that note out to Sir Morris before then.”
His clerk nodded and turned from the room.
