Page 32 of The Duke's Promise to Her Child
“There is,” he shrugged. “But I always worried about spending what was saved. What if something dreadful were to happen? What if the war were to continue and the Crown required our assistance?” He paused. “Frances has been giving me the silent treatment, so I have decided to give her what she wants for the sake of peace at home.”
“Peace at home,” Gideon said. “I would have given a great deal for peace at home when I was married. I can tell you it has never been so quiet as since Cassandra left.”
“But lonely too, I imagine,” James said.
“That too,” he admitted. “That is true. And still I preferred it. Although,” he said, “if I want entertainment these days I simply call upon Helena. She and Lavinia brighten my days considerably.”
“Until she is married,” James said. “And she will brighten somebody else’s day.”
“Quite,” Gideon said — but the word washed over him like a bucket of cold water on a winter’s morning. It was true. He had grown accustomed to seeing Helena. To conversing with her. To little Lavinia and her absolute certainty that he existed purely for her entertainment. Once Helena found her husband, that would be over. Perhaps they could remain friends. Perhaps the husband he found for her might even be a man he knew. But should he even want her in his life at all, beyond the bounds of what this arrangement required? Why was he so worried about that?
She was nothing more than a project. An old debt owed to an old friend. He had to stop thinking of her as anything more.
The queue moved slowly, but eventually they were greeted by the lady patronesses and admitted. He entered Almack’s — themusic was already playing — and looked around the ballroom. They made their way inside, and then he saw her.
Helena. Standing in an alcove with Lady Clara. She looked lovely. She had finally put aside the lavender she had worn throughout her half-mourning and was dressed instead in a Pomona green gown that complemented her complexion perfectly. Her hair shimmered, and a white bandeau had been fixed above it. She looked almost angelic.
He took a slow breath.
A project. A favor for a friend. That was all this was. Nothing more.
CHAPTER 14
HELENA
“Icannot believe he wishes me to be somebody I am not,” Helena said. “It is just what Huxley always wanted. For me to pretend.”
“That is hardly the same thing,” Clara said gently. “Gideon is not like that. He does not want you to change your personality. And he is not wrong — all of us present a slightly more polished version of ourselves until we have caught the attention of a gentleman we like, and the gentlemen do the same. Benjamin had me believing he was the most accomplished polo player who ever lived, going by his tales, until I actually saw him play and discovered he was quite dreadful. But by then, of course, I had already lost my heart to him.”
“I understand that he wants the best for me,” Helena said. “But I do not know that this is the best for me. How can I be certain?”
“You cannot. But given what you have been through, you know now what you will and will not tolerate. And let me assure you — Gideon is not Huxley. He is a good man. And given what heexperienced with his wife, I do not think he would ever truly wish you to change who you are. He knows what that feels like from the other side.”
“Did she?” Helena asked, taking a sip of the wine in her hand. She had been curious to learn more about this woman who had managed to draw Gideon, a man whose reputation had always preceded him as someone who considered marriage an impossibility, into a courtship and a marriage.
“Yes. I still remember when he first announced he was courting someone. The whole of the ton was taken aback, because he was not the sort of man any of us had expected to settle down. And then he did. And for a time he truly seemed happy. I did not know him well enough back then, but from the outside looking in, he seemed contented.”
“But Cassandra — she was not what he thought.”
“No. She charmed him by pretending to like everything he liked. He had come to believe they shared all the same tastes, all the same interests, all the same opinions. He told me he thought he had found a female version of himself and found it quite delightful.”
“Only to discover it was all a performance. She wanted the title. The glamour.” Helena paused. “But this was before he became Duke, was it not?”
Clara nodded, finishing her drink. “Yes. But she was untitled herself, so any title was a gain. I felt dreadful for him when hetold me. Because he truly had loved her. Or at least, he had loved the woman he believed her to be.”
“I think helping him find me a good husband is helping him too,” Helena said quietly. “Perhaps it will restore his faith in love.”
“Perhaps,” Clara said. “I must say — I do not know this Lady Cassandra, but I find I am most put out with her on his behalf. He can attempt to be guarded, but he is charming and genuinely good-hearted. You were right to object to his suggestion that you change yourself, but I believe he meant well. And if you tell me it is all gammon and he is simply meddling, I will remind you that his meddling has put food on your table.”
“I know he meant well,” Helena said.
Something in Clara’s voice gave her pause. “Do you care for him?”
“No. Not at all. Besides, even if I did, he has made it perfectly clear he has no intention of remarrying. And at this point he and I know one another far too well for such a thing. We are thoroughly entangled.”
“Is that such a bad thing?” Clara asked.
“Stop it,” she said. “Here he comes now — stop this nonsense at once.”
