Silas leaned towards her, taking her hand in his and looking in her eye. “I promise you, I shall get justice for you and your father.”
She nodded. “I know you will. I trust you.”
He felt the weight of that trust like a promise.
“Have you made any progress at all?” she asked as she buttered some bread.
“A new suspect. An apothecary named Moses Adams, though we suspect that is not his real name. Have you heard of him?”
She frowned, thinking hard, and then shook her head. “I didn’t know much about my father’s business dealings…or Uncle James’. They kept us away from everything.”
He nodded. “Well, I’ll soon have to go to London myself, if I am to do my job.”
She nodded. “I’d like to come with you.”
He considered her. “There isn’t much you can do.”
“Perhaps. Perhaps not. I’m not helpless. I can be useful.”
“Why? Why would you put yourself in harm’s way?”
“Because he was my father, and it is my life that has been ruined. Also, I have to protect my brother.” She held up a hand, “And yes, I know you’ve pledged to help us, but I would prefer to do for myself. I have learned the hard lesson that leaving things to other people can be catastrophic.”
Silas sighed. He could understand Helena’s point of view even though he could not help but be slightly offended that she wasn’t willing to just sit back and let him rescue her.
He nodded, “Very well. You can come with me to London.”
Her eyes lit up with excitement. “I can?”
“Yes. I think I at least owe you the chance to be involved. But hear me, Helena. You do exactly what I tell you, at all times. If I ask you to stay back, you obey without question.”
She nodded emphatically. “I understand.”
He smiled. “Good.”
Lounging about on the grass, reading a book and enjoying a plate of honey cakes, Helena sighed, unable to focus.
Her attention kept getting pulled from her book to a crow on a nearby tree which seemed to be eyeing her plate hungrily. When she wasn’t keeping an eye on the crow’s movements, she was ruminating over what Silas had said to her at the breakfast table.
She was having trouble believing that he would actually let her accompany him. She didn’t know whether to be happy or terrified. A treacherous voice in the back of her mind couldn’t help but whisper insidiously that he was letting her go to London with him in order to get rid of her.
After all, how easy would it be to allow her to be captured by Uncle James or his associates?
He said I was to obey him if he ordered me to stay back,she argued with the voice.
But, the voice whispered back,what if staying back is what gets you killed?
She shot to her feet, pacing back and forth in confusion, having managed to tie herself in mental knots. Her breath was shortening, coming in pants, bosom heaving.
“Helena?”
She stopped and turned to see Amelia skipping down the steps of the verandah and then running towards her. “What’s the matter?”
Helena shook her head. “Nothing.”
Amelia frowned. “You seemed… agitated.”
Helena shook her head again, closing her eyes. “I was just…” She put her hands up to her temples, rubbing gently. “I’m just…”
