“That you must ask me in your home?”
He turned to face her. “Is there somewhere else you would like me to take you instead?” he asked, a challenge in his eyes.
She blinked a few times, unable to come up with an answer. She supposed she couldn’t exactly ask him to drop her off in the streets of whatever village they were in and let her go. She had nowhere to go.
Still, she was a lady—or at least, she had been before her mother tossed her away—and to go to a gentleman’s home with no chaperone was still an impropriety.
“Will your wife be present at your home?” she asked.
His mouth twisted as if he could read her mind. “I do not have a wife.”
She bristled momentarily. “How do I know you’re telling me the truth?”
He scoffed. “I should be insulted that you would think otherwise,” he said. “I am an honorable man. Though I suppose you can be forgiven for not knowing that.”
“I haven’t met many honorable men.”
“Well, now you have. Whatever you confide in me shall be held in the strictest confidence, and I shall protect you in every way within my power. So, pray, do not hesitate to tell me what happened to your father.”
Helena swallowed, thinking about Uncle James’s last words. For him to find out that she had spoken about her father’s demise…he would surely take it out on Charlie, and she had no way to protect him except with her silence.
She pursed her lips, staring at Silas, wondering if he would throw her out of the carriage if she refused to speak.
Even if he does, I wouldn’t be anyworse off than I am now.
He gave her an intent look. “What would it take for you to speak?” he asked.
Helena could well visualize him storming her former home, making accusations left and right, if she told him what she knew.
“I do not know you. I have no idea of your motives. You cannot simply expect me to trust you.”
He sighed in exasperation. “What would it take? Have I not rescued you from that convent? From imminent death, as you said?”
“And so? For all I know you are leading me to imminent death. Or worse. I don’t know.”
His brow creased once again. Somehow, even in his forbidding demeanor, there was something about him that called to her. She felt inexplicably drawn to him.
If she were honest,thatwas the source of her greatest worry.
“What would I have to do in order for you to believe me?” he asked.
She blinked a few times, surprised at the question. “I have no idea. I have been in the convent since I was six and ten. Before that, the only gentlemen that I saw regularly were my father and my uncle. Even so, we did not spend a lot of time in each other’s company. Therefore, how am I to know what a trustworthy gentleman is like?”
He huffed, shaking his head. “We are no different from other people. A trustworthy lady and a trustworthy gentleman would act more or less in a similar manner. Have you known any trustworthy women?”
Slowly, Helena shook her head. She almost smiled at his visible frustration. It was endearing.
“What about the sisters at the convent?”
Helena let out a burst of laughter. “Absolutely not.”
He frowned. “Not a single one?”
“I was not allowed to interact with very many ladies.”
“Why not?”
“The nuns said I was too much of a bad influence, so they kept me as far from them as they could.”
