“I did not glower,” Silas muttered behind them. “I observed.”
Helena glanced back at him with a smile that made something twist low in his gut.
Still, she turned back to Amelia and added with a shrug, “But yes. Loud. And dirty. I don’t think I’m made for cities.”
Amelia sighed dramatically. “Oh dear. And I shall have to spend a whole season there when I come out. How will I bear it?”
Silas frowned. “You have some time yet. Why are you thinking about coming out?”
Amelia gave him a look. “I have two years at most before I come out. There’s a lot to do to get ready.”
“Threeyears.” Silas hissed, even though she’d be seventeen in two years, Silas thought it best to delay her debut as long as possible.
Amelia just rolled her eyes, exchanging a glance with Helena as if to say, “he doesn’t understand”. Silas shook his head, feeling quite done with the whole thing. He had no idea why his sister had such a desire to grow up so fast.
“I shall take our bags upstairs,” he said. “Shall I have the servants bring you some hot water to bathe?” he asked Helena.
“Yes, that would be lovely after all the road dust.”
“Ah, but I wanted you to tell me all about London!” Amelia protested.
Helena removed her arm from Amelia’s. “I shan’t be long. I shall tell you all about it at supper, which will be very soon, all right?”
Amelia pouted, shrugging her shoulders. “Fine,” she said grudgingly.
Helena smiled at her and then leaned forward and kissed her forehead.
“I shall see you soon,” she said before following Silas up the stairs.
After she had her bath, Helena went in search of Silas.
She found him changing his clothes as he got ready for dinner. She sat down on his bed and watched, conscious of the intimacy of their situation even with Silas’s valet present.
Once he had helped the duke with his cufflinks, the valet left them alone.
“What are we going to do about the diadem?” Helena asked at once.
Silas came to sit beside her with a sigh. “I asked Benedict to join us for dinner. Afterward we can talk about what to do next. Would you mind distracting Amelia while we do that?”
Helena grinned. “You mean because she’ll insist on clinging to Benedict like a limpet?”
Silas rolled his eyes. “No, I mean because she’ll be curious to know what we’re saying if we all go off. But if the women have their own after dinner digestif while we do the same, then she’ll take it as quite normal.”
“But you will tell me what the plan is?”
He smiled, “Of course.” He bumped his shoulder against hers. “As soon as we come to bed.”
“Why can’t we just tell her what we are doing?”
Silas took a deep breath. “She’s lost so much already. I don’t want her to be worried.”
Helena nodded. She could understand the instinct to protect a younger sibling from worry, but was afraid it might put Amelia in danger. Heaven knew what means these men were willing to use.
“Can I just tell her enough so that she’s wary of any strangers?”
“Of course you can. Just tell her dangerous people out there are after you and she should not speak to people she doesn’t know. Of course, she knows that already, but to reemphasize it can’t hurt.”
Helen sighed. “I cannot wait until this is over. I find myself continuously surprised, because before my father’s death we were living a very uneventful life, and now it seems that every day brings a new revelation that I wasn’t prepared for.”
