Chapter 4
“I can’t believe you!” Lady Hartwood cried.
Alastair bit back a groan. He’d managed to get through the morning without being interrupted, secluding himself into his study so he could get his correspondence out of the way and get things organized with his butler and housekeeper, including preparing the weekly wages.
Lady Hartwood liked to stay in her suite of rooms in the morning, so it was the most productive time for Alastair, and he preferred it.
But now it looked like his luck had run out. Lady Hartwood was blocking his way out of the house, her face bright red with her anger and her eyes flashing. Alastair dusted down his sleeves.
“What is it now, Mother? I’m very busy.”
“What do you think you’re doing? You blindsided me at the ball, and now you’re not going to talk to me about how you’ve chosen a girl like Arabella Fairleigh!”
“Are we going through this again? I’ve made my position very clear.”
Lady Hartwood snorted and shook her head. “You’ve just shown that you’ve taken a leave of your senses. I can’t believe you thought it was acceptable to chose her!”
“It’s up to me who I court, Mother,” Alastair said coolly, fixing the dowager duchess with a hard stare. “Don’t think you can tell me what to do.”
“But you could’ve let me know what you’d done!” she protested. “You humiliated me! I had to explain to Mrs. Linton that I had no idea what you were talking about. She isn’t happy with you, either.”
Alastair sighed. He didn’t care if the Linton family were upset with him.
They were annoying and obnoxious, although Mrs. Linton was probably the nicest of the lot.
Even then, Alastair would rather keep his distance.
The Lintons didn’t have the same opinion, though, and they were around him far too much.
Alastair wished they would leave him alone, but that hadn’t happened so far.
“Why did you think Lady Arabella was appropriate?” Lady Hartwood’s voice had risen in volume. “I don’t understand you at all.”
“It’s my choice, Mother. That’s all I’m going to say to you.”
“And your choice is terrible! Her father took his own life!”
“And what does that have to do with Lady Arabella?” Alastair asked. “Why should a child have to pay for her father’s sins?”
“It tarnishes the entire family!”
“And it’s a pathetic thing to do. I’ve never understood why anyone would blame the rest of the family for one person. It’s just childish.”
The dowager duchess looked stunned at his response. As she spluttered for a response, Alastair heard a familiar tread behind him. He found himself smiling as he turned and saw his sister limping toward her. Helena grinned back at him.
“Are you ready to go?” she asked.
“Just waiting for you.”
Seeing his little sister lifted Alastair’s spirits.
Helena was not bound by the rules when it came to observations and opinions.
It did mean that people raised eyebrows at her, due to her being in her first Season, but Helena didn’t care.
With her physical issues, she decided that she was going to make the most of being an outsider.
Alastair preferred her company. She was a breath of fresh air for him, and far wiser than her years. She also kept him in check if he started getting ahead of himself. Not that Alastair was about to admit that.
“What are you going?” Lady Hartwood demanded. “I didn’t know you were going out today.”
“We’re just going to Kensington Gardens for a walk,” Helena answered, slipping on her coat and adjusting her hat. “It’s a nice day, and we don’t want to waste it.”
“But you can’t!” their mother cried. “Mrs. Linton and Rosamund are coming over…”
Alastair groaned.
“Really, Mother? I’ve made my position clear, and you’re not listening, are you?”
“But…”
“Look, I’ve made a decision, and I’m not going to turn my back on Lady Arabella because you disapprove. I’m not a child anymore.” Alastair opened the door for Helena. “I don’t want to hear another word about it. After you, Helena.”
The dowager duchess was still spluttering as he shut the door behind him. Helena giggled as they went down the steps and to the carriage waiting for them.
“I thought she was going to faint at one point,” she said. “She really doesn’t like your choice, does she?”
“If it’s not her choice, she doesn’t like anything,” Alastair grunted.
“But she’s not the one who needs to marry someone to make them a duchess, does she?”
“She can make sure she has some control. Especially after I’ve dodged her attempts for years.”
Helena sighed.
“Do you want to swap? Mother doesn’t do anything like that with me, and I feel like I’ve been forgotten.”
Alastair felt a stab of sympathy for his sister. Helena was a beautiful auburn-haired woman of nineteen, tall and graceful and she was a wise, level-headed person despite her age. Unfortunately, because of her physical issues, she wasn’t seen as an ideal match for anyone.
A childhood accident of falling out of a tree when she was ten had broken Helena’s leg badly, but her leg had healed incorrectly, so it was shorter than her other leg.
Ladies in the ton were supposed to be beautiful and flawless, and Helena was considered “damaged” as if there was anything wrong with her just because of a badly healed leg break.
Alastair wished he could stand up for his sister more. He did try, but Helena just told him to leave it be as there was no point arguing when someone had made up their mind. She was slowly coming to terms with the fact she was going to be a spinster, and that was upsetting. She deserved a lot more.
“I don’t think you want Mother planning any marriages for you, Helena, if her attempts to match me to someone I find annoying is anything to go by.”
“It’s better than nothing.” Helena smoothed her hands over her skirts as the carriage set off. “Are you going to be seeing Lady Arabella? You said something about meeting someone in Kensington.”
“I am.” Alastair looked out of the window. “We’re going to have to show ourselves to people and make a show of it.”
“I’m surprised you even suggested it.” Helena peered at him curiously. “It’s not like you at all. I didn’t think you’d be so scared of Mother that you would make up something like that.”
“I’m not scared!”
But his sister gave him a knowing look, and Alastair groaned. Helena knew him too well. She was almost ten years his junior, but they were very close. Helena looked after him when she was the one who needed the help.
However, she was steadfast and loyal to her brother, and she wasn’t about to let her disability get in the way. Alastair appreciated that, which was why he’d entrusted the secret to Helena as well as Edmund. They could keep it quiet.
He just hoped that it didn’t go wrong.
It didn’t take long to get to Kensington Gardens, and Alastair spied Lady Arabella almost as soon as they entered the park.
She was standing by the lake, her maid nearby, staring at the ducks as they frolicked in the water.
Her back was to him, but Alastair could tell it was her, wearing a dark green dress, her head seeming to be bowed.
What was going through her head right now? Alastair could imagine that she was feeling scared and conflicted about what they were doing. She still had suspicions and accusations leveled at him for his part in Fairleigh’s death.
Alastair himself thought he was insane to let this happen, especially when the lady was reluctant, but he could see this working out for both of them. She got her debts paid—and Alastair wasn’t about to turn away from that after making the promise—and he got someone to keep Miss Linton away.
It was only temporary. They could hold back their distaste for each other for a while, couldn’t they?
Keeping a slow pace with his sister, Alastair walked over to Lady Arabella, who turned as they approached. A shadow passed across her face, but then it was gone and she fixed a bland smile on her face as she curtsied.
“Your Grace.”
“Lady Arabella.” Alastair indicated Helena as she managed to straighten up. “This is my sister, Lady Helena Vaughn. She’ll be accompanying us.”
There was a moment where he was worried Lady Arabella would look at Helena with scorn, much like other ladies, but she actually gave Helena a warm smile.
“It’s lovely to finally meet you, Lady Helena,” she said. “I’ve seen you at various social events this Season. You certainly know how to captivate the room.”
Helena laughed.
“I think you mean I know how to make people stare at me.”
“People will stare at beautiful ladies. It’s perfectly natural, and your beauty would make anyone stop short and take a second look.”
Alastair wondered if he’d gone mad. Was she actually complimenting Helena? His sister deserved them, and Lady Arabella was right, but it felt like he was waiting for her to mock the younger woman. Yet Lady Arabella’s voice was warm and genuine. Helena blushed.
“Thank you,” she mumbled. “Not everyone is that kind toward me.”
“Then they’re fools.” Lady Arabella glanced at Alastair, and her expression cooled a little. “I presume we should take a walk around the lake, Your Grace?”
“I think that would be a good idea.”
Alastair offered his arm, but she didn’t take it, clasping her hands and walking away, her head held high.
Alastair glanced at Helena, who looked bemused, and hurried to keep up with Lady Arabella.
Helena and Lady Arabella’s maid fell into step a short way behind them, giving them respectable space.
“I hope you’re not expecting me to be out all afternoon,” Lady Arabella said stiffly. “I’ve got things to do when I get back home.”
“What have you got to do?”
“I’ve got a garden to cultivate. There are things in the herb garden that I need to pick and sort out for the kitchen staff, and I’ve got to plant some fresh flowers.”
Alastair frowned.
“Surely, you have a gardener for that?”
She shot him a sharp look of annoyance.