Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
The Theater Royal was full, as it had been on every performance since its reopening after the fire.
“The view of the stage from your box is better than my father’s, Matteo,” Helena said as she pointed to a direction to their left.
“Oh? Do you agree with your sister, Lady Chastity?” Matteo asked, turning to Chastity.
They sat at the Duke of Valen’s Box in the Theater Royal, awaiting the start of a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The theater was abuzz with chatter. From the next box, a group of ladies and two gentlemen laughed uproariously.
“Chastity?” Helena prodded her sister when she did not answer.
Indeed, Chastity had not seemed to hear them at all; her neck was craned as she watched the people in other boxes and in the seats below.
“Chastity, Matteo asked you a question,” Helena repeated tapping her sister on the arm.
“Oh!” Chastity exclaimed, hastily turning back to her companions. “Forgive me, Your Grace.”
“Are you looking for someone, Lady Chastity?”
“Oh, no. I-I am just admiring the general splendor of the theater.” Chastity’s cheeks flushed.
Puzzled, Helena watched her sister’s eyes move one more time to the other boxes before she focused her attention on Matteo. When she noticed her older sister watching her, Chastity flinched.
“It is your first time in the Theater Royal, then?” Matteo asked Chastity.
“Yes, Your Grace. We had not the opportunity to go since my coming out.” Chastity answered.
“Then you cannot possibly give an answer to my question.” Matteo smiled at her amiably.
“I apologize again. What was the question?”
“Your sister claimed that my box has a better view of the stage than that of your father’s. I asked your opinion on the view.”
“Ah,” Chastity said with another apologetic smile. “But Helena has used the box before with Mama.”
“Mama usually uses the box with her friends, but I have gone a few times with her in the past,” Helena said. “More times with Celine and Dahlia.”
“Having no other testimony to compare with, we shall have to accept your opinion,” Matteo said, grinning.
Some minutes later, the audience quieted down, though there was still the sound of faint talking, as the performance began.
Helena, who sat between Matteo and Chastity, leaned slightly forward.
She had never seen this performance before and was therefore looking forward to it.
She had started reading Shakespeare under her governess’s supervision when she was twelve.
By age thirteen, she had managed to finish all his works.
To say that she loved Shakespeare was an understatement.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream and All’s Well That Ends Well had a special place in her heart—not because she loved the stories particularly, but mainly because the female protagonist in both works was named Helena.
She liked the Helena from A Midsummer Night’s Dream better than the other Helena, for, although she admired the second Helena for her bravery, ingenuity, and determination, she could not quite comprehend such forwardness.
When they reached the part where Puck mistakenly puts a spell on the wrong man, leading Lysander to fall in love with Helena, Helena found herself nearly leaning on the railing.
The soft chuckle behind her had her glancing over her shoulder. Matteo was watching her, a very amused smile on his face. She straightened with an embarrassed smile at him.
Leaning close to her, he whispered in her ear.
“Have you read this work?”
Helena nodded, and Matteo said nothing else, allowing Helena to give her full attention to the actors on stage.
Very soon after that, the performance went on intermission, Matteo rose and opened the curtains to his box.
“Would you like to walk about for some exercise? We have been sitting a good while.”
Helena was about to accept when a gentleman greeted them from the entrance to the box.
“Good evening, Your Grace, my ladies.” Lord Clifton bowed. “I saw you from my friend’s box.”
“Lord Clifton.” Chastity stood up abruptly and curtsied.
Bowing and curtsying in response, Helena and Matteo exchanged glances.
“I was just about to have a little walk and wondered if you were to do the same?”
“Yes, we were,” Chastity said. “Perhaps we can all walk together?”
Helena smiled and nodded.
Lord Clifton offered his arm to Chastity, and they all stepped out of the box.
As they walked behind Chastity and Lord Clifton, Matteo leaned down and spoke to Helena in a soft voice.
“Coincidence?”
“Well, he did say that he was with a friend. Perhaps it is a coincidence. But I do wonder which friend he is with?”
She turned to look at Matteo, whose lips had turned into a straight line.
“Let us head to the refreshment room,” Helena said. “I find that I am quite thirsty.”
“Would you prefer to go to the ladies’ section?”
Helena looked at Chastity and Lord Clifton again; it seemed to her that they stood too close to each other. She frowned.
“I have a feeling that Chastity will not want that.” She turned to Matteo, “You know, I think that she was looking for someone earlier in the evening, before the performance began.”
“And you think it was Lord Clifton?”
“Well, maybe, I am unsure. But when she saw me watching her, she reacted guiltily.”
“I recall you saying before that you are thankful that Chastity has gotten over her trying age.”
“Yes. She was rebelling, I think.”
“When was this? Was she so very difficult?”
“It was nearing the end when we went to stay at Icedale Castle, I credit the influence and example set by Peter’s sisters for that,” Helena said, recalling how Chastity’s comportment and disposition had improved when they visited the family.
“Perhaps she needed to spend time with people near her age.”
“What about Faith and Grace?” Matteo asked. “Are they not just a year or two younger than Chastity?”
“Well, yes, but they are her younger sisters; it is different.”
“And after your visit had she changed?”
“There were changes, some gradual, some dramatic. But yes, to answer you, her improvement continued until she became the Chastity that she is now.” Helena frowned. “Why do you ask?”
“Is it possible that she is rebelling again?”
Helena considered her answer carefully. Then shook her head.
“No, I do not think so. She is mostly her usual self.” Helena frowned in thought. “Except quieter now, perhaps a tad more secretive.”
“I think we should continue carefully observing this quieter, more secretive Chastity.”
Helena was secretly pleased when he said we. She felt warm knowing that he shared the problem—if it was even a problem—with her.
“Agreed.” She replied.
They directed the other two to the refreshment room and a few minutes later were holding glasses of ratafia, feeling indeed, refreshed.
Although Chastity and Lord Clifton stood near enough to them, they stood as a separate party and were engrossed in soft conversation that neither Helena nor Matteo could hear. Helena watched her sister laugh, her eyes alive.
“Your Grace.”
A group composed of two ladies and three gentlemen approached them.
“It has been a while since we have had the pleasure of your company, Valen.”
“Matfield, Ruddock, Crowther,” then with a smile, he continued, “my ladies.”
They exchanged greetings and introductions. Helena put a polite smile on her face when she was greeted with best wishes on their engagement.
“So, this is where you have been, Valen, with the beautiful Lady Helena. No wonder we have not seen either hide nor hair of you in quite a while.” Lord Crowther said.
“Yes, I have been quite the dutiful fiancée.” He bowed at Helena.
“There is your proof, Matfield!” Lord Ruddock said in a loud voice, “Valen has, indeed, gotten himself engaged! You said it was impossible; to be honest, we all thought it was just gossip!”
One of the ladies, Lady Henderson, put her arm on Lord Crowther’s arm, and she gestured towards Lord Ruddock.
“Forgive him, Your Grace. He has had more glasses of wine this intermission than he should have.”
“He has been at it even before that.” The other lady, Lady Mclean, rolled her eyes.
“I brought my own.” Lord Ruddock said, smiling as he brought out a silver flask from his coat pocket.
“Perhaps, we should return to my box.” Lord Crowther said. “Do show yourself tomorrow night at the Club, or the night after at Ruddock’s.”
“Indeed, your absence has been missed by the usual company.” Lord Matfield added.
“You must invite us to the wedding. We are very dear friends after all,” Lady McLean said, smiling as she reached out to squeeze Matteo’s arm. “When shall it be?”
“A date has not been set yet; we are still in the process of determining it,” Matteo said lightly, moving closer to Helena.
“A long engagement then?” Lady Henderson said with a wide, suggestive grin. “Those are the most ideal in my opinion. It gives both parties the time to truly know their potential spouse, whether they will suit or not. Not too late to back out!” She laughed artfully as she slapped Matteo’s arm.
Helena was barely able to stop an eyebrow from rising.
So that is what Matteo meant when he had accused her of flirting with him when she had slapped him playfully on the arm.
Well, perhaps she was flirting, but it was unconscious, and not so blatantly as this!
She, very decidedly, did not like this group of Matteo’s friends.
“Yes, you would know the difference, my dear Veronica,” Lord Matfield said to Lady Henderson. “That rush of an engagement of yours proved disastrous did it not? How fortunate that you were made a widow in just two years.”
“James, you shall shock Lady Helena with talk such as that!” Lady Henderson replied, laughing again. “Come, let us leave them before we expose ourselves any more than we already have.”
The ladies stepped forward and gave Matteo their hands for him to kiss. He glanced quickly at Helena before he did.