AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She tried to breathe calmly, in and out, and Nicholas’s hand was comforting on her shoulder.
“All will be well, Helen. I promise.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“Damn this cruel world!” He opened his arms, and she moved into them. “But isn’t it better to face it together?”
The idea was so appealing, so beautiful, that her throat closed. Before long, they arrived at the Siderises, and she sat up, marshaling the best attitude she could.
In addition to Mr. Macalester, the Robertsons and David Chadbourne, the Earl of…Someplace, were all present when she and Nicholas arrived. After they expressed their condolences to her, she sat on a settee in the drawing room, and they let her be.
It was the largest gathering Helen had attended recently, which both overwhelmed her and took the pressure off, since they all entertained each other. Pen had also invited her to the larger celebration she and Sirena were planning, with a panoply of invitees—including Pen’s and Adam’s friends, and friends of the family—in a few weeks. Perhaps by then, she would be ready for such a gathering.
Before dinner, servants filed in, carrying trays of empty coupe glasses and bearing large bottles of wine.
“Have you had champagne before?” Pen asked Helen. “No? Oh, I hope the bubbles delight you!”
Helen tried to maintain a pleasant expression throughout Vassilis’s long-winded toast, but her mind drifted. The sparkling wine was sweet and delightful, but she couldn’t stomach more than a few sips.
Her attention was no more keen during supper. She smiled, listening only vaguely as the two Scotsmen at the table spoke with stronger Scottish accents than she’d heard from either before. By the end of the lengthy meal, the surrounding voices had become nothing more than a continuous buzz in her ears she tried to ignore.
She smiled wanly when Nicholas looked at her afterwards, and she trailed after the women into the drawing room. She could last a little longer, just enough for Nicholas to enjoy a glass oftsipourowith the men to toast the betrothal.
“More champagne for us, eh?” Sirena suggested with a raised eyebrow, looking from Pen to Clara to Helen.
Helen didn’t object, but she knew she wouldn’t be imbibing much. It wasn’t the Siderises’s custom for the men and women to be separated for long, and as soon as Nicholas emerged, she would be more than ready to leave.
Once fresh glasses of the effervescent wine were in each of the ladies’ hands—Helen accepted a half glass—Sirena raised hers in the air. “To Penelope! From the time you were born, you have been a blessing. May you know as many blessings as you have brought to us!”
Helen wasn’t alone in tearing up; in fact, all four of them did.
After mother and daughter embraced, Lady Clara kissed Pen’s cheek, then Helen took a turn hugging the girl, whose happiness made her more bubbly than the champagne.
“Now that I’m to be married, there is no justification for excluding me from your”—her hand gestured in circles in the air—“discussions. Lady Clara, you must have counsel about what to expect after the wedding. Tell meeverythingabout the passions of the marriage bed with a man of the Highlands!”
Oh, Pen!
Helen, like the others, couldn’t help but laugh, though they all knew Pen was more than serious. Lady Clara pretended to fan herself and deftly changed the subject.
As happy as Helen was about the betrothal, the evening had drained her completely. Hearing the men’s voices, she bid goodnight to the women and made her way to Nicholas.
He and the others were ambling into the drawing room, and as soon as he saw her, he began his own round of farewells. By the time she crossed the large room, he’d shaken hands and exchanged goodnights with Mr. Macalester, Mr. Robertson, and the earl. In turn, they said their goodbyes to Helen as they passed her on their way to the settees.
Only Vassilis remained with Nicholas, and she hoped their time together had been untroubled.
“Goodnight to you, Vassilis,” she said warmly. “Felicitations again on your daughter’s betrothal. Since my first interactions with Mr. Macalester, I have found him respectful, intelligent, and kind—even when Pen challenged him in tutoring sessions!” She smiled. “They’ll be in good hands with each other.”
Vassilis looked over at the young couple, speaking and laughing together on the other side of the room. He nodded, though his expression reminded her of Nicholas’s, back on the grounds of the Royal Observatory, conveying curiosity and some measure of approval—while maintaining suspicion.
What would her own life have been like if her father had shown as much interest and protectiveness? Would she have been taken in by Patrick Archer? Married into the Gray family?
Nicholas offered his arm to her, then issued a polite but brief farewell to his father.
Vassilis leaned in toward them, his voice dropping conspiratorially. “At last, I’m set to become a grandfather! All those years waiting for Adrian and Lady Sarah.” He shook his head sadly before recovering and winking at Nicholas. “You aren’t going to let your sister beat you to it, are you?”
Discomfort ran through Helen at the subject, considering her and Nicholas’s recent activities—and the knowledge that Nicholas was unlikely to tolerate his father’s meddling.
“A contest, is it,Patéras?” he asked in a quiet voice, underpinned with warning.
