by Abby Ayles
“I have decided to no longer allow circumstance or the opinions of others to alter who I am,” she replied triumphantly. “I have done so for far too long. It is time that came to an end.”
“I agree. You were made to laugh,” Elias replied. “My father always said you were of the sweetest of dispositions.”
The mention of his father brought to mind another conversation they had, one that was far more recent.
You would make a happy daughter-in-law.
Elias longed for the opportunity to make it so. His father already saw Helena as a daughter. Their marriage would only bring their two families to the right and natural end – a union.
Days could not come fast enough for Elias to have all the obstacles between them removed so that he could make the true feelings of his heart known to Helena.
“I should go. The Baronet will be looking for me,” he said reluctantly.
Helena’s eyes lowered momentarily. “Then this is goodnight then.”
He smiled. “Goodnight, Helena.”
“Goodnight, Elias.”
He lingered for a moment, unwilling to leave her presence, but he could not remain. His hand slowly slid away from her own as he walked around her to continue down the stair.
Soon, Helena. Soon I will find the truth and all between us with be removed.
Chapter 33
“Helena, have you seen Agatha?” her aunt asked as she assisted Arabella with her hair. It was the day of the wedding, and the ceremony was less than an hour away.
“No, Aunt, I have not,” Helena answered.
“I am sure she is somewhere nearby,” Arabella replied with little concern. “She likes to do this as you know, to make sure all attention is directed to her.”
“Yes, I know. Still, this is strange. I have looked all over the house and no one seems to know where she is,” Helena’s aunt replied. “I have even asked the maids to look for her but they have turned up nothing.”
A sick feeling suddenly filled Helena’s stomach.
“When was she last seen?” she questioned.
“Yesterday perhaps? I am not sure. I have been so busy making sure everything was settled for today that I don’t remember if I even saw her.”
“I did,” Arabella replied. “She was speaking with Lieutenant Rock yesterday evening. I haven’t seen her since we all went to bed. I have been up here all day.”
It was true Arabella had stayed upstairs so that Captain Standish would have no chance of seeing her before the wedding. Helena had remained with her at her request.
“Helena, would you be a dear and see if you can find her? Perhaps you will have better luck. The wedding is any moment and she needs to be with the family.”
Helena nodded at her aunt’s request. “I will look for her. Would you finish Arabella’s hair?”
Her aunt smiled. “Certainly.”
Helena walked away, but as she turned to close the door behind her, she watched the interaction between her aunt and cousin. Would her own mother be as happy about the day she wed as her aunt was about Arabella? She hoped so.
Helena searched each floor but there was no sign of Agatha and no one seemed to have seen her since breakfast. Worse, she could not find Lieutenant Rock either to ask if he had seen her.
“Elias?” she said when she found him alone in the study. He was dressed in a fine burgundy suit that fit him perfectly. He got to his feet.
“Helena? Is something the matter?”
“Yes, have you seen Agatha? She seems to have gone missing.”
“No, I have not. Have you checked upstairs?”
“I have checked the entire house and she is not here. What more, I cannot seem to find Lieutenant Rock either.”
Elias’s face became grave. “Where have you looked?”
“The guestrooms. The family rooms. All the rooms on this floor and those below. I have even checked the cellars and she is nowhere. It is almost as if she has vanished."
“Come, I think I may know a place,” Elias said as he took her hand and led her from the room in a rush.
They rushed through the house to the curious looks of those they passed. Elias’s hand gripped her own and he made no effort to release her.
He took her from the house to the stables.
“Why are we here?” she asked as Elias finally released her hand.
“Because a thought occurred to me when you said you could not find the Lieutenant,” Elias answered. “One I pray I am wrong about. I will check this side, you investigate that one.”
They walked quickly through the stable, checking the stalls as they went, until they reached those furthest away.
There, standing together, were Agatha and Lieutenant Rock. She was looking up at him with a smile while he smiled back with his hand upon her face.
“Agatha!” Helena cried out, startling them both.
Lieutenant Rock looked at her in confusion, and Agatha in horror.
“What are you doing?” Helena asked her cousin.
“What I do is none of your concern, Helena. Go back to the house,” Agatha ordered.
“She cannot,” Elias answered. “Your mother has sent her to look for you. If she returns to the house, then you must return with her.”
“I will not,” Agatha said belligerently. “My mother has Arabella’s wedding to attend to. I am attending to my own.”
Helena’s ears rang with the words as her eyes grew large. “Marriage?” she flashed a glare in the lieutenant’s direction. “Is that what he has promised you?”
“You tried to come between us, but you see, I am the better one. Lieutenant Rock loves me. Not you. Your tricks failed to win him, your pretence and pitifulness. He only paid attention to you because you promised to help advance his career. He showed me the kind of woman you are. You would even use the Viscount to satisfy your wiles.”
Elias stepped forward, but Helena stopped him.
“Is that what he told you? He lies, Agatha. It is what he is good at,” Helena replied as the man in question remained still and quiet, with his hand on the reins of a horse.
“No, he does not! He loves me. He would not lie to me.”
“Did he recite poetry to you? Did he call you a nymph?” she questioned. Agatha’s expression faltered at her queries. “He said the same to me. The first day we met, he said I inspired him.”
Agatha shook her head, but Helena knew what she had spoken had rung true to her.
“Did he read you poetry? Recite his favorite pieces? Did he tell you how radiant you were compared to all other ladies and that anyone who could not see your goodness was blind?”
Elias turned to her as she spoke. Helena’s eyes met his. This was the first he had heard of the conversations which had transpired between herself and the lieutenant. She was sure it must be a shock to him.
“He did not say that to you,” Agatha retorted. “He would not.”
“But he did, cousin. He said that to me. While also saying he wished to be a friend to me. He said he would love to show me the world. The West Indies and the Americas. Did he not say the same to you?”
Agatha was speechless.
“Let’s go, Agatha,” the Lieutenant interjected as he took hold of her arm.
“He is a schemer,” Elias interrupted. “He has done this to many women. He leaves a trail of the broken and hurt women in his wake. I know this myself, I have witnessed his insincere attention to women while we were in Italy. I have even been told that he left a woman in an irreversible state in Seville.”
At the mention of the place, the lieutenant’s eyes grew large and his urgency to leave increased. “Agatha?”
“He is lying to you,” Helena said as she stepped closer to her cousin. The poor girl looked terribly conflicted. It was clear she did not know what to believe.
“What kind of irreversible condition?” she asked meekly.
The Lieutenant released her arm and mounted his horse. “Agatha.”
“She is with child. It
may have already been born,” Elias answered.
Agatha’s body seemed to weaken, and Helena rushed forward to hold her as a groom entered.
“Is everything alright in here?” he asked as Helena turned to him. She looked at Elias.
“Call the Baronet and Captain Standish,” he said firmly.
“Don’t!” Lieutenant Rock said quickly. “That won’t be necessary.”
“I said call them,” Elias reiterated, and Helena watched quietly at their exchange. The groom seemed confused about who to obey for a moment, but quickly turned and ran from the stables.
The moment he left, Lieutenant Rock’s voice could be heard urging the horse. He raced from the stable on the back of the large black beast and was soon gone.
“Reginald!” Agatha cried aloud as she fell to her knees. “Reginald!”
Helena kneeled in the hay as she held her weeping cousin. “Hush,” she said comfortingly. “Dear Agatha.”
She was still amongst the straw when her uncle and Captain Standish arrived at the scene. The groom who had brought them was quickly sent away with a warning to not utter a word to anyone, including her aunt.
“What has happened?” her uncle questioned.
“Miss Agatha has been misled by one of your guests and made to believe herself in love with the man. A man who has proven himself a charlatan,” Elias answered as he looked to Helena’s uncle and then to Captain Standish.
The understanding in the latter’s eyes was not missed by Helena. Was Captain Standish the one who had told Elias the truth about the Lieutenant?
“Agatha,” the Baronet said gently as he took his weeping child in his arms.
“Father,” she sobbed into his jacket as he patted her back.
“Where is he?” the Baronet growled.
“He is fled,” Elias replied. “Lieutenant Rock abandoned this roof the moment you and the Captain were summoned.”
“Lieutenant Rock? Your friend?” the Baronet questioned as he turned to Captain Standish.
“I assure you, sir, the Captain was unaware of the man’s true nature,” Elias said. “I only discovered it myself after observing the attention he paid to Miss Helena. She also became suspicious of his intentions toward her, and I made my concerns known to her.
Still, I had no proof, and thought the gentleman was solely interested in Miss Helena. I had no idea your daughter was also his target or I would have informed you immediately.”
The Baronet gathered Agatha to her feet. “Yes, I am sure you would,” he said, somewhat bewildered. “I do not know what to make of all of this. My wife will be most upset to learn of it.”
“Please, Father,” Agatha pleaded. “Please do not tell Mother or Arabella. I would not want to spoil her day, and I could not bear for them to know how foolish I have been.”
The Baronet looked at his pitiful child and nodded. “Very well. No one here must utter a word of this incident. It is forgotten and shall never be spoken of again, even amongst us.”
“Yes, Uncle,” Helena answered as Elias and Captain Standish agreed.
“The wedding is to begin at any moment. You two must return to your places,” Elias spoke up.
“Yes, you must, or else Aunt and Arabella will know something is amiss,” Helena agreed.
“What of Agatha?” the Captain questioned.
“I will take care of my cousin. You both go and see to it that these unhappy events are not reflected in your expressions. We will join you once I have Agatha composed and ready.”
Helena took a weak and despondent Agatha from her father’s arms.
“I will go with them,” Elias added as he took hold of the girl as well to aid Helena. “I will also confirm with the groom that his silence is absolute.”
Her uncle nodded appreciatively and gave his thanks as he and the Captain left for the wedding.
“How shall we do this without suspicion?” Helena asked.
“We shall say she fell ill in the garden and was unable to call out to anyone,” Elias answered as he lifted Agatha into his arms. “You will then tell the staff not to mention it to anyone so that the wedding will not be spoiled. You will then join me in seeing Agatha to her room.”
Helena nodded her agreement as she followed Elias from the stable. She did everything as he instructed as they used the servants’ stairs through the house to bring Agatha to her room.
“Do you think they believed us?” she questioned as she opened the door to Agatha’s bedroom to allow Elias and the girl inside.
“They have no reason not to.”
He laid a now sleeping Agatha upon her bed. Helena looked down at her as she slept. Her expression was pained, yet almost angelic.
“She is so peaceful when she is asleep. You can hardly suspect her as the girl that has spoken so harshly to me these past weeks,” Helena commented.
“I think part of her animosity toward you had a lot to do with the Lieutenant,” Elias answered. “She believed in him and was deceived.”
“As were we all,” Helena agreed as she sat beside her cousin. She brushed the strands of hair that had fallen across her face behind her ear.
“Helena, I am sorry if this has also brought you pain,” Elias commented. She turned to him calmly.
“I am disappointed. I wanted to believe the best of Lieutenant Rock,” she replied. “However, it does not bring me any pain. I had no desire to be connected to the gentleman as any more than a friendly acquaintance.”
“Are you sure? The things he said to you,” Elias continued.
“Meant nothing to me. I will admit it was flattering and made my loneliness less, but it did not change the steadfastness of my heart. I could not give to him what belongs to another.”
Elias stepped closer. “Is that so, Helena?”
“It always has been,” she replied and then turned to her cousin. “Sleep. All will be better when you wake.”
Chapter 34
Elias left Helena to care for her cousin and made his way to the gardens where the wedding was taking place. A lady’s bedroom was no place for him, and given the recent upset, he thought it best to go and join the Baronet and the Captain and ensure that all was kept secret.
The wedding was beautiful. More than fifty special guests were there to bear witness to the nuptials. Elias arrived in time to see the exchange of vows. The Baronet caught his eye as he entered and he nodded to the man that all was well.
Agatha would have a lot to explain of her behavior. He pitied the girl. A young foolish heart had almost been led astray to what would surely have been an unredeemable end. The very shame she accused Helena of bringing. she herself would have brought upon her own family.
“The heart is a strange thing,” Elias commented to himself while he watched the Captain and his bride wave to the crowd as they walked toward the house.
The ceremony was at an end and they were now man and wife. They would spend the rest of their days in each other’s company. Elias could think of no more pleasant a thing to happen to a man than to always be with the woman he loved.
“Lord Chatleton.”
Elias turned to find Lady Alice standing there. She looked lovely in a bright yellow dress and ornate bonnet.
“Lady Alice,” he replied as she approached him. “You look lovely.”
“Thank you, Lord Chatleton. You also look well.”
“May I walk you to the house?” he asked with a smile as he extended his arm to her.
“You may,” she replied as she took his arm.
“How is your father?” Elias asked as they strolled toward the house.
“He is…different,” Lady Alice replied.
“Different?”
“Yes, quite different. I cannot explain it really. I shared with him that you thought Mr. Leeson is innocent and wanted to prove as much, and he suddenly became quite agitated.”
“Was your father among the men who invested with Mr. Leeson?” Elias asked quickly.
Lady Alice looked at him hesit
antly. “As we are friends, I will entrust you with the knowledge, but you must speak of it to no one.”
She looked about her nervously. “My father would not like it to be known that he made such a large investment and lost.”
“How large?” Elias continued to question.
