The balcony was littered with groups and couples milling about and enjoying the night air. At the far end was a stone staircase that led to the gardens.
Matteo thought that it was not so long ago when he had accidentally met Helena in a garden as they both looked for a short escape from the activity of a ballroom. The mood was so very different now, though.
“I do not see her,” Helena whispered to Matteo.
“Let us head down the staircase.”
Firmly taking hold of Helena’s hand in his, they climbed down the stairs.
Helena’s unease was growing. For every second that Chastity was missing, Helena believed her sister was getting closer and closer to something irrevocable.
Fortunately for them, the staircase met with only one walkway. Following this, Helena felt Matteo gather her closer to him as they hastily followed the walkway.
Now and then, they came across other guests from the ball, also exploring the nighttime sights of the well-it garden.
“What could she be doing out here?” Helena said as her eyes scanned their surroundings. “Oh, Chastity, have I not taught you anything?”
“Check behind hedges as well,” Matteo said.
His statement made Helena recall the night when she and Matteo had hidden behind a garden hedge.Thathad happened accidentally, she tried not to imagine what one could do in a garden such as this if one had planned for it.
They moved on farther into the garden. They hardly passed any other guests now. Helena was about to tell Matteo that perhaps she had been mistaken, perhaps it was not Chastity whom she saw leave the ballroom after all, when she caught a flash of white from between the broken branches of a garden hedge. Helena stopped so abruptly that Matteo bumped into her. Chastity had been wearing a white gown.
“Where?” Matteo asked under his breath.
Helena gestured to one of the garden hedges quietly. Together, they went to it. They stopped merely a yard away from the hedge.Near enough, they could see Chastity standing alone with Lord Clifton.
Even just being alone together is enough to cause a scandal. Chastity knows that! Why would she risk it? Matteo and I appear to be correct in our suspicions about that man!
But the validation brought her no satisfaction; indeed, it brought the opposite. How she wished to have been proven wrong!
Chastity and Lord Clifton faced each other; his hand cupped her cheek. He leaned down towards Chastity as if to kiss her.
She felt alarm and disappointment at Chastity and at herself. Had she not impressed this enough on her sister? Helena suddenly felt herself unable to move; she found that she was not equal to confronting her sister at that moment.
Sensing this, Matteo gently moved her aside. He looked at Helena, asking for silent approval. When she nodded, he stepped forward and greeted Chastity and Lord Clifton in the most casual manner.
“Lady Chastity, Lord Clifton.” Matteo bowed. “What a fine night we are having. I see you are enjoying it too.”
Chastity and Lord Clifton, clearly taken by surprise by Matteo’s greeting, both stood frozen, unable to answer.
“Groups of guests have also ventured outside. The charity ball was starting to be a crush.” Matteo continued in the same tone. “Helena will be coming along soon as well; she just had a pebble in her slipper.”
He made a show of looking farther away and waved.
“Ah, here she is now,” Matteo said as he gestured for her to stand beside him. “Helena, my dear, I have just run into Lady Chastity and Lord Clifton. They were out for a stroll as well.”
Standing next to Matteo, she felt herself weaken. She put her hand on his arm and subtly leaned on him. She felt him instantly support her.
As if finally regaining their senses, Chastity and Lord Clifton moved farther apart.
“Yes, er, it was starting to become too warm inside with all the guests,” Lord Clifton said while eyeing Matteo warily.
“A sure sign of the charity’s success, is it not?”
“Indeed.”
Chastity and Helena said nothing at all. The former could not look at any of the others; her cheeks had gone pale. The latter swept her gaze from Chastity to Lord Clifton.
