The crowd gasped, a few heads started to nod, and Helena noticed looks of relief passing through them.
Mr. Ramsay glared daggers at them, realizing that he was beaten and there was nothing he could do.
A quick glance at the Duke, and he was still smirking, his hand still on her back, a twinkle in his eyes that some might have interpreted as excitement about the announcement. That this was, in no way, a random affair.
As for Helena? She felt her heart sinking, her world crashing, the realization of what this would mean slowly settling on her shoulders. She was saved from one scandal, found herself in another, and for reasons that were partly her fault, her life would never be the same again.
And considering how she felt about marriage, she knew beyond doubt that her life would take a turn for the worse. How could it not?
Helena paced back and forth, unable to stop moving because if she did, she might very well explode! Hands behind her back, her breathing heavy and rattling in her chest, blood pumping hot through her veins such that her limbs felt as if they were on fire. As for her mind? In this singular instance, she had no difficulty staying in the moment.
And as she paced, her eyes flicked constantly to the closed door behind which were her father, her mother, and the Duke.
How did this happen? How could I have been so stupid! How… how… how! No, not how. What? What on earth am I going to do? If anything at all.
This was all her fault, and that was what she found the most difficult to rationalize. So desperate had she been to publish her work that she had not considered the grander implications.
Mr. Ramsay, a man she had never met, was learning her secret and trapping her. That secret was threatening to end her, a situation that would have been devastating. As for the Duke and his role in all of this?
She wondered about him the most.
On the face of it, he had saved her. Both from Mr. Ramsay’s threats and from the rumors that would have spread had she not given in to them. And by agreeing to marry her, he was putting his own reputation on the line in ways she could not fathom.
What did he really want? Why was he really doing this? And what did he expect from her? Somehow, she doubted very much that a simple marriage was where this would end.
Her only hope was that her father and mother would deny him. But she knew that was laughable. Once the announcement wasmade, her father demanded that he speak with the Duke at once, dragging him and her through the ballroom and to his study.
That was where they were now. And had been, for the better part of fifteen minutes. Her mother and father, bargaining with the Duke, were likely coming to terms from which Helena would not be able to escape.
The door to the study suddenly swung open, and her father stood on the other side. His expression was stony as he found her pacing.
“Helena.” He stepped to the side and gestured for her to enter. “Now.”
“Yes, Father.” She swallowed past the lump in her throat, bowed her head, and hurried through the door. When it swung closed behind her, she jumped in fright.
The Duke stood by her father’s desk, hands behind his back, facing her. He watched her skulk into the room with the same confident smirk that she was coming to know him for. When she found his eyes, the smile in them told her the deal was done.
Her mother was sitting on a chair beside the desk, and most strangely, she was smiling.
“Helena!” She leapt from the chair and rushed to her, holding out her hands for Helena to take. “Why did you not tell us!” she exclaimed as she took her hands. “Why did you keep it a secret!”
Helena blinked in surprise. “A… a secret?”
“You and His Grace,” her mother continued. “He has told us everything.”
“He has…” Helena frowned at the Duke. “Everything?”
The Duke’s smile grew as he walked over to them, his arms open wide. “No need to be coy anymore, Lady Helena.” He reached them both and put one hand on her mother’s shoulder and the other on her back. “It is past time we told them the truth.”
“The truth?” Helena had no idea what he was talking about.
“How we have been corresponding for weeks,” he explained simply. “How we had arranged to tell your parents everything tonight. And how I…” He grimaced as if embarrassed. “How I got ahead of myself and proposed before you had the chance. Silly me.”
“You… you did?” Her mouth hung open.
“Forgive me.” He looked at her parents. “I never intended for you to find out this way. While things got off to a rocky start, I only hope it will be smooth sailing from here on out.”
It dawned on Helena slower than it should have. She had been prepared for her father’s anger, her mother’s disappointment, her feigned attempts at justifying what happened as she prayedthey would forgive her. But this? This was beyond her wildest imagination.
