Benedict’s grin grew. “I’m glad you asked. It turns out this rebellion was based on a story about a diadem. The one who possessed that diadem would be recognized as the true ruler of England. As you know, your father left the diadem to you. Your uncle assumed that you were the only one who knew where it is.”
“But I don’t know where it is.”
“Indeed, you do not. However, as I was collecting your brother, we had some conversation about your father and you. He was able to tell us how you spent endless hours in the library with your father talking. Your brother, wanting to be part of that, would sneak into the library and sometimes would fall asleep under your father’s desk. On one such occasion, he woke up to hear your father tell you that should something happen to him, and you needed him, you could always look for him in his books.”
Helena nodded slowly. “He did tell me that.”
“That gave me an idea, and it did not take a lot of searching in the library to come across the book that was not, in fact, a book.” He pointed to a book lying on the table.
Helena stared at it with wide eyes before leaning forward to pick it up. She opened it slowly and her eyes widened even further. The book was hollowed out, and sitting in the space where the pages should have been, was a small silver and emerald diadem.
She gasped. “This is it?”
Benedict nodded. “According to legend, you are the true King of England, then!” He laughed.
“What will we do with it?” Helena asked.
“We shall present it to the Regent, I suppose.” Silas said, “unless you have another thought?”
Helena shook her head. “No. I think that’s a good idea.”
Amelia, who had been silently watching the exchange, suddenly leaned forward with a mischievous grin.
“Well,” she said, raising an eyebrow, “if you don’t want to present it to the Regent, I’m sure we could always start a new fashion trend. Imagine all thetonladies wearing silver and emerald diadems. Why settle for a tiara, when you can be royalty?”
Helena couldn’t help but laugh, her tension easing. “You may be onto something there, Amelia,” she said with a smile.
Epilogue
ONE MONTH LATER
Helena was very nervous. By all accounts, the Regent had been very generous to give them a month to recover from everything.
They had buried Lady Downfield in the family crypt. Helena was still oscillating between anger, sadness and regret when she thought of her mother. She also needed to provide a shoulder for her brother, though he was trying his best to be stoic.
She saw the effects of his years living with her uncle by how he retreated into the shadows, always seeking to be invisible. He moved quietly, and rarely asked for anything, whether he needed it or not.
It broke Helena’s heart.
Amelia was a huge help, with her sunny personality. She was slowly bringing him out of his shell. It filled Helena with joy tohave him here with her, in her new family, but she knew that the price they both paid for that joy was high.
And now they were to meet the Regent at Saint Margaret’s abbey in order to present the diadem to him. According to Silas, the Regent also wanted to give them his thanks for their role in foiling a rebellion.
Helena would have been quite happy to go the rest of her life without being thanked for that. She was still very unsure of her ability to comport herself properly as a duchess, so she had no desire to meet the Regent.
“It will only be for a moment,” Silas had promised, “and I will be by your side the entire time.”
Helena nodded, giving him a strained smile. He bent down to stare into her eyes. “I won’t make you do this. If you truly do not want to, I shall send our regrets.”
Helena frowned. “I might not be up to date with societal propriety, but even I know that one does not send one’s regrets if one is summoned by the Regent.”
Silas smiled. “And yet, I will do it, for you.”
Helena reached out and rubbed his arm. “I appreciate your desire to protect me, Silas, but if you promise not to leave my side, I think I can manage.”
“I do promise.”
She smiled, reaching up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips. “Well then, that is all I need. Let us get this diadem to the king before someone crowns me with it.”
