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“Come on now,” he beckoned. “You do not need to pretend to be surprised.”
Helen was terrified. She continued to edge back slowly, afraid of what might happen if she lingered too long.
“I have always wanted you, Lady Helen,” he snorted. “Even before my brother set his eyes on you. And now, here you are. In the prettiest chemise. It sets my heart on fire to see you dressed this way for me!”
“How much you have lusted after Jack Whitticombe in my stories; how you want to do things with him like you told my brother in the gardens.”
“It was you!” Helen gasped, barely able to produce the words.
Sebastian loomed dangerously close, able to extend his hand to grab her arm, but Helen kept shifting backward. She flinched when the hot wax from the candelabra dripped on her skin, but she did not care. Nothing was more important than getting to safety.
“You do not need to run from me, Lady Helen. Or how does my brother call you... Helen? If I were Theodore, would you not kiss him like you did today in the shrubbery? Or that night at the ball?”
“I have no idea of the statements you speak of! Just let me go on my way.”
“Now, that will not be possible either. I want —”
“Helen!” Aunt Gertrude’s shrill tone pierced through the air. “What are you doing out at this ungodly hour? I warned you to stay in your room!”
Helen was for once overjoyed to hear her aunt’s voice. She became less scared, knowing that there was someone else that would be her witness if anything happened. To her surprise, Sebastian gave Aunt Gertrude his signature impish grin as he raked his fingers through his hair.
“She seemed lost, and I was happy to give her directions back to her room.”
“Thank you; I will take it from here if you do not mind,” her aunt said, and Helen relaxed.
By the time they returned to the room, Helen was still dazed by the experience. She could have been attacked once again with no one to come to her aid. The switch in Sebastian’s personality was wrenching her mind into pieces as well. He was adept at what he did, and that scared her even further.
“Helen, are you listening to me?” Aunt Gertrude’s nasal tone interrupted her thoughts.
She nodded softly, even though she had no idea what her aunt was saying. All she could think of was a way to tell her best friend that Sebastian was not a good man.
“Men are not to be trusted, Helen. I have been in your shoes before too. Smitten by love, only to be jilted at the altar on the day that should have been filled with absolute joy.”
“I know-”
“No,” her aunt said vehemently. “You do not even understand the slightest bit of the pain I went through that day. I just do not want you to experience the same sadness I felt.”
“When I was told that my betrothed eloped with some maid to Greece, my heart broke, Helen. All men are the same, child, and like me with my fiancé, Sir Philip, you are bound for the same fate! I am just trying to help you. I was once in love, just like you are now. Young and naive. But my naivety was the source of my misfortune. Thetonwould not stop talking for months.”
Aunt Gertrude looked more human than ever. She spoke softly in a strange way that calmed Helen’s racing heart. Her voice was like a balm — soothing and filled with healing.
“You should be careful around them, Helen. Very careful so that you do not regret your decisions in the future.”
With that piece of advice, Aunt Gertrude left her, and Helen snaked under the covers, unsure whether she would ever find the courage to look at Sebastian in the face again.
ChapterTwenty-Four
“You do not have to ruin my relationship because yours is sour!” Kate yelled in Helen’s face.
“Sour? What do you mean?”
“You think I do not know that His Grace has not proposed to you yet? Is that not why you are desperately trying to come between my soon-to-be husband and I?”
Helen was shocked to the bone. She never understood why Kate would think that she wanted to destroy their engagement. Yes, it would be ruined, but she was desperately trying to save her friend from the hands of the man who tried to forcefully have his way with her. The man who ruined her reputation.
“That has nothing to do with—”
Kate interrupted her, tersely fanning herself despite the cool breeze in the gazebo. “Oh! It has everything to do with it, Helen. Are you just trying to make me unhappy? Just like you are?”
