Adelaide smoothed a lock of hair away from her face. “But if you say Baldwin doesn’t judge you for that, then why do you believe you can’t be together?”
Helena straightened up a fraction and sighed. “I can only tell you that my past is not my only failing. I just cannot…be what he needs. It is the way of our world. I must—I must accept it. I must accept it and move forward.”
Adelaide’s face crumpled just a little. Helena couldn’t believe it. This was this woman’s empathy for her, her gentle heart that broke for what Helena had endured and would endure.
It meant everything to her to see it.
“I hope you’re wrong,” Adelaide said at last, and reached out to hug her again. “I truly hope you and Baldwin can find the happiness you so sorely deserve. Life is far too short for anything less.”
From behind them, Helena heard someone clear his throat. She and Adelaide turned together, and Helena’s heart sank. Her uncle and Charity stood in the doorway to the parlor. Both of them looked annoyed. Angry, even. And she had to steel herself for the consequences of what they’d seen.
“Your Grace,” Uncle Peter said, his tone cool.
Adelaide stood, Helena right behind her, and said, “Mr. Shephard, Miss Shephard. Good afternoon.”
“You can call me Charity,” Charity said, her tone sharp and laced with jealousy that made Helena squeeze her eyes shut.
Adelaide nodded. “Of course. I was just having the loveliest conversation with Helena. You have a gem in her, Mr. Shephard. I hope you appreciate it.”
Her uncle’s jaw set and he ground out, “Quite. Actually, Charity and I were just talking about our little…gem. Do you think we might have a moment alone with Helena?”
Adelaide turned toward her, one fine eyebrow arching. “If you feel we are finished with our conversation?”
Helena knew the message in her friend’s expression, questioning if she would be all right with her family. The truth was, she didn’t quite know the answer. But denying them would only make it worse in the long run.
“Perhaps we can continue it later,” she suggested gently. “Over supper?”
Adelaide smiled. “I will make sure we are seated next to each other. Perhaps Emma could make a third near us. I would enjoy that very much. I shall go talk to Charlotte and make the arrangements right now.”
Helena nodded and Adelaide squeezed her hand before she smiled tightly at Charity and Uncle Peter. She left the room.
The moment she did, Helena’s uncle reached behind and shut the door with a loud swish.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?” he asked, his rage barely contained. She felt it bubbling below the surface and saw it in the snap of his gaze.
“Doing?” she repeated as she backed up a step from him out of pure instinct.
“We saw you…huggingthe Duchess of Northfield,” Charity spat out. “Completely out of your place.”
Helena shook her head. “The duchess was offering a friendly ear,” she said. “I did not cross a line.”
“Of course you did,” her uncle blustered. “You did, and it isn’t the first time since our arrival in London that you’ve done so.”
Helena caught her breath. Uncle Peter and Charity didn’t know the half of the lines she’d crossed…or did they? She and Baldwin had been careful the night before, but anything was possible.
Charity stepped toward her. “This trip is supposed to be aboutme, Helena! When I suggested you come along, I never thought that you’d ingratiate yourself to the most important people in England. That you’d wheedle your way into their hearts and push me out into the cold.”
Helena’s lips parted. She heardhurtin Charity’s tone, not just anger and it set her on her heels. “I never intended to do that. Oh, Charity, my friendships with these people are totally separate from your own. They have no impact on you, I assure you.”
“Don’t they?” Charity snapped. “Since we came here, and especially since we came out to the Sheffield estate, you have gottenallthe attention. You’ve been danced with more than I have, talked to more than I have, consoled more than I have.” Charity’s voice caught and she folded her arms. “And—and you shirk your duties, too.”
Helena shook her head. “I’ve been available every time you sought me out.”
Charity placed her hands on her hips. “Last night I came looking for you and you weren’t in your part of the chamber.”
Helena’s heart stopped. Oh God, thiswasabout Baldwin. They knew. They knew and everything was about to be shattered.
“Charity told me about your absence this afternoon,” her uncle said. “And it was the last straw. Where were you?”
