“You are still hopelessly in love with Huntingdon, are you not?” Jo asked quietly, sympathy softening her features.
She thought of the husband she had come to know, the tender lover who kissed and caressed her so sweetly, who brought her to such unimagined heights of pleasure. The man who could not escape the demons of the past.
“I love him more now than I ever have,” she confessed quietly. “Unfortunately for me, his parents’ disastrous marriage before him has left him with the belief that love is an insupportable base for a marriage. I must keep my feelings a secret, lest he discover them and seek to put some distance between us.”
Like going to Shropshire.
“Helena, that is perfectly dreadful for you. I am so sorry, my dear friend. What a merciless muddle you have on your hands.”
She sighed. “That is one way of describing it, I suppose. Another is hopeless. How is your marriage with Mr. Decker, if I may ask? I long to cling to some hopeful news.”
Jo’s countenance once more changed, the softness turning into a look of such undeniable tenderness that Helena knew a pronounced pang of jealousy in response. “My marriage has become everything I hoped it would be and more. I find myself falling more in love with my husband with each passing day.”
“And I have it on excellent authority that your husband feels the same way about you,bijou.” The smooth drawl of Mr. Elijah Decker matched his flawless appearance as he prowled unannounced into the salon. “But do not stop extolling my virtues, I beg you. Carry on. I would dearly long to hear more.”
Jo laughed, the smile she sent in her husband’s direction filled with love. “What are you doing back from your office this morning? I did not expect you until later.”
“I was missing my lovely wife, and as none of my business concerns were pressing, I decided to indulge in my whim.” Mr. Decker dropped a reverent kiss upon Jo’s brow and then turned to Helena, offering an effortless bow. “Lady Huntingdon, it is an unexpected pleasure to see you this morning.”
Unexpected, yes. Helena’s cheeks went warm as she realized she had unintentionally interrupted a mid-morning tryst between husband and wife. Mayhap thinking to embroil her friend in her foolishness had been a mistake.
“I was just leaving,” she began, starting to rise.
“Nonsense,” Mr. Decker said congenially.
“I refuse to allow you to go,” Jo said in unison.
Helena blinked. “But my problems are mine and not yours. Moreover, I have no wish to intrude upon your day.”
“Sit!” Jo ordered, then waved a hand at her husband. “You as well, darling. Helena needs our help.”
Helena looked from Jo to Mr. Decker, the latter whom proceeded to obey his wife by obligingly sinking into a nearby settee. She gathered her courage and her original purpose in this visit.
Another deep breath, and then she plunged onward. “Mr. Decker, would you be able to loan me one thousand pounds? I am happy to repay you, with interest, on a schedule decided upon by you.”
Mr. Decker eyed her, looking bemused. “Huntingdon is withholding funds from his new countess? I always thought him a prig, but never a miser.”
Gabewasa bit of a prig, and she had thought so to herself on many occasions, but Helena nevertheless felt the need to defend her husband. “He is neither prig nor miser, Mr. Decker. I require the funds without his knowledge.”
“Ah.” Mr. Decker cocked his head, silent for what seemed an eternity but was likely no more than a few seconds as he considered her. “A loyal wife who nevertheless wishes to keep a secret from her husband. Intriguing.”
“Helena is trying to protect Huntingdon,” Jo added, before turning to Helena. “Decker will keep your secret, this I promise. However, the choice is yours if you wish to divulge the full truth. We will aid you in your cause either way.”
Helena relayed the sordid tale of her attempts to escape her looming marriage to Lord Hamish White, her involvement with Lord Algernon Forsyte, her lost necklace, and Lord Algernon’s subsequent demands.
When she finished, Mr. Decker narrowed his gaze upon her. “Why not involve your husband, my lady? Why come to me instead?”
“Because Lord Algernon threatened to proclaim his story far and wide if I do, and because I am seeking to avoid scandal and upset for Huntingdon in every way possible.” Out of deference to her husband, Helena neglected to mention anything deeper concerning Gabe’s past.
“Hmm.” Mr. Decker tapped his chin, as if he were contemplating the matter further. “Why should Lord Algernon care if you tell Huntingdon he has demanded one thousand pounds of you, do you suppose?”
It was an excellent question, and one which had been troubling Helena herself. “I cannot think of a good reason, other than that he fears Huntingdon would refuse to give him the funds. Apparently, he possesses some pressing gambling debts that are being imminently called in.”
“And yet, a gambler is, by his nature, a man who takes risks. Enjoys the thrill of them,” Mr. Decker said. “It is the potential reward that drives him, but he also loves the game of bluffing. Why would he not bluff to Lord Huntingdon as well as to his wife?”
Helena frowned, considering Mr. Decker’s query. “Would not bluffing to me create the same effect? Moreover, how can we be certain he is bluffing? My necklace has been missing since the night I went to his rooms.”
“I think he is bluffing because I make it my business to know the men of the Upper Ten Thousand, and Lord Algernon is no stranger to me,” Mr. Decker responded. “To call the man a bag of shite would be an insult to offal everywhere.”
