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“I am saving you from yourself, Helen. Even your mother would be proud of what I am doing! A respectable woman should not need the help of servants!”
Helen was screaming at the top of her voice now. “Even my mother had servants in the house before she passed!”
“And look at where she ended up, huh? Giving birth to a child that does not know even know how to clean her own room. A child that does nothing but indulge her mind in lusts of the flesh.”
“You are just an angry, bitter old woman,” Helen said, her voice dangerously low. “With this noisome nagging attitude, it is no wonder that you were jilted and left for good.”
Another slap made Helen’s body ring, but she was too busy letting out everything to notice. “And now you desire to make me bitter as well? Nobody ever loved you. Even your own sister. Father made you stay in London to keep you from being consumed by loneliness!”
Helen tilted her head just in time for the small perfume glass to shatter against the wall. If she had not seen it coming, it would have hit her straight in the face.
“Father will hear of this! I am sure he will reply to my letters when he hears that you have burned my only source of entertainment!”
“Your scandal has brought illness upon your father. After everything he did for you, you are nothing but a spoiled child!”
Helen stopped in her tracks. “Illness?”
“Your father has retired to Bath for the rest of the Season. He could not even show his face because you decided to use your sinful endeavors to besmirch his reputation as well!”
“Bath? What are you talking about?” Helen asked.
“Now, are you ready to be polite?” Aunt Gertrude replied, her voice frosty.
“There are certain rules in society, Helen,” her aunt said, one hand fluttering above her chest. “Certain things are expected of you when you make your introduction into society. But you calmly ignored everything and went to destroy your father’s name.”
“Destroy?” she repeated, tears welling in her eyes once again. “But it was not my fault. I never —”
Aunt Gertrude interrupted her. “I have heard enough of this! You were disinterested in your father’s expectations of you, pursuing lust like a common harlot. Now, your father is terribly ill because of what you have done. You should be thanking me for keeping you here in my home! Away from the prying eyes of the neighbors and gossip of theton. And you dare insult my authority?” she ambled on, regardless of the look of despair on Helen's face. “You will not be allowed out of the house except when you have to do the laundry. Do you understand?”
Helen nodded, her mind somewhere else. She was devastated by the news of her father’s illness. Knowing how gossip could ruin a person’s life among theton, Helen understood her father’s reasons for sending her to the country. He was protecting her from theton, and she hated it so much because of the lack of communication between them.
But Helen did not want him to protect her anymore. Her father was ill, and she wanted to be there with him. Aunt Gertrude finally left, her silk gown billowing behind her. It gave Helen time to think and make a decision.
She was going to escape and find her father.
ChapterNine
“Do not be so cynical, Theodore,” the Dowager said, tapping her cane on the side of his chair.
It made Theodore agitated, further increasing the tension he felt in his mind. He was sure that he remembered the lady’s family name.
Jarvis.
Theodore knew that he could not forget someone so peculiar. Her words held so much substance in the garden that he wished he could talk to her again.
“I am not being cynical,” he answered acerbically and sipped some of his lemonade. “I am just tired of your machinations. Some respite from meeting chits and their mamas is important for my mind. It has only been a few days, and I already feel touched in the head.”
His grandmother shot him a frosty look. “Do you detest it that much?”
“I hate the interviews,” he replied. “If only I could travel around the world or indulge myself in a profession like Sebastian, then my life's purpose would finally be complete.”
She dropped the cane gently and clasped her hands on her lap. “Interviews? Is that what you see them as?”
He groaned, tilting his head to rest on the velvet sofa. “What else? Talking to mamas and debutantes all day until I become parched. Pretending to be interested in their frocks and bestow compliments for their skill on the pianoforte and the harp? Surely, they cannot be anything other than interviews?”
The Duchess feigned hurt, placing the back of her hand on her forehead. “I do not want you to marry out of obligation, Theodore. As much as I want an heir, I also want you to find someone that charms you — that speaks to your soul.”
Theodore grimaced, tired of speaking to his grandmother about the pious topic of marriage. He wanted a break from everything. “The young ladies of London do not seem to possess all those qualities you speak of. Certainly, I will know when my soul is charmed.”
