Page 63 of The Duchess Debt

“No apologies necessary,” Gabe assured her. God knew he’d called his own brother far worse than that.

Helena squeezed Maggie’s hands. “I’m fine.” Then she rolled her eyes with a long-suffering sigh. “Adam was just being Adam. But I’m glad you’re here. There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

Maggie glanced uncertainly at Caleb. “What is it?”

“Would you be my matron of honor for the wedding?” Helena smiled at Maggie before casting a glance at Gabe and Caleb. “Not because your husband is going to be the best man, you understand, but because you’ve become a good friend to me—my best friend here in Chatham, in fact—and I would be honored if you would help bless my wedding by being part of it.”

Gabe’s gaze flicked between the two women as they both flung their arms around each other and nearly squealed with shared happiness.Good heavens.Which one would break into tears first?

“Come on. Let’s go to the tavern.” Caleb slapped Gabe on the back and started him toward the street. “They’ll be discussing the wedding for hours, and trust me, you and I want no part of that.”

Gabe chuckled and fell into step beside his friend. His chest swelled. He finally had everything he had ever wanted inlife. A best friend he could trust, a wonderful woman to be his wife, and a life’s purpose in caring for the estate and the village…

Fate was finally smiling upon him.

CHAPTER TWENTY

4 Days Until the Wedding

Helena paused in the downstairs hallway, closed her eyes, and listened. Silence. She smiled. Sweet,wonderfulsilence.

For once, the house was all hers, and she reveled in it.

Lady Verity had left two hours ago to help the local midwife attend to a tenant farmer’s wife who had gone into labor that morning. Nanny Potts and Alice were away at the vicarage and wouldn’t return until just before dusk.

Of course, Gabe wasn’t there either. Since Adam’s arrival at Grangely Park, he had been spending his days elsewhere. If not at the bridge site, then the school, into which he’d thrown himself with unexpected drive. Unfortunately, Helena suspected his motives were less to finish the projects as quickly as possible and more to simply avoid Adam. She didn’t blame him. His younger brother had been behaving strangely, with the incident at the church only one in a series of odd acts and backhanded compliments. Helena didn’t trust him not to say or do something even worse. And she didn’t trust Gabe not to throttle him for it. Best for everyone—and the county murder rate—if the two brothers stayed apart.

Only four days were left until the wedding, which meant only five days until Adam’s departure. It couldn’t come soon enough to put her heart at ease. Although he’d not said anything outright to her face regarding his feelings about her, she hadn’t been able to shake the suspicion that he wanted to undermine her, just as he had five years ago.

Enough.The sun was bright, the weather warm and clear, the spring air soft… The day was simply too lovely to spend inside—or to waste it thinking about Adam.

The afternoon was perfect to be outside in the garden’s fresh air, and that was exactly what she’d planned. So she had snatched up her straw bonnet from her dressing room and now strode toward the gardens stretching out from the rear of the house.

The larger park itself was wild and magical, with its winding river and trees laid out as if Capability Brown himself had waved a magic wand and recreated Eden. But behind the grand manor house stretched her favorite part of the entire estate—a traditional garden contained within rambling stone walls, with alleys marked by old boxwood and bushy roses, and wonderful borders filled with flowers of all shapes, sizes, and colors.

She stopped at the brick conservatory at the edge of the garden, whose tall and wide arched windows let in enough sunshine even during the darkest part of winter to keep all kinds of exotic plants thriving. Even now, the building was full, and two gardeners were busy inside, tending to the tender plants and ensuring the temperature remained constant. With a smile and a nod to the men, she took a wicker trug basket down from a hook, selected a pair of sharp clippers, and placed then into the basket along with a pair of lady’s garden gloves.

Humming happily to herself, she swung the basket at her side as she sauntered across the gardens toward the herbaceous borders tucked behind the stone walls. Their south-facing aspect and protective walls meant the beds were already a riot of color from their early spring-blooming flowers.

Oh, how happy she was! Six weeks ago, she never would have believed she’d be here, once more engaged to Gabe— No, more than that. They were as good as married now, having settled early into their marriage in every way.

A soft laugh rose from her lips.Everyway, indeed.

She’d had no idea that sharing a bed with a man could be so passionate yet also very tender, so endearing yet also blood-boiling, so…creative. A wanton smile curled at the corners of her mouth at the memory of all they’d ventured to try in bed, all Gabe had taught her about how to please him and how to ask to be pleased in return, even in the short time since they’d first become intimate. Of course, he still couldn’t bring himself to find release inside her, but that unwillingness would stop as soon as they were officially married, she knew. And then, it would only be a matter of months until she was with child, the culmination of their love and life together. Months? No, perhaps only a few weeks. La! with the stamina they seemed to find every time they were alone together, it might only be a matter of days.

Wouldn’t that simply be a miracle on top of a miracle? And the answer to all her tearful prayers.

She turned her face up to the sun to catch its warmth and welcomed the happiness swelling inside her chest. Her shoulders eased down, and for the first time since she arrived here, she began to think that her dreams might very well all come true. Finally.

“Oh, how lovely you are,” she told the long row of pink and white peonies as she came around the corner and was stopped in her steps by their beauty. Those were exactly the blooms she was looking for. They would make a beautiful wedding bouquet for her and a smaller one for Maggie as her matron of honor.

Except for her sisters, there was no one Helena would rather have standing up with her at her wedding. Truly, Maggie had welcomed her with open arms, and Helena couldn’t have made such quick progress on the school without her. Not only had she been able to finagle her husband’s schedule to find time away from the bridge for Caleb to focus on renovating the old building on High Street, but she’d proven invaluable when it came to decisions about what kinds of desks and supplies tobuy. She’d even been able to help advertise for the schoolmaster position, which had been the most important decision of all. After all, what good was having the finest building and supplies for the children if no one was there to teach them?

The school owed so much to Maggie, and the villagers had no idea of the critical role she was playing in bringing it to life. The village buzzed with excitement over it. The children were thrilled, although their parents were less so because they would have one less pair of helping hands in the shop or on the farm for every child they sent to school. But Helena hoped they would come to see the advantages of a good education and the opportunities it could bring, including bringing more money to a family’s income over time.

She set the trug at her feet, pulled on the gloves, and bent down to cut the peonies with the little clippers. Several of the large blossoms went into the trug, and her chest lightened the more she fussed with the flowers. Humming to herself, she raised a pink one to her nose to sniff its sweet fragrance.Wonderful.Perhaps a few white rosebuds and lilies could—

“Hello, Helena.”