Nicholas shook his head and put down his glass firmly. “No. I am charged with finding a suitable match for my sister Helena. My aunt is most resolute that she must be settled before the end of the season.”
“Your aunt,” Eliza said. “Lady Dalhousie?”
“The very one,” Nicholas agreed readily. “Though I am Helena’s guardian since the demise of our parents, my aunt was sufficiently good to take my sister into her care when I bought my commission.”
Eliza remained silent, doubting there was anything good about the gesture. Lady Dalhousie, as she recalled, was most concerned with wealth and stature. Nicholas’ father had left little save his debts and Southpoint, a small holding adjacent to Haynesdale. The sale of it to their father and the duchy had been barely sufficient for Nicholas to buy his commission after discharging his father’s gambling debts. Lady Dalhousie would have spent the past decade grooming his much younger sister for a good marriage. The girl had always been uncommonly pretty and a rich match would ensure the aunt’s comfort in her old age.
Nicholas continued. “Helena had her debut season last year and undoubtedly enjoyed herself enormously, but made no match.” He considered his words for a moment. “You must remember her?”
“Of course. I recall her being quite high-spirited, though she was only a girl when last I saw her. Exceedingly pretty, as well.”
Nicholas nodded agreement and his expression turned rueful. “The years have changed little. She favors her mother.”
“Your father’s second bride?”
“And a woman consumed with the pursuit of pleasure at any price. Helena is precisely like her, if perhaps a little more reckless. Indeed, there could be no woman less like you. It will be either a marriage or a scandal for Helena and, were I a gambling man, I would wager on the latter.”
Eliza recalled his aversion to games of chance, a legacy of his father’s choices. She kept her tone light. “Then perhaps you should mend your own ways, to better provide an example for her.”
“I rather thought I should find a more suitable chaperone instead.” Nicholas leaned forward, his eyes darkening to that arresting shade of blue. “I know that you, for example, could be relied upon to steer Helena upon a sensible and prudent course.”
“She is not my sister, Captain.”
“But sadly, she is mine, and I am the last who might offer such guidance.”
“You might endeavor to change, sir.”
“I might recognize a futile task when I hear of it.” Nicholas smiled at her so warmly that Eliza’s heart skipped a beat.
Could she chaperone Helena? Instinctively, she doubted the wisdom of undertaking the task—though she was tempted by the possibility of more time with Nicholas. “Surely your aunt has employed tutors and chaperones?”
“Indeed, and at great expense. Helena dances beautifully, and speaks both French and German. It is decorum that eludes her and I fear my aunt’s example is not one she finds compelling.”
“No?”
“No.” He visibly fought a smile and Eliza was glad when he lost. “Helena has informed me that when she is as ancient as Aunt Fanny, then she will be sedate but not before.”
“Ah.”
“It is my own conviction that Helena has need of the counsel of a lady closer to her own age.”
“Did you come here this morning to see Damien or me?”
“You, of course.” That Nicholas’ voice lowered to a tone of intimacy that made her reservations melt away. “Will you do it, Eliza? Will you aid in my quest, for Helena’s sake?”
It did not hurt that he called her by her Christian name, as he had many years before. It certainly did not injure his cause that he appealed to her with such sincerity. It seemed to Eliza that the room had become uncommonly warm.
She met his gaze steadily. She would do what he asked, but not for Helena’s sake. Although she would have been happier to have Nicholas see her as more than useful, chaperoning Helena might give her own objective a greater chance of success.
Indeed, it could not injure her cause.
“Of course,” she said. “For Helena’s sake,” she amended, fearing she had agreed too readily.
“Yes,” he murmured softly. “For Helena’s sake.” Their gazes held for a long moment, then he looked away so abruptly that Eliza wondered whether she had imagined the flicker of heat in his gaze.
“And that will grant you the opportunity to seek a match of your own,” she said, then immediately felt she had been too forthright.
Nicholas shrugged. “I have no intentions of wedding.”
