CHAPTER EIGHT #3
Well, if he wouldn’t understand that on his own, then she would have no choice but to make him. She would prove to him—and to the entire village—that she was nothing like the previous duchess. Even if it killed her.
She and Maggie stopped in front of Gabe and Caleb, who both nodded politely at their approach.
Helena beamed a broad smile and held out her hand in greeting.
“You must be Mr. Parker. I’m Miss Sinfell, Thurston’s fiancée.
” She was wrecking all kinds of social niceties by forcing an introduction upon the man, but she simply didn’t care.
After all, she had an important point to prove. “I hear you’re a brilliant engineer.”
Taking her hand and bowing over it in greeting, Caleb smiled with a touch of embarrassment.
“My wife must be telling stories again.” But the look he gave Maggie was full of love, not admonishment.
“I’m afraid I’m not at all brilliant, but I’ve put in my fair share of study and practice, to be sure. ”
“Good. Because I would love to have your help with my project.”
“What project would that be, Miss Sinfell?” Caleb slanted a puzzled glance at Gabe for clarification, but Gabe continued to watch Helena with an inscrutable expression.
“A new school for the village.”
From the corner of her eye, Helena saw Gabe stiffen, but she didn’t dare look directly at him.
Not yet. A school would be the perfect way for her to win the hearts of the villagers and tenants the way Clarissa had never bothered to do, as well as a project she and Gabe could complete together.
Perhaps even one in which they could involve Alice.
It would prove, once and for all, that she was capable of being a duchess.
Her smile never wavered, not even as she stretched the truth to Caleb by saying, “Thurston and I discussed it when we looked at your plans for the village improvements, and he said that building a new school would simply be a matter of gaining your approval to fit it into the project timeline. So what do you think, Mr. Parker?” She placed her hand on his upper arm, a bit too beseechingly, although she simply didn’t care that it was.
The end would justify the means. “Are you willing to take on a project as small and simple as a school?”
“Small and simple? Well, I….” He stared at Gabe, hoping the duke would interject himself into the conversation and save him. Yet his old friend remained as silent as before. “I would have to look at the costs and available plots first.”
“Budget isn’t a concern,” she assured him. Finally, she dared to look at Gabe and asked, “Is it, Thurston?”
Gabe smiled tightly. “Not at all.”
“Wonderful! Then construction can begin right away. Mr. Parker will surely provide solid plans for the builders to follow, and the workers building the school in the village surely won’t be in the way of the bridge construction all the way down at the river.”
The look Caleb gave Gabe now was one of sheer confusion.
“A new building might not be the best solution,” he ventured carefully, clearly not wanting to upset either Helena or Gabe.
“Perhaps one of the empty buildings on High Street could be converted instead. It would take far less time and manpower to have the school open as soon as possible.”
“What a good idea.” She stepped to Gabe’s side and linked her arm with his.
“You were right. Consulting with Mr. Parker was the exact right way to start this project.” She reached to take both of Maggie’s hands in hers.
The woman seemed as bewildered about the sudden plans as her husband.
“Mrs. Parker, you must agree to help me. I’ll need your knowledge of the local area.
” She paused, then admitted with full honesty, “And all your advice on how to win over the villagers.”
Maggie’s confusion melted into understanding. “Of course.” She nodded with a conspiratorial smile. “I’d be honored to help. So would Caleb.”
Her husband blinked at missing the silent communication between the two women, yet he acquiesced and dutifully nodded. “Yes…of course.”
Once again, Helena wanted to cry, but this time in relief. She had friends here. Better—she had allies.
“Let’s get you some punch, shall we?” Gabe said to Helena with the same tight smile as before. He wasn’t happy. Fine. Because neither was she.
She nodded her goodbyes to the Parkers as Gabe led her away toward the refreshments tables. When they were far enough away that he couldn’t be overhead, he told her in a low voice, “If you’re going to run the dukedom, the least you can do is make it seem like I’m in charge.”
“And if you’re going to marry me, the least you can do is remember that I’m not Clarissa.”
He halted instantly and turned to face her. All pretense of a smile vanished from his face. “What do you mean?”
Aware that the eyes of the entire village were on them, she kept herself composed even though what she wanted to do was scream.
“I mean this.” She waved her hand to indicate the green around them.
“If you wanted me to attend a picnic for the village to announce our engagement, all you had to do was ask. You didn’t have to surprise me with it.
” And then pretend you did it as a surprise present for me.
“I thought you would like it.”
“I do. I just—” Her shoulders sagged as she explained, her voice raw with anger, “You threw the same picnic for Clarissa when you brought her to Grangely Park.”
“I did. We often celebrate with picnics in Chatham. And?”
“And when Clarissa didn’t attend her picnic, you had to go alone.
” She looked away, squinting into the afternoon sun.
“You must have been humiliated to have to lie for your wife in front of your friends and tenants. You didn’t want that to happen again, so you decided to not tell me so I wouldn’t have the chance to beg off. ”
“I was humiliated. But the fault was mine. I overestimated Clarissa’s character.”
“And underestimated mine,” she whispered.
He leveled his hard gaze on her. “Never.”
She shook her head, willing the gathering tears to clear from her eyes. “You can’t tell me that what happened before with Clarissa didn’t cross your mind when you were planning all this behind my back. I know you too well.”
He said nothing. At least he didn’t insult her by attempting to deny it.
“How can I ever trust you,” she whispered, “when you won’t completely trust me?”
“Believe me, Helena. I know exactly who you are. You don’t have to go to such lengths as building a school to prove it.
I didn’t tell you about the picnic because I wanted it to be a surprise for you.
No other reason.” He leaned in and lowered his mouth close to her ear, as if they were nothing more than a happy couple sharing an intimate flirtation.
“Perhaps I would trust you more if you didn’t always assume the worst of me. ”
Then he turned on his heel and walked away.