Chapter 2
“You should pretend better, Helena dearest. Grandmama is watching.”
Helena glanced sideways at Jeremy, who had just whispered such encouragement in her ear.
Realizing her discomfort was showing, she curled her lips up into a smile, and she batted her lashes as she turned her gaze back to her ball and whacked it with her mallet.
Despite her anxiety, Helena let out a feigned squeal of joy as she scored another point.
She felt horrible for fooling the generous old matriarch, the great Dowager Duchess of Ravenshaw, but she knew she had no choice.
She thought of her mother, of the way Lord Ingram’s eyes had crawled over her, of what her mother gave him behind closed doors so that her children might eat.
Once Helena was wed, that vile man would never come close to her family again.
“Pretend what, my darling?” she asked sweetly, looking back at him.
Jeremy smirked as he gave her a knowing look.
“You and I are in this play together, remember? We both have a part to play, and she cannot know this is not a love match,” he whispered as he walked past her to take his shot.
Helena drew in a steadying breath as she forced her smile to remain in place.
Jeremy was right. She needed to focus, to act the part of the excited bride-to-be.
She owed the old lady that much. After all, she had not only opened her vast country estate to Helena, her mother, and little brother, but had insisted on paying for everything.
Patricia had not even batted an eye when Jeremy confessed that, sadly, Helena did not have a dowry.
Instead, she had waved her hand dismissively through the air and insisted they move on to much more important matters of wedding planning.
After getting to know Patricia over the past few days at her country estate, Helena had begun to understand Jeremy’s need to please her.
Despite her age and declining health, Patricia was a plucky spitfire who always got her way.
She wanted to please the older woman just as much as Jeremy did now, so she accepted his advice and pushed aside her troubling thoughts.
“You are surprisingly good at this,” Helena pointed out, shifting her focus entirely to her betrothed.
Jeremy scoffed as she lined up her next shot, aware she was not talking about croquet.
“Oh, this? This is nothing. I have been pretending my whole life,” he remarked wittily.
“What do you mean by that?” she asked as she hit her ball. She raised her arms in the air, ready to celebrate another point and show Patricia that she was having a marvelous time. Then little Alex ran into the field, kicking the ball out of its path and shooting into the nearby line of trees.
“Alexander Nathaniel Robinson!” Helena scolded, forgetting entirely about her question or the fact that Jeremy had not given her an answer.
“Oh, you had better run, boy,” Jeremy warned, grinning as he tossed his mallet to the ground. “You will not like the punishment if I catch you!”
Alex shrieked as Jeremy chased after him, both of them erupting in laughter as Jeremy easily caught him and tossed him up into the air.
Helena grinned, genuinely this time, as Jeremy’s careful hands easily caught her little brother well before he could ever hit the ground, then placed him on his feet and ruffled his hair.
“Scoundrel,” Jeremy playfully scolded him.
Alex grinned mischievously, and from behind her, Helena heard her mother and Patricia laugh gaily from their shaded table.
How long had it been since she had seen Alex smile like that?
Or heard her mother laugh so genuinely? Too long, and with that fact, Helena assured herself once more that this marriage was the right decision.
“All right, ducklings!” Patricia called for them. “Leisure time is over. Come, come!”
Helena placed her mallet in the holding rack and walked up the small hill toward Patricia at the same time as Jeremy threw Alex over his shoulder like a sack of grain and carried the giggling boy up the hill.
“You can keep playing, young man,” Patricia said to Alex as Jeremy set him on his feet.
She shooed him away as she gave him a wink, and with another burst of giggles, Alex lay on his back in the grass and let himself roll down the hill Jeremy had just carried him up.
Helena and Mary-Anne gasped, but Patricia and Jeremy only chuckled as the boy came to a gradual stop at the bottom, clearly unharmed as he spread his arms and legs out wide, and giggled up at the fluffy white clouds in the bright blue sky.
“You two will have time for leisure after your wedding,” Patricia ordered like a general, gesturing for them both to take a seat. “For now, there are plenty of preparations that we must focus on. I am far too old and sickly to be running around to do them, so it falls on you two.”
Helena turned to her mother with a hopeful look. While she used to enjoy attending parties, she had never had the opportunity to host one and was not at all sure how to begin.
“You are helping us as well, are you not, Mama?” she asked.
Helena’s heart sank as she watched her mother’s smile turn remorseful.
“I am afraid I must travel back to London for a day or two, my darling. There are some… affairs for me to settle,” Mary-Anne replied, her tone matching the remorse in her eyes. “However, I promise to help as soon as I can return.”
Helena’s sinking heart dropped harshly in her stomach. Mary-Anne’s only reasons for being in London were right in front of her: herself and Alex. Unless…
“What kind of affairs?” Helena asked, trying to hide her growing apprehension with her casual tone.
Mary-Anne’s smile was forced as she replied, “I need to meet with one of your father’s old business associates. It is unavoidable, I am afraid. But I will return as soon as I am able, I promise.”
Helena swallowed the lump in her throat.
Her mother had not named him, but she did not need to.
Lord Ingram still would not loosen his grip, not even now, with the wedding approaching.
The thought of what her mother would endure to keep him appeased made Helena’s hands curl in her lap. Soon, she promised herself.
Soon, I will put a stop to it for good.
“In fact, the carriage he is sending for me should be arriving within the hour,” Mary-Anne said, getting up from the table. “I should go and get ready. Please, everyone, have a wonderful evening, and Your Grace, thank you so much again for your gracious hospitality.”
“Oh, do call me Patricia, as I have no desire to address you respectfully in return. We are about to be family, after all,” Patricia insisted.
Helena’s smile returned, even if it was only a small one, as she watched Patricia and her mother talk for a moment as if they were old friends.
After quick kisses on her cheeks and then on Alex’s, who immediately rolled himself down the hill again afterward, Mary-Anne waved goodbye and headed toward the large house.
“Focus, Helena!” Patricia insisted, clapping her hands.
Helena turned away from watching her mother leave and offered Patricia an apologetic smile.
“Your mother will be back when she gets back, worry not,” Patricia advised as she pulled out several pages from her portfolio.
“What you should be focusing on are the wedding party preparations. There is much to prepare for before we begin our festivities, and I do not like waiting until the last minute to have things in order.”
“Yes, Your Gra…” Helena began to say, but as Patricia shot her a glare, she caught herself. “Er, I mean, Grandmama. Of course, you are right. How may I be of assistance?”
Patricia scoffed.
“Oh, you will do more than just assist, my dear,” she replied tersely.
“Be nice, Grandmama,” Jeremy jested, patting his grandmother’s arm. “Helena is not yet used to your ways. She does not know when you are teasing yet.”
“I am not teasing,” Patricia stated matter-of-factly. “You must both take command of this endeavor.”
Helena swallowed, intimidated.
“I will do my best not to disappoint you,” she replied, forcing herself to sound confident.
Patricia beamed as she patted Helena’s hand.
“I am sure you will not, child, and take heart. Jeremy is excellent at planning such affairs. Even if he does become distracted at times with the drink.”
“Touché, Grandmama,” Jeremy retorted, toasting her with his tumbler of whiskey.
“He will not be your only port in this particular storm either, Helena,” she went on. “Damien does not trust Jeremy to keep a sober head on his shoulders, and even though he was not able to come and assist, he has sent the Duke of Redgrave in his stead.”
Jeremy chuckled and then drained his glass.
“My brother, as always, is right,” Jeremy replied, standing up. “And though I am disappointed in his absence, I am grateful he is sending Evander.”
He then turned to Helena and winked.
“Who is he?”
“Oh, Evander is practically family. I have known him ever since I was a boy, and my brother, Damien, is married to Evander’s cousin. I am sure he will help you however you need while I am gone.”
“Gone?!” Helena and Patricia exclaimed in unison.
What little worry Helena had been able to let go of suddenly returned with a vengeance.
What does he mean by leaving me here?
“Jeremy, you are not going anywhere!” Patricia ordered, scowling up at him.
“Oh, but I am afraid I am,” Jeremy sighed woefully, reaching out to squeeze his grandmother’s shoulder, as if that was a sufficient means of apology.
“You see, I have some urgent business calling me back to London. It simply cannot wait, and I would rather tend to it now than be forced away again in the middle of my wedding party.”
Helena began to panic as Patricia’s scowl deepened.
“Oh, if I were younger by a few years, I would give you a spanking you would not forget about!” Patricia accused Jeremy as she tried to get to her feet. “You are not taking this wedding seriously!”