Chapter 13
“Jeremy,” Helena choked out.
She rushed past her mother and brother, past the stiffer and more stoic-than-usual Evander, and even past Patricia, who had her arms outstretched and ready to hug her grandson. She hurried past them all and flung herself into Jeremy’s arms the moment the carriage door opened.
“Jeremy, thank God you are back. There is so much I need to speak to you about. So much has happened! I must—”
“Well, well, Helena dearest, I have missed you too!” Jeremy chuckled gaily, pushing her gently away from him. “My, what a welcome!”
“I should say,” Patricia muttered behind them, obviously unimpressed by Helena’s actions.
“I think someone missed their husband-to-be!” someone said from inside the carriage.
Helena looked up then, just in time to see Jeremy turn and help Letty down. Her maid followed next, then another one of their friends.
“Are you two not the cutest little lovebirds?” Letty teased, going to Helena with open arms. “Helena, darling, lovely to see you.”
“Lovely to see you as well, Letty,” Helena said in a rush as she pulled away from the hug and turned back to her betrothed. “Jeremy, please, I need to speak with you.”
“All in good time, dearest, all in good time,” Jeremy answered in that same sweet but dismissive tone as he hugged his grandmother. “Just give a man a moment to get settled, would you?”
She could not wait a moment. Her urgency to speak with him had been growing by the second ever since she had met Evander in the corridor the night before. The way he had touched her, the way he had made her feel, made her think it was all too real to ignore.
“Jeremy, wait,” she called. “If you could just—”
Patricia and Jeremy’s valet blocked her path as Jeremy reached Evander. She watched helplessly as Jeremy threw his arms around Evander, and a discomfort grew in her stomach as she saw the Duke struggle to accept the intimate gesture.
Over Jeremy’s shoulder, Evander’s gaze found hers, and Helena’s breath caught.
It was all still there in his eyes, his hand on her skin, the low rasp of his voice telling her he would not kiss her while she wore another man’s ring.
She wanted to look away, but she could not.
Then Jeremy pulled back, clapping him on the shoulder, and Evander’s face shuttered closed again.
What a mess!
“Helena, I must insist that you calm yourself,” Patricia warned. Her tone was polite, but the scolding look in her eyes told a different story. “We all want a chance to speak with your husband-to-be, but he needs a chance to settle in after his trip.”
“Forgive me, Miss, but I must agree,” Jeremy’s valet answered in a similar fashion. “Mr. Winterbourne is most exhausted from his trip and needs time to recover.”
“But—”
“Enough, dear,” Patricia sighed, waving a dismissive hand toward Helena. “There is plenty for you to do until Jeremy is ready to speak with you. Settle your friends into their rooms. Give them a tour of the house. They are the first of many guests to arrive for this evening’s soiree.”
Helena’s spirits sank as she watched Jeremy disappear into the house with his valet.
“Listen to your future grandmother, darling,” Letty insisted, stepping in front of Helena.
Helena’s shoulders drooped, but she nodded.
“Of course,” she agreed, mustering a smile for Letty. “Of course, forgive me, Letty. Thank you so much for coming.”
Letty smiled prettily as she reached for Helena’s hands and gave them a squeeze.
“Of course I came,” Letty gushed. “I would never miss my two friends getting married.”
Her gaze shifted from Helena’s new white day gown up to her eyes.
“Even if one of those friends looks woefully tired,” Letty mused. “Do the wedding preparations keep you up all night, Helena?”
Helena winced at the slight insult, and she felt her cheeks burning. She could hide the mostly faded bruises on her neck with the high collar of her pretty new dress, but her exhaustion? It seemed to be on full display for everyone to see, and she only hoped not everything she felt was so obvious.
“I… Indeed, it is the wedding planning,” Helena stammered. “It is most stressful.”
Letty let out a sharp hmph as she took Helena’s arm and started to lead her toward the front door.
“I am sure it is,” Letty remarked. “Seeing as you are marrying into one of the richest families in the country. Jeremy said he left the Duke of Redgrave in his stead to help you with the planning. Tell me, has he been running you ragged? I have heard so many stories about him. I cannot wait to see if they are true!”
Heat exploded into Helena’s cheeks, but before she could ask what her friend meant, the butler announced the arrival of another carriage.
“We will speak later,” Helena assured her nosy friend. “Please, go on inside and partake in the refreshments? A maid will be ready to show you to your room as soon as you are ready.”
Helena took a moment, willing her fraying nerves and heated cheeks to cool down, and turned back to the carriages. She was greeted by the smiling faces of seven adults and a gaggle of small children.
“Miss Robinson!” Caroline greeted, smiling warmly.
Damien’s wife stepped forward, looking radiant in her daffodil yellow dress. A white, thick ribbon was tied around her waist, accentuating her round belly. They had met once, briefly, at a dinner with Damien and Jeremy some years prior, and Helena had taken an immediate liking to her.
“Your Grace, you look beautiful,” Helena praised, accepting the woman’s hug.
“Does she not?” Damien asked. As usual, he was not far from his wife, hovering protectively just behind her.
“Both of you stop,” Caroline playfully scolded, then her smile grew warmer as she looked into Helena’s eyes and squeezed her hands. “I look giant. I am so sorry that Damien and I were unable to come and help you with the preparations. I hope my cousin made up for our absence.”
“Your cousin?” Helena asked.
“Oh, Evander is my cousin,” Caroline explained. “He can seem a little gruff, I know. But he truly does have an amazing heart.”
Helena’s blood warmed as his name was spoken aloud, and this time, no matter how much she willed herself to stay calm, her cheeks flushed once again.
“This is his little sister, Elara, and her husband, Constantine,” Caroline went on, waving toward one of the other couples. “And this is Evander’s younger brother, Adrian, and his wife, Bridget. Oh, and of course, Evander’s mother, Nora.”
Nora, small and silver-haired but sharp-eyed, took Helena’s hands in her own with surprising strength.
“So you are the young lady who has managed to drag my son out from behind those walls of his,” she said, studying Helena’s face closely, as if searching for something.
Whatever she found seemed to satisfy her, for her expression softened all at once.
“Thank you, my dear. You cannot know what it means to see him standing here, out among people again.”
Helena did not quite know what to say to that, so she simply offered a small, uncertain smile and thanked her in return.
Elara, meanwhile, laughed as she pressed a quick kiss to Helena’s cheek.
“I do hope my brother has behaved himself,” she said, her eyes bright with amusement. “Mason men are dreadfully difficult, and Evander has always been the worst of the lot. I imagine planning a wedding was not the easiest task to hand him.”
Helena suddenly felt dizzy as she realized she was surrounded not by Jeremy’s family, but by Evander’s.
They all spoke to her kindly, thanking her for giving Evander something to do besides boxing or sulking on his estate, and crowded around her, hugging her tightly as if she were going to be Evander’s bride, not Jeremy’s.
By the time she had accepted all their loving words and kind praise, Helena found herself struggling to stay on her feet.
“I believe we have overwhelmed the bride-to-be enough,” Damien said, coming to her rescue just as Helena feared she was going to faint. “Let us go inside and pester the future groom, shall we?”
The circle of warmth disbanded from Helena, and she pulled in a deep breath.
“The Masons are a very loving family,” Damien murmured at her side. “They did not mean to overwhelm you.”
Helena let out a weak laugh.
“Oh, I am certain of that, Your Grace,” she replied. “I suppose I am just not used to so much attention.”
Damien chortled.
“I understand. When I was younger, it took me a long time to get accustomed to their tight-knit relations. There are no better or more fiercely loyal people; however, I assure you. The fact that Evander came to Jeremy’s aid, after everything he has been through, should speak to that,” he answered.
Helena’s heart clenched as she remembered startling Evander the night before in the hallway. His eyes had been wild when he pushed her against the wall. As if he had been staring at the Devil himself, not at her. The pain and suffering he must endure in his private moments must be pure torture.
“He has done well in Jeremy’s absence,” Helena found herself saying. “I am grateful for his aid.”
Damien, who was standing at her side, cocked a brow as he stepped in front of her.
“What do you mean? Jeremy was not here?” Damien asked.
Helena’s brows flew up in surprise as a blush turned her cheeks pink.
“Oh. I thought you knew? He had to go to London. For some urgent business, he said,” she explained.
Damien’s curious look shifted to one of annoyance.
“That is strange. I know nothing about this urgent business of his,” Damien replied, throwing a suspicious look toward the house. “Jeremy left the planning of his own party to you and Evander? He was supposed to assist. Not be responsible for the whole thing. Jeremy should have known better.”
He shook his head as he muttered something Helena could not quite catch.
“Pardon me, Miss Robinson,” Damien said. “I must go scold my little brother and check on my best friend.”
“I did not mean to get anyone in trouble,” Helena hastily replied, following a little way behind him.
“You are not responsible for Jeremy’s poor actions,” Damien called over his shoulder. “And I suggest that in the future, that is a blame you never allow him to put on you.”
Helena stopped halfway up the stairs, torn between the two pieces of new information.
She found it very strange that Damien did not know Jeremy had left the country and gone back to London, especially since they lived together.
She also worried about Evander. Not because picking flowers and music was too hard for him, but because being around so many people must be painful.
What kind of suffering had he gone through since coming to Winterbourne? And how much of it was caused by her?
Her own mind was a mess of its own making.
She burned for Evander in a way she had no right to, in a way that frightened her more with each passing day.
She had wanted him to kiss her in that corridor, had ached for it with a desperation she could not explain away as mere curiosity.
Yet Jeremy was home now, and whatever she felt for the Duke of Redgrave changed nothing.
She could not simply cast aside her engagement, not when it would wound Jeremy so deeply, and not when his grandmother’s health was so precarious.
Too many people depended on this wedding proceeding exactly as planned.
Herself included. Still, how could she deny her own heart?
She needed answers, but as she stepped inside the house, she was immediately whisked away by her mother, who insisted it was time to change into her evening gown.